Thursday, August 23, 2012

Review: Carrie's Lingerie: Save Second Base!

Men like them.  Women like them.  Even crying hungry babies like them.  What does everyone like?  Second Base!  It is estimated that every year, over 210,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and every year, 40,500 women die of the disease.  And it's not just women, a small minority of men are capable of getting it as well as you men have mammary glands too!  The CDC has a great website dedicated to all the most current information available on the disease, and has information for all of us about self breast exams, clinical breast exams, and mammograms.  There are even groups such as Feel Your Boobies that promote the importance of self breast exams.  Often health fairs will have things you can hang in your shower that show how to perform this important life-saving test as well, or you can get them from numerous websites.  You can even download an iPhone app that will help you make an early detection plan.  And while mammograms are usually reserved for women aged 50 or older, younger women too should start practicing this test minimum once a month.  And don't think you have to go-it alone in testing ladies, you guys need to be touching something in your jock strap as well (perhaps make an intimate experience out of it lovers).  Mom and I know several men and women in their twenties who have already been forced to battle breast and testicular cancers.

We at The Redneck Fashionista are no exception to wanting to save the girls (especially Dad and Belgold... course Mom's a nurse so that helps too), and it looks like we've found a definite partner in crime with Carrie Bridger and the ladies of Carrie's Lingerie.  Ms. Bridger and company have teamed up to offer five women's lingerie sets and three men's boxer/t-shirt sets with all proceeds going to save the boobies... I mean Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and breast cancer research for the American Cancer Foundation.  I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few pairs to feel around... I mean model.

All of the sets are available in her mainstore, with the proceeds of the sales going towards research, each will cost you between L$150 and L$400.  Ms. Bridger sent out three women's sets and one men's set for us to try out.  As usual, her texture-work is superb and highly refined.  I've always loved her work, and these items are no exception.  She always takes the time to craft a beautiful and sexy item, complete with all the lace detail.  Everything has always matched up, has great lighting and shadows to it.  As always, Ms. Bridger has taken the plain Second Life texture and turned it into something magical.

No matter what, they just make you feel soft, delicate, and sexy.  Even the men's boxer set.  I didn't want to wear it to be honest, I'm more of a leather and lace girl.  Mom took the mouse from my hand, put my avatar in the set and we we both shocked at how sporty, smart, and sexy I looked in it.  Amazing.  I've never thought men's underwear as something that could be girly and sexy, but this is it.  Thank you Ms. Bridger for not only caring about the knockers, but for making them look great in the process.  A true 10/10 perfection as always!


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Review: Archaic Requiem II, Post Mortem Eastwick

With our apologies to HP Lovecraft... and our warning about tentacles and sexually explicit, kinky content.

The fae Merenwen stood in the library, late one night after heeding the warning of her teacher, dust-covered tomes stacked in front of her.  She had spent many long hours in the library of the Crossroads, digging through stacks of books that revealed all but the faintest hint of any of the details of her own history, her lineage, her family.  The hours grew longer, and the usual hustle and bustle of the town square died down; the sound of music from the tavern stopped and all grew still when a golden glint caught her eye.  She took the book, and out fell a map.

"What's this?  Something shiny?" she asked as she picked up the map.  "Or maybe it will lead to something shiny.  Hmmm... shinies!" she said, discarding the book in favor of the map.  As she picked it up, she saw an old parchment with faded ink.  On the back of a folded corner was an ouroboros and inscription:  "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die."  Merenwen turned the map over and over in her hand, even shaking it a little bit.  "But where are the shinies?" she asked, pushing it aside.

After a few more minutes of study, she felt a strange sensation calling to her; when she looked over to the map, she felt drawn in, as if nothing else mattered.  Pushing the books aside, she said, "Maybe there are shinies on the map!  Yes, indeed!" Merenwen opened the map and began to study, ignoring the cryptic warning on its back.  "I think I know where this is," she said, leaping from her chair, "Don't worry shinies, I am coming to save you!"

Merenwen followed the path for over an hour, in and out of shapeless foundations and scattered trees, finding never a carving or inscription to tell of the mysterious graveyard on the map.  She wandered until the silhouettes of trees turned to a golden-edged light, when shortly before daybreak she found the small graveyard with a grave marked with the identical ouroboros and warning.  "I must be here," she said, "But where are the shinies?  I was promised shinies!"  Disappointed, she sat down on the gravestone and looked back at the map.  "Where are the shinies?!" she asked again, pouting, when an inscription on the map caught her eye.  "Hmmm, maybe if I read this..." her voice trailed off as strings of Latin sprung from her lips.  Though the rite was forbidden and the grave profane, she had to know where her shinies were.



The longer she read, the more organic her word became, as if something else was speaking it for her. "Shinies?" she whimpered as tentacles sprung from the ground.

"I am the Aberrant," a body-less voice rumbled through Merenwen's body.

"Do you have the shinies?" she squeaked.

"No I do not have the shinies," it rumbled as the tentacles picked Merenwen up.

"Oh, hey, whoah, wait a minute, hey that tickles," the little fae said as the tentacles pulled her to kneel in front of the gravestone.  "Somehow I don't think this is how to get to the shinies!" she squeaked.

