Shiver me timbers, tomorrow see the start of the Skull 'n' Bones hunt, and being a downright dastardly devil I manage to grab myself an early prize from 22769 (I think they just tell me about fun stuff so I don't litter up their store too much but I don't care!).
Now they have a rather snazzy male and female deckhand outfit on offer, which is... erm... rather snazzy. The mermaids stole my thesaurus, sorry. I decided to wear the male one, and then I decided to take it off. Not completely of course; you can really catch the sun on the high seas and naked sunburn is not fun! But I did take off the shirt prim, it did nothing for me. I'm not a huge fan of shirt prims anyway, but this shirt really does work better as a slightly torn slightly cropped top. I suspect the femme version gets a few extra hottie points that way too. But unfortunately I didn't get a chance to find out. Never rip your clothes in front of a woman, 'cause my Cap'n found out and strung me up for a flogging!
Frankly I don't know why I got in such trouble! With the ripped shirt you could see a bit more of my pirate tattoos from Urban Republic Co.. Not completely obviously, see my above comment about wanting to avoid sunburnt nipples, but you can see a bit more. I kinda like that I get to pretend I have a gun tucked inside my pants with that tattoo actually.
So for anyone who has been waiting for "Flash: Seaman" there ya go, and I won't even make you walk my plank!
I've been breaking the rules today.
It all started with a trip to [BAIT]. See, they have a Father's Day mini hunt happening, and I'm not a father (nor is it still Father's Day) but I did it anyway! 10 little cans of worms tucked away in the store giving... two pairs of jeans, three shirts, those awesome gloves, a pair of eyes tears, a lip tattoo, and a belly tattoo. Not a bad little haul! Of course then I got out of hand.
I liked the Sweetish Fish tank so I grabbed a fishing hat and my hobo raft (full of drink) and set sail. I figured it would be a nice little trip, but the beer was flowing and before I knew it I'd crashed!
So although I'm not a father, here's some fatherly advice. Kids, don't drink and sail! It may be a big rubber boat moving slower that the beer through your body but you can still hurt your pride when you crash.
Kissesssssssssssssssss
A quick post for a quick sale! You may have heard of La Venta Eventa - a weekend sale with a maximum price of 100L. They have categories with limited numbers in so you don't need to spend all your wages in one weekend and then have nothing to buy for a month. Not that I go crazy when dresses are on sale or anything.
This week(end) the 22769 team offer up a rather dapper sports jacket for menswear. And a pretty cool T-shirt. And rather snazzy jeans (they have very good denim happening I have to say, and the belt attaches well to them - although even I found it a bit small so if you're a big boy expect to edit). All for 100L total cost - usual price 250L.
Not bad going. I have a feeling I might like this La Venta Eventa. Even if it is at a weekend when I usually forget to do everything.
Many moons ago, before the lunar eclipse, I howled at the moon and became Wolverine thanks to OKEY DESIGNS (also on Marketplace for anyone not adult verified). It was a very cool outfit I have to say. In fact I still have it and I've been known to slip into it every so often. But the other night I was talking to Cron Nexen about the various product updates he's been doing over there, and I mentioned that he should give me a shout when he remakes Wolverine because... well, it seems almost every straight woman and gay guy likes it. In fact quite a few straight men and gay women do too - wrap an Okey bulge in some Hugh Jackman styled latex and it seems you can make a few people wonder if they swing the wrong way.
Anyway, he pointed out I should stop asking about the next version when I don't even have the newest one he'd released! (Which incidentally would be called Superhero D because Cron has an allergy to trademark lawyers and I just have a vivid imagination that lets me pretend I'm Wolverine whilst wearing the thing.) And he was right, I didn't. I'd looked in the store and to be blunt I'm way too cheap to pay almost 400L for an outfit I couldn't really see as being any different to the last one.
