Pics by Peep

Project Everybody: Beneath Your Beautiful

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1 Project Everybody A

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful
Would you let me see beneath your perfect
Take it off now boy, take it off now girl
Cause I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?
Tonight, see beneath your beautiful
Oh tonight, we ain’t perfect, we ain’t perfect
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?

From “Beneath Your Beautiful” written by Emeli Sande, Timothy Mckenzie & Mike Posner

This is Peep, the normally long-legged and willowy avatar you see featured on this blog. Today, though, she is a more realistic version with substance and curves. Isn’t she beautiful?

No, I haven’t changed my shape in Second Life permanently. But today I am highlighting a very different Peep for Project Everybody. Lucie Bluebird-Lexington has created this project and in her words, “I wanna see your brave.” The challenge is to portray ourselves as we normally wouldn’t and explain why. Please click the link to read fully about the challenge and check out the links to other posts in the comments section.

I, like a lot of women, have a body image issue in real life. We are conditioned to believe that slim, sleek and fashionable is the ideal. Peep normally fits this mould; she is my ideal and everything I am not. Tall, sleek, even graceful. I developed her shape over a lot of years, and she, in her current form is based on a mesh standard size small. She looks great in clothes, but to be honest, I have always believed she is too skinny in the nude or even lingerie and swimwear, which is why you rarely see her portrayed in those ways.

For this challenge, I adjusted her shape so that she is a mesh standard size large. Additionally, I made her shorter, widened her hips and shoulders and rounded out her face. When I completed the transformation, I dressed her. To show my brave, I went out shopping, rather than hiding her away on the island. But to be honest, I didn’t like the way she looked and even moved in a pair of jeans, tank top and jacket. I even had issues with the clothes fitting properly. All of the sliders were adjusted exactly to a size large, but bits of her were popping out all over the place. The one-size-fits-all alphas that normally work perfectly with my size small didn’t seem to do the job. I was disheartened.

However, I was committed to completing this challenge. When I returned home, I decided that rather than hiding her behind clothing I would dress her in a bikini. And you know what? Even though the alpha didn’t work at ALL, I loved how she looked baring her curves. She looks womanly, rather than like a waif. She looks healthy, rather than underfed. She seems to actually glow with a beauty that comes from within.

When I finished shooting the photo, I went back to my size small shape. But, I kept the roundness of the face and the shorter stature. I didn’t keep the full hip and shoulder width of my more ample figure, but they are broader now than they were before. And I like the changes. This is the first time I have ever made a change to Peep’s face. I always thought it was perfect. I was wrong.

I like this version of Peep. And you don’t have to look beneath to see her beautiful.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Bikini: *BOOM* Hampton Bikini/anchors (sugar) by Aranel Ah
Hair: *ARGRACE* HARUKA – True Red by rika Oyen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 (FR) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: aDORKable Poses: Ella 6 by Adorkable Peapod

Ruffles and Shadows

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1 Pretty

I had a plan. I had a shopping list of stuff I had seen that I loved and had an idea for a picture. The dress, the hair, the flowery arm wraps. The birdie, perched on my hand. A blooming garden and soft light. It should have been a cinch.

Instead, I fought the depth of shadows caused by the ruffles and pleats of this dress. Don’t get me wrong; I love it. It is everything I adore – romantic and feminine and delicate, the textures and construction are impeccable. But all of those folds played havoc with getting a photo that didn’t end up looking like the dress had been shot through with holes.

This is also a dress that is designed for standing still. The way the skirt puddles and flares is lovely when posed for a portrait, but when I walked it reminded me of a duck. I laughed when I waddled across the garden to find a position for this shoot. The designer had the right idea; the limitations of mesh make anything created static and flexi-prims just wouldn’t work, either. I am hopeful for the day that there is the capability in Second Life for mesh to have movement.

I had another picture I was going to add to this post, showing the front, but after spending almost an hour trying to soften the SL-rendered hard edges to the ruffles and shadows, I had enough. You’ll have to either imagine how it looks or go get it yourself.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Dress: =Zenith=(Begie)Lana Long Dress by Miffyhoi Rosco (available at FaMESHed May 2014)
Arm wraps: Lark – Briar Arm Wrap by Sienia Trevellion (for Enchantment)
Necklace/earrings: ::: Krystal ::: Eden – Jewelry Set – Gold by Krystal Jenkins (available at OneWord May 2014)
Hair: *ARGRACE* KOTO – True Red [headband] by rika Oyen (New release)
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 (FR) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson

1st pose: Bounce This Poses – Birdy Pose 1 by Bouncer Criss (gacha prize)

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD

Ocean of Confusion

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1 Kuro Vintage Floatie B

She was a mind floating in an ocean of confusion.
― Caroline B. Cooney, “The Face on the Milk Carton”

Some days feel that way. It is how I felt from the moment I awoke at 5:19 AM, glaring at the glowing red numbers of the clock beside my bed. There is much that competes for space in my head. Memories are mixed with moments of the now, tangled up with hopes for the future. Occasionally they all collide and the result is like floating in a sea of befuddlement.

A good night’s sleep will cure me. It usually does. But restful slumber lately has been merely a flight of fancy, a pipe dream, a longed-for fantasy. It has led me to another post where I’m not sure what I want to say.

Soooo…I’ll just tell you about this adorable floatie, by Kuro. It has nine single poses and two couples poses. The animations are fun and range from lazy to whimsical. When you use the couples poses, a second inner tube (sans umbrella) pops out for your partner to float upon. This is extremely convenient, having been dumped into the lake when trying to share a tubie in days gone by.

I don’t know much about the OneWord event, except this is round two and the theme is “Vintage.” That is enough to draw me to check it out. It opened at noon today, so I hope to see you there.

…if I can float my way across this ocean of confusion.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Swimsuit: ValentinaE :V.e. Naomi Swimsuit XS Turquoise by VaentinaEvangelista
Necklace & Earrings: Pure Poison – Gaby Jewelry Set by Shaleene Kenin (Group Gift)
Hair: *ARGRACE* MIZUKI – True Red by rika Oyen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 (FR) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro
Hand & Feet appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand & Feet Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

*Float: Kuro – Vintage float by Luana Dawg (available at OneWord Bi Monthly Event – Vintage May 1-31)