"Silence!" the Aberrant commanded and Merenwen whimpered.  "You want the shinies?  I can give you the shinies!" the voice rumbled through Merenwen's body as tentacles started encircling around her legs and arms, one pushing at her mouth and another pushing at her pelvis.  Meren felt a cold slime covering her skin. Though she should have been cold, she was instead warmed from within, and though she should have been very scared, she began to relax, as if the demon wanted her there with him.  "Yes, that's right, relax," the Aberrant rumbled, the vibrations from its voice only relaxing Merenwen even more.  Merenwen emitted a couple of primal moans of pleasure as the tendrils caressed her smooth fae body.

"I like shinies," she said as the tentacles lowered her to the surface of the grave, now pushing at her with a regular rhythm, pulling her closer and closer to the earth below.

"Yes... shinies..." the voice groaned as it continued to push and pull at the fae's body, never sating its own desire for flesh.

"Shinies," Merenwen smiled as she gave in to the rhythm of the Aberrent wrapped around her body, forgetting all the cares of her world and the search for her family.  For now, the Aberrent was her new family, the ritual having been completed, the shinies now belonging in Merenwen's mind.


Credits:
Special thanks to Mr. Grey Mars of Archaic and Ms. Mysteria Callisto of Post Mortem Designs
Concept and Story:  Arizona Navarathna
Photography:  Philip Belgold
Model:  Sonja Mistwallow



Props:
[Arch] Requiem II v1.0
Archaic by Grey Mars
L$600, 24 Prims
No Copy/No Mod/YesTrans







Eastwick Graveyard
Post Mortem Designs, Mysteria Callisto
L$400, 34 Prims 
Copy/Mod/No Trans


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Review: Fae Fantasy Creations: Roomie Shroomie Cottage

After posting Sunday's review, I was contacted by Lauren Bentham, whose products were featured that day.  Ms. Bentham asked me to take a look at a recommendation of another designer that she knew.  Ms. Tamrielle Halderman is another up and coming designer who specializes in fantasy props for sims.  At Ms. Bentham's request, we took a closer look at Ms. Halderman's "Roomie Shroomie Cottage," which was used in Ms. Bentham's skybox that we reviewed, a long with a couple of other props in the skybox.  The cottage comes to 41 high quality sculpted prims and comes in two sizes:  a full size cottage (approximately 10x10 meters) for L$499, and a small sized cottage for L$399 that works great for the petite avatars.  It is available in seven different colors, all available in world at her store, Fae Fantasy Creations.

I really like Ms. Halderman's cottage, especially from a fae and fantasy perspective.  While it is on the smaller side, it would work great on any smaller size plot, even a 512.  Or even for a playhouse for your SL children.  I know a lot of people are strapped for cash lately, and a lot of products that are blogged on for SL cost a fair amount of Linden.  While this home is on the smaller size, the cost is right for anyone on a budget who wants a fae-inspired home.  This would be even better for those of you who are using the petite fae avatars as well - I put on my own petite avatar and flew around in the full-sized home and it is huge.

The coloring of the cottage is very rich, and will fit in perfect with any fantasy landscaping; there are also many beautiful and whimsical products here that would fit the decor as well.  The sculpts are also well-crafted and do not deteriorate at distance.  Ms. Halderman took a lot of time in crafting her items, and has a great attention to detail.  I absolutely love this little cottage, and think it would be a great addition to any fantasy-themed landscaping or home in SL.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Great look, great detail

Cons:  Can be a little small for very large avatars

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Review: Bentham Skyboxes, Danika Alice in Naughty Land

You're invited to a tea party... a magical tea party in the wonderful land of your imagination!

In looking for our next photo shoot location for Jackie Graves, I happened to stumble across a rather spectacular duo of sims, and in the middle was a very small store.  Mom and I went in, had a look, and I instantly knew that this was our next post; or duel post.

Meet Lauren Bentham, the young and upcoming lead designer for Bentham Manor, a high-end design store specializing in dark fantasy landscaping items, mesh avatars, and a new line of skyboxes that she has just released.  Her items are available online or in world, and given her amazing quality and attention to detail, her prices are reasonable.  Full mesh avatars average cost only L$349, and her most expensive product, her large 59x59 skybox, is a reasonable L$1,499.

We decided, seeing we were there, that we had to do a review of her large skybox for everyone to see.  Two things immediately struck us:  it seems larger than the designated 59x59 meters, and there is this amazing soundscape.  In fact, it seems that Ms. Bentham almost specializes in these two effects.

I am sure that everyone has had an opportunity to see what 59x59x23 meters is in SL terms, however, I encourage you to find a sandbox or piece of land where you can rez out a cube this size.  Look at in, especially with the default plywood texture courtesy of Linden Labs.  It is stark, enclosed, and almost suffocates just on its own; but somehow Ms. Bentham has managed to evade these facts from her audience. The space is decorated with one of her mushroom homes, paths, graveyards, statues, and is bathed in an eery dark light.  We toured it at midday windlight settings, and it was just right for our graphics and for us to see (sidenote: while we usually darken and create a haze for our photos, all photos shown here in this post today are photographed in the midday windlight setting and are not edited; we are showing our raw unadulterated photos).

