Struggle

Under the waves,

so smooth and calm,

a savage struggle remains,

of things below.

Not everything behaves,

pent up like a time bomb.

Throw off your chains,

face the foe .

I do enjoy me some underwater adventuring. I miss the times when there was a big sl mermaid community on Ning. I use to post something on there daily, it was probably the most active community I was ever in, in second life. I wasn't even a mermaid all that often, haha. When Ning decided to make their forums features paid for, the SL Mermaid Ning sadly died.

I still collect items, and dress up as a mercreature from time to time. They have to be one of my favorite collections of legendary creatures. Not the pretty fluffy ones either, but the ones that will more than likely start eating you, before you even finish drowning.

So I bring you a bit of fantasy this friday, come, play under the waves!

Credits

Hair - The Stringer Mausoleum - Bramble in Blood Raven

Hairbase - Adoness - Shaved Swirls in Red - L$50 for a Whole Pack

Skin - Mystic Canvas - Xen Skin in Pale Tone - Group Gift (Free to Join)

Ears - Musa - MerEar w/Texture Change Hud

Eyes - Hecate - The Skeleton's Eyes - *NEW* @ Enchantment

Lashes - Pichi - Helena Lashes in Fantasy - L$45 on Sale @ Mainstore

Hands - Slink - Casual Pose

Nail Appliers - Flair - Set 178 - Free

Makeup 1 (Eyeshadow) - Fallen Gods Inc. - Sister Death Eyeshadow

Makeup 2 (Bridge) - Aii - Gyaru Nose - Free

Makeup 3 (Lips) - Aii - Gyaru Lip - Free

Tattoo 1 (Scales) - [Even~Tide] - New Dragon in Rust

Tattoo 2 (Suckers) - Nox - Octo Hickies 50% - *NEW* L$75 @ Hentai Fair

Tail Set - Taliesins Tails - The Marketplace Set 2015 - Free

Frills Set - Devae - Cnideria Regalia in Lumen - Common Gacha Item @ Maisntore

Earrings - Plastik - Bhajin Earrings in Rey - Free @ Shiny Shabby 1 Year Anniversary

Necklace - Meva - Short Stone Necklace - Free @ Shiny Shabby 1 Year Anniversary

Broach - Aii - Magic Heart Broach in Crimson - Free

Bracelets - Rama - Half Moon Cuff Bracelets in Black - Free @ Shiny Shabby 1 Year Anniversary

Feel free to look at the unprocessed shots of the products HERE and HERE. SL underwater sort of sucks, it is the only time I normally add post processing to my shots, as it is always so utter lacking, under the waves, and makes me sad.

This post features an items from the wonderful collection of fantasy designers who are a part of the Medieval Fantasy Grid Crier group. https://medievalsl.wordpress.com/

Katfish

Enchantment is hosting a wonderful hunt right now, to go along side it's main event. While there has been some bad press for the main event recently, that does not mean you can't support your favorite designers, and bring them some much needed traffic to their mainstores.

This hunt is a very small one, and shouldn't take you all that long to complete. There are a few stops that are sort of tricky, due to designers scripting the hunt object, so be sure to check your objects, notecard and landmark folders. I think there was only 3 locations that were not set right, everything else will come to you in folders. Each folder will have notecard with the landmark to the next location, as well as a hint.

Pick up your Hunt Package HERE!

I decided to do something a bit different today, and threw on my new-ish Kemono avatar. The creators of content for this avatar are very generous, and I have been finding all sorts of things to customize my own.

Credits

Hair - The Stringer Mausoleum - Blossom Maiden in Chinook - Not Free

Mesh Avatar - Utilizator - Kemono Avatar - Not Free

Kemono Mod Skin - XM - Pink Mod 2 - L$10

Kemono Mod Eyes - Soupy - Rainbow Eyes - L$5

Whiskers - The Stringer Mausoleum -  Spunk Bunny Whiskers in Pink Shine - N/A

Mer Set - Mer-chandise Cove - Forgotten Princess Bra & Tail - Seashell Hunt for Enchantment

Headdress - Astralia - Coral Reed Headpiece n Pink/Silver - Seashell Hunt for Enchantment

Circlet - Purplemoon - Aquaria Tiara w/Texture Change Hud - Seashell Hunt for Enchantment

Necklace 1 - Glitzz - Pearl Necklace - Seashell Hunt for Enchantment

Necklace 2 - Fallen Gods Inc - Eclipse Seashell Necklace - Free Event Gift @ Enchantment

Pose by Eternal Dreams

Location - Mittendraland Mermaid Haven

The Long Swim

Some journeys are long, seemingly without end or much rest. 

