I have a lot to show you and cuts don't work here, so pardon how much space this takes, but I think you'll find something worth seeing. (And don't miss the announcement for the Newport Keys photo contest - there's very big L$ to be won!)

Okay guys, it's time to clear out a group slot.

You're gonna need one open so you can join the Mystic Hope Design group. Being a member of the group means you can slap the Midnight Mania boards here at their mainstore, and oh boy, they make it worth it! They've got not one, but two MM boards dedicated just for the guys. (And yes, there are two boards for the ladies as well!) If you like the high fantasy style, you're going to find something tasteful and exotic offered here, with deep textures and satisfying options.

There's a Group Joiner conveniently located right by the MM boards. Go ahead, check it out. You might be lucky enough to end up wearing an outfit tomorrow like one of these. I won the "Dimension Man Black" and "Xavier Blue" outfits here. These outfits are finely fashioned and excellently detailed enough to make any man feel like a noble.

Did I mention there are two MM boards for the ladies also, also offering complete outfits? Here, LadyBlue is showing off her win of the "Xandria Blue" outfit.

The MM prizes will change of course, and if you're interested in the current offerings, better hurry there right away. After that, you might want to hold onto this group for awhile. This is definitely a set of boards to keep your eyes on.

While you're in the area, wander across the courtyard to the Mystic Paradise sister store to slap these MM boards as well.

 

Yay, I got lucky at this board too! The targets are low enough to be reachable, but just high enough to make it challenging. And if you're still not satisfied, on the other side of the MM wall are a couple lucky chairs that might be kind to you - one for men and one for women. Keep that group tag active.

While trying to cross through the courtyard, you found yourself walking into the middle-located Reaktor Omega shop instead? Well check out their lucky chair to win a skin & shape (it alternates between male and female) or a set of prim eyes or maybe a tattoo, and be sure to grab the freebies on the nearby shelves, including battle scars and tintable nails. (Note: My initial hasn't yet come up for me at this chair, so I don't know if this is a group-only chair or not, and if it is, whether it accepts the same Mystic Hope group, or if it requires the Reaktor Omega group. With the chair and the RO group joiner both sharing the same decorative frames and located in close proximity to each other, it's possible you might wait for your letter then find it requires the other group.)

While you're waiting for a lucky letter to change, be sure to browse around these shops. There is a great selection of diverse fantasy designs that could also work for steampunk, vintage, period, vampire, neko, gothic or even general clubbing, from full outfits to separates and accessories - even shoes and boots. Of course the largest selection is for the ladies, but there is enough a range for men to add these shops to your favorites. I picked up this "Demonlord Black" outfit for only L$50 - but sh! don't tell anyone, because it looks like I spent a whole lot more, and I like the illusion!

Snapshots of the vendors were of course taken in the Mystic Hope Design and Mystic Paradise shops in Alouette. The rest of the photos were taken at Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters - the hauntingly excellent Macbeth sim.

If you haven't been there, go! If you've visited before, visit again! Be sure you have at least an hour to browse around, read the book pages, follow the teleports and get lost in the nightmare maze - er, I mean, to *not* get lost. Yeah, that's it. And prepare to shoot a lot of pictures; the entire sim is unmistakably photogenic, and the eerie atmosphere is ideal for the current season.

Style Notes

as Macbeth:
Mystic Hope (Dimension Man Black), worn with:
skin: Vera Voight (Photorealistic Steve), ubiquitous freebie
boots: AFantasy (Engineer Boots)
hair: Simply Britnee (Justin)

as Duncan:
Mystic Hope (Xavier Blue), worn with:
skin: newbie_template Linden (skin masculine high class), ubiquitous freebie
boots: Domestic-V (HitchHiker Boots) color modified
hair: Cabelo Preto (arrepiado)
horse: AKK Ranch (Legend WS Black)

as Banquo:
Mystic Paradise (Demonlord Black), worn with:
skin: Neko Elements (Black Jaguar Valentines)
boots: Boneflower Designs (Platform Buckle Hero Boots)
hair: Kavar (Havok)

On LadyBlue as Lady Macbeth:
Mystic Hope (Xandria Blue), worn with:
skin: Siri-Us Skins (Dainty Glow), Princess hunt gift
hair: Alli & Ali (Julia), color modified
shoes: Retro-ology (Snowflake ballet flats), color modified
nails: Reaktor Omega (tintable fingernails), instore freebie

poses:
Y.M.X., Ks2cool, and my own

This fortuitous adventure began while I was following the Crayon Hunt (going on until 8/22). Tracking the elusive crayon landed me in the Uemachi sim where I noticed a gathering of green dots nearby. When I took a closer look, I found a couple lucky boards with not one but two MALE skins as prizes! Luck was with me as S popped up for the male Musashi skin almost as soon as I arrived, and there wasn't another S-person in sight. Woot!