The space seems large, even looming, and makes your avatar feel smaller than it really is.  Though it is only 59x59, Ms. Bentham has managed to make the area feel so much bigger.  That prim I made you rez?  In comparison, your prim is now small.  Ms. Bentham uses optical illusions to make the area seem so much bigger.  And her ability to create an atmosphere is amazing.  You are transported to the dark dreams of a childhood influenced by Tim Burton, early Pixar, and Victorian era children's tales.  Everything has a slight cartoonish feel to it, which makes you feel both incredibly safe and yet taunted by a dark lurking danger.  Her soundscape, a mix of familiar and unknown sounds, heightens the senses to the dark misty reality around you.  You are safe, you are at home, but at the same time, able to control, explore, and defeat your darkest childhood nightmare.  Have a look yourself (note: video has a blur effect added to enhance the dreamlike quality of the skybox).


Looking at Ms. Bentham's other products is amazing as well.  She manages to take this amazing storyboard art concept and make it three-dimensional via sculpts (for landscaping) and mesh (for avatars).  Her ability to control the experience and the scene is absolutely amazing, especially for someone who seems to be just starting her graphic arts career (as determined by the still small inventory in her store).  Yet, despite her relatively small inventory, everything is needed to create her unique atmosphere.  She is mature in the definition of her art and style, something seen more in very veteran content creators in SL.

Ms. Bentham's soundscapes are also amazing.  Being a veteran gamer myself, something that is often lacking in sims in SL is a custom soundscape.  Some sims have managed to get them going, but often, most designers disregard this element in favor of a radio station or silence, often using the excuse of the audience listening to other music, being on Skype, or just not having a headset or speakers available.  How many times have you in SL been near a waterfall and heard the rush of... Nickelback.  It doesn't work.  The sound of a waterfall should not be an over-used rock band, it should be the sound of water rushing, storming, over ageless rocks that have been there longer than anything else on this earth.

Listening to the soundscape while walking through Ms. Bentham's sim that we will be photographing fully immerses you into her fantasy.  It doesn't matter whether you are on the sim she designed, her store, her skybox, or anything with her influences.  It is there, you are there, and what she has done is not done nearly enough in SL, and when it has been done, it has been tossed to the wayside.  We loved Legacies 1891 because of how immersive it was.  Mom loved the previous design at NeuroLabs because of the immersive soundscape. A successful experience in SL requires that soundscape, and Lauren Bentham has mastered that.

Ms. Bentham's products reflect her attention to detail, from her pre-war style radio that plays eight tunes and has been a constant companion on Mom's desk to her affinity for Alice avatars, her products are amazing.  Yes, Alice avatars - we made a game while briefly scouting her sims of finding all of her different avatars.  So far we have found three Alice avatars; two are up for sale in the Marketplace (traditional Alice and steampunk Alice), and others are scattered about.  Try to find the third we found, and see if there are more.  As for Alice, we paired Ms. Bentham's setting with our own Alice in Naughtyland from Danika Designs for L$399; the rabbit made and irresistible companion for this setting.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Amazing detail, immersive experience, full soundscape.

Cons:  May appear too dark with lower-end graphic cards.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Happy Weekend: Graves

Warning:  This post contains material that may be considered sexually explicit.  While it does not go that far, you may wish to not read this at work.  You have been warned.  Enjoy!


aka:  A Brief History of Dream Walking

“For Dream Walking in a way is the ultimate control, the ultimate trust, and least of all, the ultimate level of exploration.  For what exists within the confines of the human mind is far greater than what exists in the universe, in beauty, possibility, and danger.  Mistrust a handler and you die.  She is your lifeline, your breath, and least of all your heart, while your body becomes a slave to your mind.”   
- Harvey Shanbhag, President of United Planets, 3347.

It was the day the aliens came.  The aliens and their shiny new technology and shiny new promises.  I remember it clearly.   It was a dark day, the pollution clouds moving like mist in the shadows, encompassing all of London, even more than normal.  They came, and the city lit up like Yule.  All the lights turned on, the music started playing, and everyone was awake.  People went to work; people went to the shops, and on the lifts.  Life came back to the dark and polluted city of London.  But it was to only hasten our demise; for it was the day the aliens came.

I remember it well.  I was at work, in a shop.  It was just after Yule and the lights still glistened in the wet streets.  And then the aliens came, taking us.  I was the first it would seem.  Alone in the middle of the night, I was pulled from my bed and placed in a chamber; it was wet and cold, and full of feelings of emptiness in our sleep.   Soon, emptiness was replaced by feelings of others around me – new faces, new names, new thoughts and memories abounded around me, and yet always in our sleep.  We were never awake.

That is when I met Sally.

Sally was a scientist, had a two doctoral degrees from the University and was studying psychology.  Psychology and biochemistry she said.  Her specific area of expertise was in dreams; while we were all taken by the aliens, she snuck her way in to study them, and in the process entered the chamber we were all kept in.  She had a commanding presence always; we were placed into menial tasks while in the chamber.  Immediately on our first day together, she organized us and managed to find a way around the tasks.  “They know what we’re thinking,” she always said, “So think something different.”  Her keen advice to us all.

During our time together, we fell deeply in love, but not in the platonic way one would.  I had coupled with a gentlemen from Queens, and together we lived a long and prosperous marriage in our arranged dream world of the alien chamber.  But there was always Sally.  Sally would walk past, Sally would glance, or even Sally would stare deep in thought at those that kept us for their secret bidding. 

Then one day, we all awoke; the war had been won and we were left to sort out the mess.  My husband from Queens was the first to leave; while we cared for each other, we were little more than fill for our own emptiness we left behind, and he left an entire family.  Others left too that first day, week, month that we had awoken.  Those that stayed at first stayed out of obligation to their fellow dreamers, that we sort out what had happened, who we had become, and what was to become of our lives now out of our slumber. 