We have been losing a lot of Second Life residents this year to the big C word, Cancer. Recently, we had the chance to band together with a single purpose, and help a designer, who still has a fighting chance. 

Lexi Zelin, owner of AngelRed Couture, a very popular Mesh Template creator, supplys such stores as Plastik, Snatch, Purplemoon, {MV} and many more, with the assets to allow them to create pieces for all SLers to enjoy. 

Lexi has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is in desperate need of funds to assist in paying her medical bills / expenses as she is unable to work. Lexi is only 28 years old, mother of one beautiful little girl.

I know some people have started to get leery of these sorts of things, but this is a cause I support, and we here at Free*Style are always supportive of these sorts of fundraisers. 

Feel free to read more about the project, here at the Official Site. The Lexi Project will be open until August 9th, so please stop on by, and see if there is something you would like to purchase for a good cause.

I am wearing a circlet created for the event, by Asylum Utherwurldly, Owner/Designer of Chop Shop. There is a gold and silver version available. 

!Musa! has created these lovely mermaid ears for the new upcoming round of We Love Roleplay. While these are not free, they are discounted for the event. I had to show them to you as I got super excited to have been able to preview the new sim for WLRP, which you will all get to explore soon. These ears come with a hud, which allow you to change the colour of the ears, the metals and the seashells.

Credits

Hair - The Stringer Mausoleum - Together Apart (Custom Colour) - Not Free

Hairbase - Adoness - Shaved Swirls - only L$50 @ Mainstore

Skin - {Frick} - Myth Skin in Violet - only L$129 @ Mainstore

Eyes - Heaven's Gate - Purple Eyes - L$1

Lashes - Chemistry - Long Eyelashes - Free

Ears - !Musa! - Mermaid Ear w/colour change hud - *NEW* @ We Love Roleplay (Opens Aug. 4th 3pm slt)

Hands - Slink - Casual Pose - Not Free

Nail Appliers - Hello Dave - Frolic Nails - Free

Tattoo(Scales) - [Even-Tide] - Dragon Scales in Dark - Not Free

Starfish - !deviousMind - Starfish Pasties in Pink Sunset - Common Gacha Item @ Mainstore

Circlet - Chop Shop - Lexi Queen in Gold - 100% Charity Item @ The Lexi Project

 

Pose by [LAP]

Location - Haven of Mermaids

Swim with me

Swim with me,

amongst the waves.

Play with me,

for all your days.

Here my song,

son of man.

Swim with me,

forget the land.

Play with me,

in soft sand.

Here my song,

nothing to fear.

Swim with me,

 sea so clear.

Poem by Helena Stringer

One of my favorite things each year, when visiting Fantasy Faire, is the amount of mer/sea creature stuff that is at the event.

While I do tread more on the demon side of things, my second love is mer related items. I have blogged many of times on this site, with a tail, haha.

Fins and Metal Finery

I do not wear much jewelry in SL. As a RL designer, I tend to be picky with what I see in here, I think due to most of it being so symmetrical. Also it gets in the way when I make hair, and who would want jewelry overshadowing their products in an ad? 

I have enjoyed Finesmith's designs, I think due to a lot of it being NPIRL (not possible in real life) and the fact that 1/2 of their pieces aren't perfectly mirrored. There is also metal options in most cases, so you aren't stuck with a design that you would have loved more had it been in gold. Why SL is so filled with silver jewelry, i don't understand.

Why am I blabbing about all this?

Finesmith has their VIP group open for a week, until March 7th. This is group normally comes with a pricey join fee, so I would say hop on in it while you can. It is worth it, as there are two gifts a month, first dibs on notices on the various discounted events they are in and VIP discounts from time to time.

Here is a close up of the New Years set that is still out. While you are joining, go on to the store and grab it. Not sure how long the gifts that are currently out will stay so remember to go to the store to join. If you want to join ahead of time, you can do so in search, or look me up, Helena Stringer, and click the group straight from my profile, it is near the bottom.

Now, I am really excited to show you this find! Well the two of them, yes there are two awesomesauce things I found on SLM. One is this lipgloss. It is the best I have in inventory, and the fact that it is free is crazy. The Designer offering this up is Beyond Sinister. Seems she had a store, and is now reopening. She only has this gloss and a dress up on SLM so far, but I will be watching to see what else pops up. Maybe if we all rate this gloss she will make some more items for us? Just a thought.