I may now be eating humble pie. There are differences. And good differences at that - the 2011 version is better. I don't know the exact changes but my eyes told me about the new gloves first - it's a strange item to spot but they are really that much better. The collar was the next thing I spotted, a smaller change it's true but nice. Then the bulge. Cron loves his bulges and 2011 sees a new bulgier bulge. More than size though, the shape and fit is just... better. And finally the boots were the other big upgrade, and I have to say possibly the best of the tweaks; they're a little less cumbersone in my eyes which is big for such a sprightly super.
Except those are changes to the outfit, there is more. In 2011 you get a cigar, which may not be a really big feature it's true, but it's possibly a little too much fun seeing it puff a little smoke. You also get a shape! As someone who doesn't have an especially bulky body the shape filled out the suit nicely for me. And you also get hair! As someone who walks around with a shaved head this seemed handy, but in truth the hair is the big weakness of this outfit - it's too small. I'not a fan of adjusting hair anyway, but getting the hair and shape together I just expect them to fit. It takes some fiddling to get the hair to fit properly, and Wolverine never exactly had great hair did he? If you're going all out and wearing everything you're going to have work to do. Personally I go "Eeep!" - it's even a bit small for my normal shape, and I am very lazy so...
It was interesting comparing the old and new directly though. I'd seen the vendors and not been convinced, but when you put them side by side you can see the subtle differences, and they do add up to quite a difference. Of course it still comes down to how you use this stuff. I think Okey is a great source of costumes, and if you want to wear one often the upgrade is probably easily worth it. As a casual wearer it's trickier, and certainly knowing that another update to this particular outfit is due I'd probably wait it out if I'm completely honest. It's nice to see a vendor giving their range a little refresh, especially in the costume field. It's very easy to make something like this and forget about it, and then we all wander around looking dated. if you have the original you don't really need this update, but if you wear it often enough you may well want the tweaks and enhancements.
In my wanderings I like to think I find some pretty good things. but every so often I find something so awesome I wonder if I should keep quiet so that no-one else finds out until it's too late and I can just be the coolest cat on the grid. But that's not very cool in itself so I share. Afterall, with great power comes power comes great responsibility. And thanks to the Silk Road Hunt 2 and the completely amazing NS6 I had a truly stunning find today.
This is an incredible free gift. I've been flying around taking some arty shots all day but they are dark and shadowy so don't really show the full gift. This is one of those items that just makes me smile, I hope it does you too.
Some people seem to think I'm the clown of this blog. I prefer to think of myself as sophisticated and witty, but they're probably right. There are times I'm as subtle as a custard pie in the eye (and it's rhymes like that which make me so classy). So when Urban Republic Co. decided to celebrate their first anniversary with outfits for clowns and... clownettes (go with it) who better than me to slap on the make-up and big floppy shoes?
It was then pointed out that the gift outfits just have clowns on them, I wouldn't
actually be dressed like a clown. And after telling me to take my own clown outfit off and giving me the gifts it was suggested I should wear the male outfit instead of the female one. Which was a simple mistake anyone could've made. Seriously. But we got there eventually.
There ya go. Me. Not a clown. Or a clownette (it'll catch on, trust me). But I am wearing quite a nice open shirt and jeans from Urban Republic, who always have a big collection of prizes for group members too. But no clown costumes so ya know, pros and cons.
It may not surprise many people to learn that my head has many strange thoughts floating around in it. Many of which I don't even know about, which can be fun! So with the Skate N Surf hunt running for just a few more days I thought I would use one of the gifts from Enlil to play with one. Namely, tinting!
Now I will admit I'm guilty of this one, but we buy goodies and wander around. Some people don't even bother adjusting the prims to fit. But what if you have something tintable? I have a few white shirts that I tint as my mood takes me. It can be tricky getting the shade just right sometimes, but it is usually cheaper than a fatpack and even more flexible. It's handy, but sometimes you want even more diversity! That's where the Sahi tattoo I picked up comes in. I have been thinking about this and I know I have barely touched the surface with this one, but you can create quite different looks just with a little dye.