But Sally stayed, Sally and her deep stares, and her icy blue eyes.  She would walk to the desolate bridge of the ship, pushing buttons, trying to get any reaction from anything that she could.  Though she was a psychologist and biochemist by training, she also had a love for computers and cracking codes.  She would stare for hours at end, hardly noticing anything or anyone that buzzed around her.  Then one day, after our ten plus years near each other she finally spoke.

“Adella,” she would whisper, looking deep into my mind.  I’d look back at her, into near-empty, calculating eyes, and look to her for more.  And then she’d walk away, walking to the next computer, the next puzzle.  In a way I think it was her way of coping with our captivity and slavery.  One moment she’d try to make a human connection and the next walk away, the memory of humanity too cold and painful for her to participate in.

Things started to change though.  One day I awoke to the sound of a slight buzzing.  When I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of a room full of dancing white lights – she had managed to get the systems up.  I walked up to her, she sat silent, staring at her screen.  I walked up and knelt by her side, looking at her, her body never recognizing the fact that I was there. 

Finally after an hour or more she sighed, “Adella, you can’t be sneaking up on me like that.”  Was she that absorbed in her work that it took her that long to realize that I had been there for so long?  I shook my head and stood up, silent.  “Find me some tea?” she said as her long delicate fingers went back to work on the console.  That’s how it started – two desperate souls without a place to return to.  I had found out that London had been destroyed in the war, the only real place left for us were the refugee camps of Saturn.  We had lost our homes, our lives.  I ran a stationary shop, selling cards and small party favors for Yule; she had been at King’s College.  All gone now, nothing left for us but Sally’s work.

That’s how our new life started – me fetching tea for Sally after a month, of course, after that time we were the only two left at the wrecked ship we had grown to call home.  And we began our daily ritual – I would fetch tea, watch her work for awhile, and when I grew too restless, I would go about looking through what was left of the ship, always vigilant to avoid the chamber.  “You lack discipline,” she finally said one morning when I handed her a cup of earl gray.

“Excuse me?”  I asked, shocked at the observation and the fact that she said more than her usual request for tea.  “I ran a shop,” I replied to her vacant stare.  Though I was accustomed to her stare, I saw it daily when she was working, she never used that stare on me.  Worse, her eyes never left mine as she took my hand. 

“Come with me,” she said, leading me away from the command deck.  “You need discipline,” she said as she rummaged through an old crew quarters.  “Yes,” she said, taking a cylinder of coil in her free hand.  “Kneel,” she commanded me and I obeyed; who was I to question the words of the great Sally Stephens, PhD?  I knelt down in front of her.  “I can teach you discipline, if you’d like,” she said, her statement more of a command than a question.

I immediately nodded.   “Yes Sally,” I said.

She shook her head.  “Ma’am,” she said.  “Call me ‘Ma’am’ for now.  Close your eyes,” she said and I did as I felt the cool metal being coiled around my neck.  I tried to suppress a shiver but couldn’t and I could hear a cold, icy laugh emerge from her.  “You may open your eyes,” she said as she took me by the chin, tilting my head up so I could see her mouth as she spoke.  “Do as I say and you will be rewarded.  Do as I don’t and you will not.  Simple.  Discipline is easy,” she said, looking over my face and body as she commanded me.  After her own silent speech she said, “Tea please.”

Our ritual of my training continued.  I’d wake up, she’d already be at a console, digging through lines of code.  I tried to ask her one day what she was looking for, and after a tongue click and a sigh, she finally told me.  “Neurotransmitters and sleep cycle patterns,” she said, running back to her work.  “Now kneel.”  I did as I said, taking my punishment for interrupting her studies, only returning to our usual ritual later that evening. 

A few days later, I awoke earlier than normal, the sound of the ship having changed from its usual meditative hum to a warning.  I gathered my items, ran to the bridge, but Sally was not there.  I ran to her other haunts in the ship: medical bay, the captain’s quarters, an exercise deck, but she was nowhere.  Finally, I looked to the last place I hoped she would not be – the old dream chamber. 

I ran in and saw Sally, deep in a slumber and alien tendrils wrapped around her body.  I gasped.  Once we had emerged from here, I had vowed to never return, but there I was, limp with alien vegetation wrapped around her body, like the day we awoke and emerged from this nightmare room.  I knew she had been testing me, teaching me, showing me the inner workings of the systems of the ship to the extent that, in an emergency, I was able to operate in the medical bay and send communications.  Was this a test?  I knew she had been working in here but had always refused to follow.  I looked over at her and saw she had stopped breathing.  “No!” I muttered and ran in, prying cold slimy vines from her body.  She fell forward, onto my shoulder and I carried her to the medical bay.  She still was not breathing.  I eased her to the floor and attempted to blow a couple breaths in her mouth; I was met with a gag and a green slime oozing from her mouth.  A couple more attempts at breaths and she finally inhaled, coughing more of the slime out. 

“Thank you,” she said, a weak smile coming across her face as she lay under me. 

“What were you thinking?!?” I sputtered in shock. 

“It worked Adella, it worked.”

“What worked?” I stared at her.  Was it worth committing suicide to get a scientific endeavor to work?  I looked down at her, sorrow overtaking me.  Had I not come along early, no one would have known that what Sally did “worked.”  “You stopped breathing,” I said, trying to shake off any anger or fear I wanted to throw at her.