Secondly is this mer set. When not designing, or in my own demony form, I do enjoy me some mer action. I tend to use a land AO, so I slither around on the ground. It is very fun to shop in, hehe, freak out the fashionistas at the hotspots! Anyways, this tail, tho in a dreaded colour, ick! is nicely detailed, so much so that I am wearing the dreaded colour to show you the set!

I hope you are all enjoying the weekend, and maybe this post will inspire you to wear something different and go find some cool water sims to play in =)

Credits

Skin - Orsini - Giselle in Dark/No Teeth Version - L$0

Hair - The Stringer Mausoleum - Septova in S.E. Coffee with Cream - L$0 Group Gift (Pay Fee to Join)

Eyes - Fossegrim - Blue Eyes - L$1

Lashes - Vizeni Designs - Star Lashes in Black/Medium - L$0

Lip Gloss - B. Sinister - Gloss 0.1 Revised - L$0

Mermaid Set - Taliesins Tails - Special Edition Chakra Lotus - L$0

Jewelry - Finesmith - Happiness New Years Set - L$0 Instore Group Gift (Free to Join until March 7th)

Poses - SERENADE

Mini MerMinnow

***WARNING - This is a Petites Post, you must own a Yabusaka Petite Avatar to wear these items***

Someone in the Petites group chat wanted some help searching for a promo item earlier this week, and I thought, hey why not, I like free stuff!

Finding the item ended up inspiring the whole outfit you see today. I decided right then and there I just needed a mini mermaid for my petite avi. So thanks to Ketu, the designer of Shimmer, for putting this item on offer. It's expensive starting up a totally new avatar, and every little promotional item helps!

I'm not sure how much longer this item will be up for grabs, so please get it while you can. I did check before posting this, and it was still out.

 

Avatar - The Plastik - RFL Fantasy Faire 2012 Avatar - NLA

Hair - The Stringer Mausoleum - Mane of Glory in ColourBleeds3 - L$45 (this weekend only)

Eyes - The Plastik - Atlante Eyes - Not Free

Undies - Shimmer - Seathorn Set - FREE (Instore Promo)

Necklace - KiaAna - Petite Shell Necklace - FREE (Instore Gift)

Mertail - The Stringer Mausoleum - Basic Mini Mertail - FREE (Group Gift)

Location - Pirate Point Break

Corny Cupcakes

3rd part to my bloggy Series(Check Part1 and Part2 here***please keep in mind those are not Freebie blogs, tho they do have some free items, and in no way represent Free*Style though the actions carried out of those blogs***)

Like all critters in the world, there are many different species to one family line. Cats for instance. You got big ones, small ones, beautiful ones and fugly ones. There are alot of cats!

What does this have to do with anything you say?

Well the war is still on! There may be peace talks going on, but something might still be brewing, and we are recruiting all we can.

Here today I show you Mercornulus Brighticus.


These Mythical Unicorns evolved to live in the sea. They still have horns and glitter, just lack the hooves. Some still have kept wings, tho they are merely for show now, to attract mates.

They are still a rather show lot, and will strike a pose if asked nicely

As with their land brethren, they keep themselves as colourful as possible.

Till next time, with Unicorn Chronologist, Helena Stringer.

CUPCAKES!

OMG there have been so many. But these are super cute ones, and tho I'm so not into this stuff, there tends to be pastels associated with cupcakes(and pink . . . gag me now!), I do enjoy a good bunny anything.

SHHHHHH no telling people I like bunnies! i have an image to keep you know. At least my hair is spikey enough to gouge out eyes!

I was still in rainbow mode, post unicorniness, so I wore a rainbow skin I recently found. To tanned, but I can deal with that for a day.

I got this shirt and matching cupcake from a wishing well at Elate!, just throw in a linden and you get a prize.

You get the Bunny and Panda by nomnoming a big ass cuppy at Sanu. I managed to make it to one of her mini parties, and scored a few of these babies when it was set to 5 minute waits. You can't just climb back on, cause well you'd get everything so fast! you got to work for it a bit. They are trans, so you can trade, or give away you extras. Last I heard, there were 72 prizes in there.

