Two Competition Pictures

So far, Faerie Folk is going along really well. There's a ton of talent in this competition, and I think the next (3rd) assignment will be even MORE of a challenge. It's really helped me to begin shaking off the photo/Photoshop cobwebs. 

Assignment #1: Showing how or character became evil (or good if she's on the less dark side)

It is an age when Chaos rules the world of mortals; this brother of Order, not wholly evil yet a brazen assassin of balance. By his maxim he is not only important, but critical to the resplendent flow of Qo Nàhe, the boundless immeasurable stream of existence. The Guardian Architect spoke of this to me once, and once again in twilight's somber song.

"...Discord navigates the waves of Qo Nàhe...with impulse and hollow regard he sows the seeds of disarray, of anarchy...the radiant blade will lie in wait. His dominion bears down on all, the drowning weight liken to a thousand storms...and from bedlam skies will toy with mortal fate..."

In the era of my innocence the words mean nothing. Even as the heavy burden was laid on my shoulders, my fate to suffer for the misery of Man, these lines of prose pass through unconcerned ears and an infantile heart. I neither comprehend nor give fretted thought to the beautiful aria dissipating through my memory, fading like effervescent si'lescàya petals on a waiting tongue...

...and so he chooses me.

The breath of Chaos Architect enveloped me as I emerged from a bathing spring, and its brisk unsteady wind was unfamiliar, curious. I closed my eyes and suffocated in its caress, all about me slicing, permeating, penetrating, almost salacious in pained pleasure.

With numb weary I weep bitter tears, and the jade poison seeps past my lips snaking the same trail -- I understand now, and my defiled heart surges rapidly within.

He has tainted my essence, made corrupt my sacred burden, and his unyielding grip asphyxiates. My duty abound, I am called to relieve another mortal soul besieged in darkness...and to my everlasting despair I come to realize my role as an instrument of the Architect; as my song of lament draws the pain of melancholy from one tortured being, so too does it draw the Architect himself to me and to my task, and he comes swiftly. With gleaming blade in hand he mirrors my benevolence with his bitterness, piercing a mortal spirit with jade venom and untold, undeserved misery. I linger helpless.

By his edict I can do no right without bringing ruin. I am consolation, and also catastrophe, forever a pawn in the game of Chaos, and an agent of ill will.

...Mankind forgive me...

Assignment #2: We were each assigned a word that symbolizes faeries in some way, and had to represent that word in a pic. I was given "Rebirth"

Ennui, the mournfully beautiful Fae of Sorrows, has endured two births: the first as she passed into the world as a delicate infant, and the second as the weary song of the Guardian Architect pierced her innocent soul.

The wax and wane of the Nie hala Lûn, or Indigo Moon, foretold her rebirth as the sorrow-filled fae, and since that time Ennui has faithfully carried out her tasks. If not for the baneful Chaos Architect, she would live a blessed, albeit melancholy life. Her heart aches for the mortal souls who carry heavy burdens because of her taint, her body soiled with the viscous misery of those she inadvertently hurts.

Though anguish stains her now, Ennui dreams of the age when she can cleanse herself under the Ériol soah Lûn, or purifying Azure Moon, emerging from a glowing cerulean pool and washing away the tarnished shades of her spirit. On this ethereal night, Ennui will cast off her ruin and bask in the sparkling essence of her final birth, reclaiming her true, pure task as the Fae of Sorrows.

I'm loving this sim so much...I wish I knew how to make CC so we could have more fantasy-style items!

Faerie Folk Cycle 3 Entry and Recent Sim Pics

The last competition I joined was Evie's awesome Unique: Kawaii comp back in August, and before that it was Akasha's Gothique Beauty Cycle 1 (which finished in June). I'm so rusty! But I'm took a leap and signed up for Faerie Folk. Some of the best sim artists in the community have gone through that competition, and it sounds like a blast...I'm just really nervous! But hopefully it'll be a lot of fun.

The sim I submitted is a fae that I named Ennui Sorrowsong. Ennui (pronounced "ahn-WEE") is actually a term used to describe feelings of weariness, boredom, or discontent, but can also refer to general melancholy. I dunno, for some reason I've always liked the word, so my poor faerie got stuck with the name.

This Cycle of Faerie Folk centers around Good and Evil faeries: our sim could either be Good or Evil (Ennui is evil, though I had initially planned for her to be Good. We were over the limit on Goods), and for Assignment #1 we'll have to show how she/he became that way. I have no earthly idea how I'll portray mine just yet, but the brainstorming is a trip!

Ennui's Bio:

On the seventh night of the Nie hala Lûn (the hallowed Indigo Moon), the Guardian Architect whispered a mournful song into Ennui's heart, one that beat delicately within her, untainted by the horrors of suffering. The beautiful pale little fae opened her sorrowful crystalline eyes and stepped out into the stillness of the frigid night, hair burned dark by the glimmering low-hung Indigo Moon above. Its wax and wane foretold her rebirth, and also hope for the world of men; for it would be her charge to seek out those with weary hearts pained in weighted hopelessness and anguish.

From that eve and onward, Ennui has existed as the Fae of Sorrows. With a Dusk of Dying rose between her trembling lips, its thorns ever drawing fresh cold blood, she would sing a beautifully somber lamenting aria of misery and of mercy. The eternal burden placed upon Ennui is a great one: to absorb the grim despair of woe that afflicts the mortal soul, to swallow his grief, relieve him of worry and draw it deep within her own essence. For her sacrifice, she bears the scar of empathy for every crestfallen tear that becomes her own.

Though Ennui bears her burden with genuine grace, there are those that seek to use her for their divine will. The Architect of Chaos blew turbulent, silent winds of discourse and tainted Ennui's spirit; for every grief-stricken tear she draws into herself, she inadvertently causes a tear to fall. For every ravaged heart and besieged soul she frees of torment, she causes a parallel, unforeseen heartache someplace in the mortal world. She is viewed as an evil soul, but Ennui's most tortured desire is to restore Order and reclaim her unsullied birthtask.

Until then, she continues her dreary song, made more melancholy and desperately beautiful with tiny thorn-drawn blood droplets...

When I installed LN last week, one of the first things I did was to go around and check out some of the Bridgeport character. It was late, so I played around with making over Morrigan and Wogan Hemlock. Nothing dramatic - just adjusting a few features and adding some CC. I think they still look similar to their original vampy selves. You can check them out HERE at Sim Exhibition if ya want.


Finally, I have to say that dressing up a sim for my blog banner was cool as hell. I guess she's the current 'Bijou Sweeney', or something like that. I was testing out some backgrounds and other shtuff a couple of weeks ago and ended up editing one of those shots in Photoshop. It's only a test shot, so the poses suck -- BUT the editing came out okay (just a few filters). If the background looks at all familiar, it is: it's the set from one of my Gothique Beauty pictures (Arabesque as a black swan). The sexxy vamp dude is a dark version of my Cristobel Mourningstar sim, and now that I have LN, he's next on my list to be legitimately vampified:

Click to enlarge!