“There was oxygen, from the vines,” she said, coughing a little, still unable to sit up from the cold metal floor.  “It’s how we breathed in there before.”

“You stopped breathing,” I repeated myself, hoping that Sally would recognize my concern.

“You were disciplined,” she said in an even weaker voice before passing out.

I looked her over, knowing that I had a long day ahead of me.  “Come on, we need to get you to the medical bay, and get a doctor out here,” I said to her unconscious form as I pulled her up to my side.  She was even heavier than I remembered before. 

When I got her to the medical bay, I did the best I could to get her limp body into the scanner.  All these months of work and there she lay, asleep.  Really, looking over her, she was fine, probably just sleeping it off.  I could go behind her back, call for help, and let a real doctor come and check her over.  But, that wasn’t what she ordered.  “Do as I say,” she always said, often followed by little threats I never thought she’d fulfill, including this one.  But, I knew she trusted me to look over her unconscious body.  I closed the lid to the scanner.  “You owe me,” I said to her near-lifeless form. 

After a few hours, I heard her breathing deepen and she awoke.  “How do you feel?” I asked, looking down at her.  She looked around, obviously wanting to know if I had called others in for help. 

“Like I had a really good night’s sleep,” she whispered as she stretched.  As she sat up, still looking around she asked, “You didn’t call anyone, did you?”

I shook my head.  “I wanted to but somehow I couldn’t,” I said, offering an accepted hand to her to help her to her feet.  I felt her cool hands on my shoulders as I helped to steady her out of the bio-scanner. 

“You did well then,” she said, the back of her fingers lightly rubbing against my cheek.  “You will be rewarded of course,” she smiled, a warm lust in her eyes.  She leans in, unsteadily, and staggers forward.  When she collects herself, she stammers in a shy tone, “That was supposed to be a kiss.”

I look down at her, still unsteady in my arms.  “I don’t think I can take advantage of you in this situation,” I say, helping her walk to the cabin we’ve been staying in. 

“Yes you can,” she orders and leads on from there. 

Though the cabin is just as I had left it this morning, something there feels warmer, closer, more like home.  I help ease her to her bed.  “I don’t think you should work today,” I say, helping pull a blanket up over her.

“Really I’m fine,” she says, arguing.  “Here,” she pulls me down to the bed with her.  “If you say I need rest, then you stay here and rest with me,” she places her arm around me, pulling me closer to her.  Soft lips touch mine and I am pulled further into the bed.  “You’ve done well, anyone else would have called for help,” she says.  “And honestly, considering what we have here, we can’t have others stealing our research.”  I feel her hand caressing my cheek again. 

“Isn’t it dangerous to be your own test subject?” I ask, leaning back from Sally a bit.

“Yes, but that’s why I have you here,” she says, leaning back forwards towards me.  She grins and takes a hold of my collar.  “You’ve been trained, you know what to do, and I know that I can only trust you.”  She pulls on my collar harder, standing up in the process.  “Kneel,” she says and I do.  “This is where I need to trust you.  Do you understand?”  I nod.  “Do you promise that I will do as I say?”  I nod again and she looks me over, staring deep into my eyes.  “We start further testing tomorrow.”



~~~ 

The following morning I am met by a new array of sensations covering my body, and I can’t quite tell if it is the lingering aftermath of pleasure, pain, or both.  As I roll over, the scent of leather and oil hit my nose, and I see Sally still asleep on the bed above me.  I look to my wrists, which are now vaguely free from the pleasures of last night; my ankles did not fare as well and I reach down to free them, still hearing the strains of Sally’s light breathing in her sleep.  I quietly try to get up but kick at a chain, “Shi…” I catch myself cursing and Sally moves.

“Tea,” she sighs, ordering me back to my duties.  “We have a lot of work ahead of us now,” she says, wiping the wrinkles from her bio-suit and I look down to my suit, doing the same. 

I nod, “Yes Ma’am.”  As I to the attached kitchenette I see her form leave the quarters. 

We worked like that for a month, maybe two.  I’d wake early and free myself from whatever was bound to me, and she’d follow me up, often going to a small warehouse that was in the belly of the ship.  Each morning I’d arrive with our tea, and I’d see her assemble.  After awhile, she had created what looked to be a chair with conduits running from it. 

“Like it?” she asked one day, staring at it in pride.  “I think we can recreate the dream state again, only now, you’ll be able to monitor every moment of what happens in there,” she says.  “Here,” she takes my hand, “This is the control booth.  From here, you are my lifeline.  Every breath I take you can see, and even control.  Every chemical that is made by my brain, you can influence.  You will even be setting what brain waves I create,” she points to a read out.  After an hour of showing me each panel, she quizzes me.  “Very good,” she says, rubbing her fingers over my sore and swollen lips.  “Now we both know how to work it.”  She looks at me and cocks her head.  “Hmm,” she says and starts to look over my body, poking and prodding at various points.  “Where are your ports?” she asks.

“Ports?”  I reply, not knowing what she had said.

“The ports on the bio-suit the aliens fitted you with.”  

I look down and see little circular ports on her body.  I reach out and touch one.  Though I had seen them on her, I had always assumed that she already had them on when she was brought here originally.  I shake my head.  “I was the first one here,” I say, saddened more by the fact that my bio-suit did not have ports than by the life I was forced to leave behind. 

“Ah,” she says, walking a circle around me, observing my body.  “Then it is imperative that I have your trust,” she says as her hands change from a light poking to interchanging between a light slap and a light rub.  “My life is literally in your hands,” I feel a sting, “Anything goes wrong, and only you can fix it,” I feel another sting.  “Most of all, you’ll be the only one who can wake me,” and another sting.

“I don’t believe that,” my voice cracks.

“Well, there is a stop-gap built in.  As long as someone is continually monitoring this, I will stay asleep.  No monitoring and a sequence will begin to wake me up.  Power goes out and the chemicals keeping me in my slumber will wear off, and I will wake up,” she pulls on my hair, playing with it in different styles as she talks.  “While you have been following orders from me this last year or so, it is now time to switch.  It will be the same while I’m awake of course, but it could get lonely,” she now toys with my lips and I wince a bit as her finger hits a particularly sore spot from the previous night.  She continues to instruct me. 

“Think you’re ready?” she asks, pushing a few buttons on my console and I nod.  “Good,” she says.  “This first trial will be to see if you can alter and monitor everything.  I’ll only be deep enough to be meditating, so I can pull out if needed.”  I bite my lip.  I can’t believe that after everything Sally had succumbed to in the chamber a few months ago, let alone almost dying, that she was willing to go back under again. 

“I can see you’re nervous,” she said, pressing a few more controls.  “I’ll have a way of controlling as well from my end,” she holds up a gauge of sorts that is fitted into her hand; at the end is what looks like some sort of an electrical plug.  “If I feel I need to wake and cannot, I have it set up that I can.”  I look back at her hand.  “It’s a panic button, but knowing that I can trust you, I really won’t need it,” she says, pushing a button on the console.  “Come, I’ll show you how to fasten me in.”

I follow her into the room with the chair and she begins to show me how to strap her in, starting with plugging in the panic button.  “Do you really think this is a good idea?” I ask, nodding in respect to Sally.

Sally shakes her head.  “Talking out of turn,” she nags me.  “I thought we were past this.  It’s about trust.  I can still trust you, right?” She looks me in the eye.  Though her normal modus operandi in this situation would be to command a question to me, this one she allows me to answer of free will. 

I nod my head, “You can trust me,” my voice shakes.  She looks at me, knowing there is more to what I have to say.  “I just don’t know if I can trust myself.”

She reaches around me, giving me a hug.  “You already have dear Adella, you already have.”  She pulls back, looking at me and then finishes strapping herself in with my help.