Unicorn Mermaid Outfit

Skin-[42]-[Galaxies] Nebula-L$0
Eyes-House of Ruin-Toxic Radium in Seizure-L$20
Mermaid Kit-The Merseum&Oceanic Gardens-L$1
Wings&Bum Bow-Silent Sparrow-L$0
Mermaid Poses-Imperial EleganceL$1

Cupcake Outfit

Skin-Doux Petit Dahl-Rainbow-L$0(from unreleased skin box)
Eyes-Om Skins-Irish Eyes-L$0
Eyelashes-No longer available
Shirt&Hand Cupcake-Elate-Purple Cupcake Tank-L$1(throw you linden in the wishing well)
Shorts-Random Inspirations-Frayed Denim Shorts-L$0 for 7 colours
Shoes--Duh!-White Linen FlatsL$10
Cupcake Critters-Sanu-L$0(Lucky Cupcake)
Jewelry-Sanu-Purple Cuppy-cake Accessories Pack-L$175


***Why is there stuff not Credited? Find out why here!***

Under the Sea

I have always felt that the mercritters of sl don't get enough play. They don't have enough places to go, tho it has gotten better since the time I first rezzed. There isn't enough items that they can start with, that aren't a fortune.

Well today I'm going to show you what I found on my search!

Ruina Kessel of House of Ruin let my use her new store build for these pics. The new store isn't open yet(neener neener), but in the meantime you can go and join her subscribo and grab some great freebies.

What does she have there, at this magical undersea store? EYES! Some people collect skins, some shoes, some just anything in a certain colour. Me, I collect eyes. I don't even want to tell you how much I have spent on eyes. So the above pic, you get those. But not just those, the whole darn set! and there are 2 other sets too.

This was my fav find of all. When I saw the ad I was sort of iffy. Didn't know how great those primmed parts would work. Well this thing is great, with the ao, it just swishes so nicely. It's also GREEN! The starfish are also really rad, if your not wanting your mer nips all out there for the mer boys to oggle.

The Green set is the only reason why I'm wearing pink again. It totally make me happy enough to forget I'm in this horrid colour. At least I look like I'm going to eat the next diver I see. The redeeming part of this is I like the scale transition to human skin. nifty feature. There is a blue Merman Tail sitting with this one too, so get you man all dressed up, mer role play, ooooo.

I'm in love with the tail on the left. Sad thing is I had already taken all these great photos, to find out that the owner is changing locations. So you'll have to wait a wee bit to get this one.

The goldfish one I thought I'd play up, she looks like she just won a fight with a Betta.

Love
LOVE
This Staff
Makes me want to make earrings to match(scribbles on project list).

Found this Snarfblat in a mini hunt, It's one of those ongoing type things. The owner of the parcel just wants you to have a bit of fun. Little treasures all about. There is a poster up near the shop to find out what you have to do.

I loved the sparkliness of this tail. I normally don't go for that sort of stuff, but I'm a mercritter now, so sparkles are a must.

The eyes look like they are from the depths of the deepest hole at the bottom of the ocean. Perfect for getting your mer on.

Now it can't be all fun and games. There are still predators in the water.

nana
nana

nana

NA NA NA

(The Helena Version of the Jaws theme songs)

These I got when I first found Grendel's. I had to purchase them. But they are now all only L$1. So you lucky people get them for almost nothing.

They have a really unique ao. Sort of slithery.

They come with everything, skin, eyes, shape, ao plus fishy bits. I'm wearing my own shape tho.

This was suppose to be red. NOT PINK! or salmon, whatever. It's so not red. But there are lost of colours and guy versions too. Same as the shark, there is one for the dudes.

Mer yourself out:

Picture 1

Eyes-House of Ruin-Toxic Eyes: Mezereon set-L$0

Picture 2

Tail-Atargatis-Green Seaflower Tail-L$0

Picture 3

Tail-Seven Seas Mermaid Lagoon-L$1

Picture 4

Left
Tail-Mermaid Salvage-Mbuna Mertail-L$0
Top-She Want Revenge-Group Gift

Right
Tail-Joyful Creations-Goldfish mertail-L$0
Skin-Domestic V-Group Gift

Picture 5

Tail-Joyful Creations-Star Bright mertail-L$0
Staff-Mermaid Salvage-Dreamcatcher Staff-L$0

Picture 6

Snarfblat-Ariel's Cove-Mini Hunt-ongoing
Eyes-Kunstkammer-Surrealist Eyes - Black-L$1

Picture 7

Shark AVI-Grendel's-Shark Siren-L$1

Picture 8&9

Sirens AVI-Grendel's-DeepSea Sirens-L$1 each colour

I'll Upadte you on the Mermaid Salvage items when I find out where the new store is going.

