For the HOARD! ~ Ode to Cernunnos

I like masks. And skulls. And horns. And antlers. (Those who know me, know this well.) And so these recent additions to my hoard go well together.

Illusions 'Eikthirnir' Deer Skull Mask & Antlers

A truly gorgeous piece in two parts, mesh with multiple textures to choose from and tintable pattern layers over the top (which I made to glow a tiny bit). I just... I... wow. Pictured using the windlight setting from the previous Illusions sim, Carnivale (she moved in May). It's basically just a re-tint of the atmospheric RGB settings. I found this piece on Siyu's blog. The name belongs to the Norse stag who nibbled at the branches of the great tree of life, Yggdrasil, and means 'Old Thorny'. For this shot I used my first Colour Challenge outfit, Champagne, but with different hair that wouldn't get in the way.

Illusions Dreamcatcher 'Rusa' Antlers

Another Illusions antler set, one piece this time but you can toggle the dreamcatcher netting and feathers on or off, and again, there are lots of textures. The feathers and dangling strings are flexi. I'm wearing it with my Hunter Green outfit from the Colour Challenge, because this outfit suits a shaman, as does the dreamcatcher. In that post, I told the story of how I was challenged by, and eventually befriended, a unicorn; he came home with me, and features in my recent teeth post, and can be glimpsed here in the background as he frolics in my wildflower meadow.

ContraptioN 'Walton's Mask'

This was one of those items I'd been eyeing up for a while but never quite had the Lindens to spend on. I grabbed it along with the teeth when I was visiting ContraptioN, ostensibly to get the music box I mentioned in my Castle post. Stores are very dangerous places for me! Here I'm wearing it with the PurpleMoon outfit 'La Mort Douce', a Halloween special from some years ago, and the jewellery set 'Selva in the Moonlight', also by PurpleMoon, picked up on Friday from the Fashion For Life event which I scurried through on the last day, holding blinkers firmly to my eyes. (That wasn't all I got, but I'll blog the other items later.)

Walton's Mask & Selva Jewellery in close-up

The mask reminds me of the beaked leather head-dresses worn by plague doctors in the Middle Ages, with beautiful metallic scroll-work. He sells them in a range of different colours; naturally I chose gold. The hair was an archaeological find from my inventory; Deadkitties 'Krabat' (the men's prize; I have a large head!) from the 2009 (!) 'Fairytales' Macabre Hunt. It has lots of colour change feathers stuck in it. My gold skin, as in the previous posts, is 'Aquamer-Andri' from The Plastik, one of the best golden (and scaly) skins I have come across, and a gift from the Devil himself :o No really, my friend who role-plays Lucifer, but is in reality a sweetheart. The tree behind me is from Forest Floor Creations; I use both hers and Nadine Reverie's trees on my parcel as they are beautiful and realistic but low prim. My pose is from Juicy, angel ready for take-off.

Implings 'Dark Guardian' Statue

I spotted this handsome fellow while popping in for an item or two in the sales over the weekend at Implings and Angelic Designs (I'll blog the rest later). There are some things which just scream 'You need me!' and this was one of them. He is mesh, stands 3m tall and takes up only 16 prims, at an astonishingly low price (no he wasn't on sale). He stands guarding the entrance to the cave below my castle, a cave which houses a very special waterfall, hiding the Holy Grail itself (something I made for a fun hunt to celebrate when I first bought my castle). 

Although Amy (of Implings) has named him dark, I think of him much more as a nature spirit than a demon, a forest deity like Herne or Pan. Not gentle; he is holding the severed spine and (hidden behind me) skull of some hapless hunter or trapper who has provoked his wrath; but nor is he evil, for he embodies and protects the natural world, which humanity is always inclined to despoil. You can just about see the yellow of a tiny fairy creature nestling in a knothole on his right breast (not part of the statue; it's another recent purchase I will blog later) to show his protective nature. As a horned forest god, my dark guardian stands as patron to a large proportion of my avatars, and to my RL environmental leanings.

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For the HOARD! ~ Gnice Gnashers!

After my hiatus there were a few things on my shopping wishlist (an ever expanding and unfulfillable Grail, with items still on it from 2006) that I remembered vividly enough to look up, hoping they would still be available. My ContraptioN musical box was one such. Inevitably, as I browsed around the store, I discovered More New Things I wanted. Believe it or not, I don't actually like shopping. I find too many things I want to buy, and can't, and this is frustrating. Usually I will go after what I want in advance, having seen it somewhere else or on a group notice, and will attempt not to window shop. But after a year's absence, one can't not look around at all the new goodies one's favourite creators have come up with...

So it turns out that ContraptioN has made a slightly different version of the Shark Grin, a toothsome smile I used in my Tea Green post for the colour challenge. The Shark Grin is great but... a bit much for daily use. The Carnivorous Jaw is more adjustable and has better alpha masks, so that it can be quite subtle, until you get really close...

See? My unicorn still likes me!

Without all the windlight, for a clearer shot.

... Or of course if you smile. And then this happens. I had to promise my 6 year old that I wouldn't do it again *eg*.

Smile! It's dinner time!

Also wearing the Finesmith 'Bar' Tiara in champagne which is another recent purchase. I get a lot of jewellery from Finesmith and will be blogging more later.

I really love the polished wet sheen to these teeth, it makes them look very realistic. They are mesh, but come in 3 movable sections, so you can fit the upper and lower dentures better, and there is also a tongue and palate so you can laugh without having a hollow head. There are a couple of other 'expressions' which - for me personally - don't look quite so good as 'subtle' and 'smile', also a bloody just-fed look; and if you don't wear the alpha mask at all, the teeth fit so well that just two fangs stick out like a vampire's, and don't look at all out of the ordinary (for SL). I have to say these are my all-time favourite teeth and I will be wearing them pretty much constantly; goodbye to my old and much-loved XCite fangs! Well I might keep those for the actual vampire avatars. A dragon needs a whole set of nasty, sharp, pointy teeth..!

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