~~~ 

A few months after our successes, it has become evident that the use of a chair-type mechanism for holding the body will not work, when we awake one morning and I hear Sally softly sobbing.  The previous day we had gone a record 18 hours with her in the chair. 

“You okay?” I ask, kneeling as I check on her.   She shakes her head and grimaces, continuing to try to hold back.  “Pain?”  I ask and she nods rapidly, trying not to let on how bad she feels.  I try to help her sit up and I feel how hot an inflamed her back and arms are.

“We can’t use the chair anymore,” she says as I look her over, her body having atrophied a bit and her suit hanging looser on her skin. 

“But we got it to work, didn’t we?” I ask, helping her up.  I am taking her to the medical bay with our without her wishes, and she seems to be complying with me. 

“Yes, but my body can’t handle it, it hasn’t been able to handle it for awhile now, I just haven’t mentioned it.  There needs to be a suspension of something,” she begins to think aloud, her thoughts numbing her pain enough that I can lead her to the scanning bed.  We pass an upright stasis chamber on our way to the bed.  “Of course,” she says as she stops me by the unit.  “But I can’t stay in for long; my skin would never allow it.”

“The bio-suit?” I ask, my arm still wrapped around her for support. 

Sally shakes her head.  “I don’t think they’d last.”

I look across the way to a chair similar to what she based the current model on.  “Why not just use shorter times?”

Sally shakes her head again.  “No, they kept us asleep for years without damage to our bodies or our suits.  We bodies didn’t age, our muscles didn’t atrophy” she nods to me to let her stand on her own and she takes a few steps forward.  “This,” she says, pointing to a microscope-like unit and presses a few buttons, powering it up.  “I missed this,” she leans forward, looking into it, studying it.  “Yes of course,” she says, pressing a few other buttons.  “Tea please,” she says, indicating to me not so much the desire for the hot liquid, but rather the need for her steadied research of this device. 

“What is it?” I ask.

“I think it’s another computer, one we missed,” she says without moving from the machine.  “Yes, it’s here, but the supply seems finite,” she presses a few more buttons.  After a few minutes, she stops and looks at me, not saying a word.

“What?” I ask, fearing her next words.

“You have to go in.”

I shook my head.  “You stopped breathing.”

“I didn’t have you watching me,” she took my hand and led me to the screen.  “You have to go in.  This is new; it’s what we were missing before.”  I look away and look back to her.  Though the last year or so of scientific experiences has taught me to read the biochemical readings that Sally was so used to working with daily, what I saw on the screen was still new to me.  Sally sighed.  “You have to go in because, if this works, I need to be able to monitor exactly what happens to you in there.  I won’t leave the computer, except to be next to you, to help you in and out of it, like you do for me.”  She looks to me with hopeful eyes, “Only you can do this right now.”