As an example, let's start with a trip to the beach! I grabbed the Surf's Up board & Pose from Embody and, knowing what the sun can do to delicate skin like mine, I grabbed the sun block. Now i know a lot of surfers do those lines on their nose and cheeks but I figured I'd be different. Which is why I drew patterns on my chest.
That was a pretty sporty way to start the day, so as the sun climbed and the temperature soared I figured I should take it easy. So I headed off to the watering hole and chilled on a boat. The local hippos gave me a great idea though - paint myself in a bit of mud to help stay cool, and to cleanse my pores of course.
As I drifted along I thought the mud paint would make pretty good camo if I wanted to do some guerilla warfare too, but the gorillas hadn't done anything to upset me or my hippo friends so I put the guns away. But the testosterone had got pumping by now so I decided it was time for fight club!
Now you may think the plaid shorts aren't tough enough for fight club, but you'd be wrong, 'cause they are New York's Finest Apparel so I know they have attitude. Leaving the hunt behind I dug up an old dollarbie I have from Hot Dolphin Love and painted the blood of my fallen enemies on my chest. I was ready to rumble!
I may even paint myself silver and go clubbing later, but I suspect I'd actually need to change my shorts if I did that! Madness! But it was fun playing with the different tints today. Some items lend themselves to it more than others, some for completely different looks, and some for subtle variations, but either way - don't buy, dye!
A lot of my friends have been very, very excited about the fact that Poetic are having a big eye sale. It seems to be 50%/75% discounts meaning 50-100L for a pair of eyes so some good shopping there, they certainly make some nice eyes.
Unfortunately for them, I won't be shopping there this sale. Nothing against them, it's just that Photos Nikolaidis of A:S:S has just launched Vision Eyes. And as I'm a giant ass I am in the A:S:S group, meaning I woke up this morning to find a group gift stuffed with the things. And I really do mean stuffed. This could be the most items I've rezzed in a group gift because... well. I got a sample set from each range, as textures. Plus the prim versions. Plus extra effects such as tears, extra reflections, and... well I don't know because I lost track of it all! The only thing the gift didn't include was an alpha layer, but given that I just can't make prim eyes work without one, I already had one. And I just got given more eyes than my inventory can fit on the screen, so I don't think I can grumble really. It's not as if it's impossible to find a free eye alpha if you don't already have one so I am one happy giftie.
And then I tried them on and I got even happier. These are good eyes! I checked the store and they're 50L a pair, with fatpacks giving a big discount on the ranges. Personally I'm not a fan of fatpacks for a range since I usually like shades of blue so I'd rather buy a fatpack with each style in my chosen colour usually, but that's me. And to be honest Vision has a few ranges that could convince me otherwise. So here's a quick look at my gift listing (although now I'm out of world I believe I missed at least one set of eyes so this gift is even more generous than the images suggest - but serioiusly, my screen is only so big).
| Homesick Eyes - Helsinki (extra reflex) |  | Homesick Eyes - Helsinki |
| Resurrection Eyes - Teal (Large pupil) |  | Resurrection Eyes - Teal (Small pupil) |
| Moonlight in your eyes, reflex |  | Vampiric eyes - blood |
| Soultrap eyes |  | Sparkles in your eyes |
| Darkness in your eyes - cinnamon |  | Eclipse eyes - atlantic |
| Heterochromia eyes - blue & hazel |  | Heterochromia eyes - blue |
Phew!
Now some of those are not stuff I'd wear often. Great for a certain look but not so much daily eyes (at least for me anyway). The Eclipse are my pick of the more artistic eyes - when you really zoom in they have some lovely features. That said, the Heterochromic blues have been left in. I like them, and my partner who has been known to complain when I try new eyes likes them too! We shall see, but I feel they may be loitering.
Oh, and because it makes me chuckle...
In the store they have a pair of gatcha machines. one giving pairs of eyes, and one giving single eyeballs. They're called "Oddballs"!
It made me laugh anyway.
