Scylla Rhiadra

I think, given that we are living in a digital, virtual world, that we should probably be expansive about our definition of "landscape." This is gorgeous! I should probably explore underwater more . . . except that I am not a mermaid, and hence likely to drown. (Also, I hate getting water up my nose.)

I should rename the thread "Landscapes . . . with Sheep." I love the contrast between the foreground and the ruins behind!

I think appearance makes a great deal of difference in RL; Zeta's point above is well made. But there's a difference between how we respond to someone's body and face, and how we might read how they dress, their grooming, etc. I think that we'd agree that, however important it might in fact be, responding to the former is "shallow," while the latter is not. In SL, of course, that is not a real distinction: even those of us who survive on freebies have an enormous number of choices to make about how we represent and look, ranging from gender, race, and even species at one extreme, to our cultural affiliations and taste on the other. (I might add that I know some amazing looking system avatars, and equally some really terribly put-together mesh ones.) And in a world where 95% or more of direct communication is by text, and the usual visual and auditory cues (body language, facial expression, tone of voice) are mostly absent, reading someone's personality and identity from the particular choices that they do make is not only inevitable, but pretty legitimate. A person with an avatar that looks terrible may be communicating through that little more than that they don't care about the visual element of SL that much, but that itself is an enormously important bit of information. Judging someone on how much money they likely spent on their avatar is probably, still, pretty shallow and stupid. And anyone who only cares about appearance is being foolish. But adding the information that the choices they've made about their appearance (almost all of which, again, is in their control) to the myriad of other factors that determine our responses to them is really do nothing more than assessing another set of clues and communications signals that we use to connect here.

Tali, I'm pretty sure you can search for the display name, and find the account name that way. I just found you by searching for "Talitha," for instance.

Except that you're ignoring us because you're absorbed by the guidebook. "Hey, girls! Did you know that just around the corner from here is the place where Robespierre met his childhood sweetheart? There's a plaque!"

That sounds familiar! I should check through my more ancient LMs and see what I've got there

No, it's brilliant! Not only is it a lovely pic, technically and aesthetically, but you even built a narrative around it! I'm soooo impressed! Looking at this, I can almost believe that we were all actually meeting in Paris . . . *sigh*

Not too much info at all! And beautiful editing to blend your avatar in with the backdrop: I was totally convinced! Hmmm. Now I'm going to have to search for this place, or one like it. I remember, sometime back in the Neolithic, a Moroccan place I used to go to that was somewhat like this, except not as nice . . .

Best. Group Shot. EVER. Beautiful beautiful beautiful, Taya.

And . . . ?

Annie, no one seeing what you've accomplished with your avatar is going to doubt that you have an "artistic eye," trust me!

Thank you both! I owe it all to clean living . . . and Genus, The Skinnery, and Barber YumYum! A slight digression: the weakest link, so to speak, in putting together a "realistic" look for closeups remains mesh hair, I think. I'd pay serious money to someone who produced even a handful of shorter styles in different colours and sizes (or unrigged) with much higher detail. And yes, they would probably blow my avatar complexity through the ceiling, but I swear I'd only wear them for photo shoots, and not to clubs and busy places!

Wait! Which one is you? And which are the real pandas???

A non-Warholed me.

I'm trying to read Sara's expression here . . . I think she's either planning your imminent demise . . .. or your next shopping expedition.

Thanks Annie! The art gallery where I live owns a few Warhols, and one of them is built around the repetition of a black-and-white still of Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. I sort of kind of based this on that. I added the colour panels because, well, Warhol, right? And the can of soup as a sort of nudge in the ribs. It was just a lot of fun making it. 🙂

The colours and light here are so beautiful! As, btw, is your avatar. Really great picture -- where is this???

de·riv·a·tive (Not a butt shot) (PS. Yes, this is a joke.)

Oooh! This is a great pic! I really like the lighting! And your avi looks brilliant!

So, some months ago Taya (@Angelina String) very generously offered to let me take a picture of her. (She's promised me in return that she's going to take a pic of both of us!) And she said she thought it should be something "different." I'm not sure if this is different or not, but it was fun! And Taya totally got the mood I was going for, in her choice of outfit for the shoot. Anyway, thank you Taya!

Yes. Yes you do.

Oh, I love the muted colours and how light it is (despite being relatively dark)! Gorgeous! I don't know that I've been to Missing Melody . . .

(In this story, I suspect that I was the "pet peeve" . . .) At some point in my first few months in SL, a friend at a chat place that was a kind of home to me offered to show me his dungeon. He was an absolute sweetheart -- he bought me my first ever pair of FM boots! -- and I had complete trust in him. (He later took to the GD forum with an alt, and became a very popular poster because he was funny and kind.) So, I said ok, and he TPed me to his place, and gave me a tour of his varied and impressively large collection of BDSM equipment. It was fascinating because I did not, at that point, know much about BDSM, and he did an excellent job explaining, not merely what the devices "did," but what their point was. Finally, we came to a sort of black box that looked a bit like an oversized safe. I've forgotten what he specifically termed it, but it was, he explained, essentially a sensory deprivation chamber for his subs. He thought it might be low-key and gentle enough for me to try. Our ensuing conversation went something like this: ME: So, if I sit in there, I can't move my avatar or do anything? HIM: That's right. ME: And I can't talk to you or anyone else? HIM: That's the idea, yes. ME: And my screen will just be entirely black? HIM. Yes. Would you like to try it? ME: Well, ok, sure. But can you hang on a moment while I go grab a book? Thus began, and ended, my brief and very inglorious career as a sub.

The BEST red dresses are 18th century. (Well, ok. 17th century, really. But 18th century comes in a close second.)

Yay!!! Everyone deserves a red dress.