I shake my head in disbelief; when we emerged from the chamber, I swore that I would never re-enter it again.  I already entered it once to save the life of my dear friend, and now I was in disbelief that I would be entering it yet again to go back into that dream world that I was very glad to leave.

“So?” Sally asks, the tone of her voice expecting miracles.

“I’ll do it.”  I shake my head lightly and I catch myself biting my lip.  I really don’t want to do it, but I know that I can trust her and I know that she knows what she is doing.

“Come,” she takes me hand and leads me into the chamber.  I feel my heart begin to race as I see the room.  Though we only were conscious in this room for a few minutes, seeing it represents my fear of all we were subjected to for those ten years.  I look at Sally, walking ahead of me, practically dragging me now into the chamber, and she is oblivious to these feelings.  I was taken, the first to be taken here, she only volunteered. 

“Sally,” I hear my voice squeak out and she stops.

“What is it?” she turns and looks at me, and I feel myself blush a little.

“Don’t leave me,” I say.  I know that nothing will go wrong really, she’s going to be watching every moment that I’m in there.  In fact, I’ll be safer in there than I am out of there; the computer monitors everything that happens in the body.  Sally looks me over.

“I’ll take you only semi-conscious the first time.  If you can handle that, and we’ll be able to talk to each other, then we’ll talk about going under fully.”

I nod, “Okay.”  Though I trust my friend with all my life, being in this chamber alone makes me nervous.

Sally takes my hand again and leads me up to the wet, warm pod.  As I touch it with my hand to climb in, the vines move, allowing me entrance.  I look to Sally with nervous eyes.

“It’s okay, it knows that I’m in control now,” she says and helps me up. 

As I start to climb in, the tendrils help push me up as well.  When I turn around to look, Sally is now holding a small tablet and pushing buttons on it; she is controlling the vines that are helping me.  She chuckles a little and looks at me, “Every move, I’m in control,” she says as she presses a few buttons; a tendril of the chamber lightly moves across my cheek, leaving a trail of warm, thick liquid, like a warmed paraffin wax.  As I get into the position needed, I feel a vine snake its way up my leg, massaging it gently. 

“This is very strange,” I say.

“We were asleep at this point,” she says.  “Relax, close your eyes, let this happen,” she says and I hear her press a few more buttons on the tablet.  I close my eyes, and slowly, I feel a tendril snake up my arm, caressing it all the way.  “I’m in complete control of your body right now Adella,” she says, and I feel another tendril snake up the other leg, stopping near my pelvis and pushing on me.  I gasp a little, and it does feel good.

“Pheromones, it works on pheromones,” Sally exclaims, but I don’t care.  I feel good, comforted, and another tendril snakes around me, bringing with it the warm paraffin wax feeling, kneading my muscles, and I’m suddenly alive in sensations.  Warmth, heat, massage, it feels too good.  Why was I so scared, I wonder to myself and I give in to waves of pleasure seeping across my body.  I can’t move, but I don’t want to move; if I move I know that these wonderful feelings will cease.  I hear Sally chuckle a little, further away than she was before, and I feel another tendril snake around me, probing at my mouth a little.  I open for it and it pushes in lightly, probing, and I remember Sally telling me that it will breathe for me.  My hearts quickens but the tendrils react to it, massaging me more, and I catch myself in a pleasurable moan.  Sally chuckles again.  “Liking it?” she asks, and I feel more and more ecstasy take over me.  I inhale and let all these sensations take control.

And I dream.

When I begin to come to my senses, I am laying on a gurney with a warm blanket over my body.  Light, smooth lips are kissing and nibbling mine.  Sally is kneeling above me, kissing me, looking me over.

“How was it?” she asks and I look around.

“What happened?” I ask.

“It worked.  How did it feel?”

My hands smooth over my body; the suit is intact, though I thought while under that the liquid had replaced it.  “Good,” I nod and grin, wanting only more.

Sally stands up, offering me a hand.  “Then it worked well,” she said. 

I sit up and look over my body and around me; I’m still in the chamber, but it now feels completely different to me, like it’s my home, or the bed of a secret lover.  “Wow,” I say in awe, “Was it supposed to feel like that?” I ask.

Sally sits beside me, her arm wrapping around me to show the tablet she had been controlling my experience with.  “The aliens used pheromones and hormones to stimulate our brains to produce a high amount of endorphins.  Need a cigarette?” she chuckles as I bask in my afterglow.  I catch myself blushing.

“And your experiences with entering the dream world?” I ask, somewhat jealous of her now.

“If you want to know if I felt like you did, the answer is no, there were no endorphins.  Did you feel like fighting the tendrils at all?”  I shake my head; fighting was the very last thing I wanted.  “The endorphins stimulated your body into believing you were having a very pleasurable experience, when in fact, you were being held prisoner and could not move.  I even took you fully into sleep; you weren’t fighting the system at all.” 

I look back behind me at the chamber I was held in, amazed at the room and the experience.  “How long?”

“Six hours.”

Six hours?  I look with amazement at the chamber; Sally could make millions of credits in the pleasure districts with this, but here she is, trying to apply science to it for the greater good. 