I donned my new skin and saw that it called for an entirely different look, so I poked through recent items in my inventory and put together something really unusual. Downright bizarre even. So strange it made me gasp. I looked...normal. Not a fantasy creature, not a bishonen, not a dark urban; not gothic or preppy, not a brute or sex idol, not muscleman or street punk; and not even a business guy or sports guy or casual guy. Just a plain ole normal guy, the kind of ordinary appearance you see every day in the real world. With a change of skin and clothes, I had become the average American guy you see riding a bicycle, mowing the lawn, shopping at Home Depot or just taking the dog for a walk.

(Such normality is unusual for me so I retained the look for a couple days, just for the sheer novelty. And at one point, while camming around a shop during a hunt, I saw that someone else had arrived to the otherwise empty store - then had to doubletake when I suddenly realized the "someone else" was my own avatar that I simply hadn't recognized!)

Incredibly, even as I completed this new - normal - look, the lucky board for the second skin called my S, thus gaining me the men's Shirou skin also. Both of these male skins, plus many more female skins in the area (including free skins for males or females under 30 days) are the product of Heaven's Skin & Shape. The male skins are a fairly new offering, so much so that the Musashi skin is even labeled "prototype." As I contemplated my luck in having won both of the male skins, I heard "now choosing a new letter" announcements from some other lucky boards somewhere nearby. I had to investigate!

Got a lady? Better bring her with you to Uemachi. Right across the street from the men's skins lucky boards, she can click on a purple pole to join the Uemachi sim friends group. Having joined the group, she can now nab this delicate Arachne skin for free.

And if she loves skins, she's going to love the additional lucky boards that Heaven has scattered around here to the North of the main store and also to the South, each containing a female skin in a variety of tones and makeup.

Clicking one of the purple poles to join the Uemachi sim friends group is a good idea for the guys, too. Across the street from all those lady skins is a little shop called Yoppy's that specializes in wearable particle effects and has some lucky boards! Two of them are open for anyone to get lucky with, but a third is available only for group members. I got lucky here on the group board which was offering a secret prize. I won't give away the secret, but I can tell you it's a very generous prize that's got a little something for almost every occasion. If you enjoy particle effects, you will want to check Yoppy's boards in case your letter might come up.

Roaming further to the east, I found another VJ Eyewear shop where you can pick up the free "Smart" sunglasses (blogged previously) and have a chance to win a trio of glasses with heart-shaped lenses. They're either very girly or very punk, depending on your style.

Across from VJ, I found another lucky board at ROGE Hair & Salon. I didn't win anything here, but the shop contains some nice-looking hair worth checking out. Most of the styles are feminine, but there are also several made for men, and the prices were quite reasonable.

No picture (and no lucky board), but next to ROGE is a shop called Miroku which I think is another shop worth taking a look into. Among other things, there are some men's boots priced from L$1 to L$50 (and boots for the ladies from L$50 - L$120).

All in all, Uemachi is a sim with interesting products to view, many shops to explore (this only covers one small corner of the sim), and several ways to get lucky!

Oh, and free lollipops. Did I mention the free lollipops? There are free lollipops, too! Go get yourself a free lollipop!

He's suave, he's smooth. He's so cool that his footprints probably leave icicles behind him. He's many things that I'm not (lol), but in Second Life, I can be, even if only for a little while.

 And oh yes. Today, I am Neo.

You'll notice I'm not wearing a long coat or high collar. It's not necessary. The whole key to emulating the look of Neo is the glasses. If you've got those, everything else just falls into place. And guys, you can pick up those glasses for free right now by teleporting over to VJ Eyewear. 

When you get here, you'll see a vast array of eyewear for just about any style you can imagine. Look around awhile, then check for this box, the one that says "Smart"; that has the Neo style. (Ladies may prefer the Cat style, also free.) Once you've got the glasses, grab a dark shade of MADesigns Slide hair (you've picked that freebie up already, haven't you?), then poke through your inventory for some fine black clothing. As I said, once you've got the glasses, you've got the look; everything else is just a complement.

 What's next on the agenda? Well, "we can't tell you what that is, you'll have to discover it yourself."

Style card:
shape - my own
skin - Damiani (Joshua Olive), not free
eyes - Sterling Artistry (Springtime Renewal), L$50
shoes - Library (Musician Male by Renegade); they're brown, so add a dark tint to them
jeans & jacket - Alphamale (gift box); no longer available
hair - MADesigns (Slide, fatpack), free
shades - VJ Eyewear (No.005 Smart), free