“I’ll start in the morning on adapting the liquid to the tank we found, but with fewer endorphins,” Sally grins at me, teasing me a little about what I felt in the chamber.  “For now, let’s get some rest,” she offers me a hand and I follow her to bed.

~~~ 

A week passes, with little spoken word shared between us other than Sally’s customary, “Tea,” request.  We wake, I follow her to her latest work shop, and I watch, handing her tools, schematics, and data tablets as requested.  Soon, she is alternating her work between the tank and a nearby controller, showing me how to work it, and what to look for.

“You’re lucky,” she reminds me one day.  “You’re the only human to experience the full experience and potential in there,” she reminds me of the chamber and I blush. 

“Did you plan it that way?” I ask sheepishly. 

“Yes,” she said and smiled.  “I had to reward you for all your hard work some how,” she presses a few buttons on the console and I blush.  “But, I did not change the original settings at all.  We all felt that while in there, our minds just never registered it while in the aliens’ dream world.”  She tweaks a few more settings.  “I think it’s ready,” and she heads to the tank on the opposite wall, nodding to me.  I follow and assist her in, data tablet in hand.  After a few pressed buttons, she is asleep and I am alone again, monitoring her. 

After a few hours, I pull her to consciousness as instructed.  “And?” I ask, she nods.

“It worked.”

~~~

I remember when it all began, the day the aliens came.  It was such a sad day, but now it is brightened by the contributions Sally and I had made to the world.  I remember the day I went to sleep and the day I began to really live, as we finally made a contribution to our society.   Dream chambers have been delivered to small communities where it would be otherwise impossible to work, children attend school by them, university even.  Men and women are home more for their children, no longer needing to commute.  Sally and I stayed at the ship, upgrading the systems to continue more work.  We hired a crew; people had jobs, money, and that money built up the post-war economy and brought a new life for many people.  And dream walking soon replaced the computer.  People could attend colleges, museums, plays, sports; everything was available in the dream world.  


Special Thanks:
Jackie Graves

Credits:
Concept:  Jackie Graves, Arizona Navarathna
Story:  Arizona Navarathna, Sonja Mistwallow
Modeling:  Sonja Mistwallow, Arizona Navarathna
Photography:  Philip Belgold
Photo Editing:  Arizona Navarathna
Editing:  Arizona Navarathna
HTML Editing:  Medavac Renfold
Video:  Sonja Mistwallow, Medavac Renfold
Communications and Locations:  Sonja Mistwallow


Stylings:

Sonja/Sally's Clothing:
Outfit:  Graves, Paradox Megapack for L$980
Shoes:  Graves, Alpha Boots in Black for L$390

Arizona/Adella's Clothing:
Outfit:  Graves, Enigma Bodysuit for L$440
Shoes:  Graves, Vertigo Boots for L$490
  

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Mom's Licensure Update

As some of you may or may not know, Mom is a nurse... who somehow had her licensure mixed up at the state when she moved here and it wasn't discovered until a few months ago.  So, after studying hard... again... she took her boards... again... and passed.  It's been a tough couple of weeks here at TRF, but now that that's behind us, back to our regularly scheduled posting.  Hard to do some of these posts without her, in fact we decided not to even.  But, one thing remains:  way to go Mom!

Review: Indyra Originals, i(heart)Unity Spirit Sets


"The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, 
the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, 
an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us" 

-John Williams

In the spirit of the Olympics, we at TRF are proud to present Indyra Seigo's newest design, the i(heart)Unity Spirit Sets. This semi-mesh set is available at the Indyra Originals store in world for L$325, and each purchase will earn you L$50 if you are a member of her Indyra Originals store group. The set comes with one mesh tank top in five separate sizes, three matching thigh-high socks, a cute pair of leather shorts, and a color change headband. While shoes are not included, there are so many possible ways to style this outfit, that you can really wear almost any shoe. There are currently ten countries to choose from, and I am assuming that there is a good chance for more to come.  But, you have to shop for this treat soon as it is a limited edition, available for this week only specifically for the Olympics.

This outfit is great for any sort of Olympics party or any gathering where you want to show off your international team spirit. The flag on the front is very stylized and is just gorgeous; the style of the flag for each country is definitely chic enough that you can wear the shirt for anything patriotic and still be in style.  Sometimes flags can come off as gaudy, but with the chic modernized design of these, the flags will always work well for a patriotic look.  The shorts are absolutely cute too, in a nice soft leather.  The socks add a sporty touch and come with three colors around the thighs - always black and then two of the main colors of the country's flag.  While shoes do not come with the outfit, I chose to pair it with a pair of color change trainers or a pair of black heels, depending on if I wore the socks or not.  There is also a cute headband as well that has a color-changing bow.

While the shirt itself came in five separate sizes, as it is rigged mesh, I still had a little problem with it working with my AO.  While the shirt fits well with more neutral poses, if you have an AO that moves more than normal, it may force parts of your shirt to to in your avatar.  There is an included alpha layer for the shirt.  I was able to easily wear my standard size shape and get the outfit to fit right.  Mom tried the demo at the store and was able to get it to fit to a standard size shape as well and did not have a problem with her AO.  

Overall this is a great little outfit for any Olympic or patriotic theme, but if you want it, you need to get it soon as she will only carry this outfit for the week.  Everyone here at TRF absolutely loves Indyra Originals, and Mom is over there right now shopping again even.  She has some of the great designs in SL for a good price, and she really is extremely high end - all of her fashions have great textures, designs, cuts, and fits.  I would not hesitate to wear anything that Ms. Seigo designs and am looking to publishing this blog so I can go over and join Mom in the Indyra shopping spree.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Great flag designs, versatile

Cons:  The mesh may cut into your body depending on the pose