Huntorama: Stringer Mausoleum & Shrine

Helena Stringer is having brilliant hunt with items for both men and women at the Stringer Mausoleum & The Stringer Shrine "Links Lost Rupees Hunt" on May 30th-June 8th.

Those of you who love dressing your avatar in a fantasy style will especially love this hunt - really creative fun stuff to be found here. Helena kindly dropped me a preview of some of the goodies you can find. It took me ages to put these looks together, I had so much fun but I'm sure you could be more creative than me.


Hexar Horns & Skin, Creepy Spiders, Pale-Gothic Princess and eyes, Stringer Mausoleum & The Stringer Shrine
Hair: Boon (free)
Womens Latex Catsuit: Latex Catsuit: KCreations (free in lots of colours, also mens available for free)


Deconstructed Hat, Tribal Coming of Age skin, citrus eyes: Stringer Mausolem Hunt
Cross Earring: Sey (free group gift in store)
Latex Catsuit: Latex Catsuit: KCreations (free)


Mens Crying Spider skin, Lizard Free Mohawk, creepy spiders, eyes: Stringer Mausolem Hunt Double anti brow piercing: Nomine (20L - loooads of facial piercings there for only 20L each!!)



Helena's Peacock lashes are so over the top and fabul, they demand a close up


Anenome -MF Rainbow Hair, Pale-Face Doodles skin, Peacock lashes, creepy spider pets: Stringer Mausolem Hunt
Latex Catsuit: KCreations (free)
Double anti brow piercing: Nomine (20L - loooads of facial piercings there for only 20L each!!)

When I tried these head adornments from the Stringer hunt, I felt marine-like and instantly had the urge to be a mermaid, so off I went on a mermaid adventure and I discovered a beautiful underwater haven at Bonny Cove (found the lovely free mermaid items there too which I also wearing)


Rock Critter Hat and Peach-Sparkle Dust Blue skin: Stringer Mausolem Hunt
Female Mermaid outfit: Malaika Mermaids (0L and includes shape (not worn), tail, fins and great AO)


Space Fish Hat and Male Crying Spider skin: Stringer Mausolem Hunt
Male Mermaid outfit: Malaika Mermaids (0L and includes shape and skin (not worn), tail, fins and great AO)


Mer Gold outfit, free outside the Sirens store Bonny Cove
Phoebe Hair in Caramel Blackened: ETD (1L or free)

Helena has kindly uploaded some pics to Flickr of a few other items you can find on her hunt, click these pics for a close up and more info.


The hairstyles and skins worn in the above two photo's can be found in the hunt, (not the outfits), click on the pic for more info on the free outfits worn.

More Info copied from Helena's notecard

"Link was passing through my forest, and it seems his pouch of rupees had a hole. Now it is your task to collect them all up!

This will take place at the main HQ spot, on the whole lot, both levels, in Lyashko, at the Stringer mens store and grounds at Mapinguari, and also at my sister's store and grounds at the same site, just walk out of the mens store and you'll see hers!

In the folder with this notecard is a sample of the colours and sizes of the rupees (NOTECARD WILL BE PASSED TO THE FREE*STYLE AND STRINGER GROUP). Wear it to see the sizes that you are looking for. The largest is the green, next blue,red, then lastly gold. The type of rupee determines the type of gift. Here is a rundown:

Greens: 3 mens-skin&hair, 7 unisex-hair&eyes 10 womens-skin&hair
Blues:, 2 unisex-odd items, 4 womens-complete avitar&skin
Reds: 8 unisex-pets/hair/horns3 womens-eyelashes/hair/hat
Golds: L$100 gifttcard, L$250gifttcard, L$400gifttcard

Now the gold rupees are brought out at random, one each day of the hunt. Sometimes it may be more, like the first day, and after that whenever I want to put out extra. Join my group"Stringer's followers-info group" to know how many on which day, and how much it is.

The gold rupees will only be hidden in my actual stores, just so it's a bit easier to find, rather then it being the WHOLE grounds. So just the Shrine, Mausoleum and the Mens stores.

Hunt Locations:
The Stringer HQ's
The Stringer Men's store
C&D Designs

If you want to bring a friend and help each other find stuff thats great, but for the sake of the rest who might want to enjoy, please don't yell out where the rupees are. Also if someone is desperate to find something, don't answer by shouting, just im them, if you know where it is.

I am willing to give out hint, to my group if you are in it. Just open the group chat, and I'll give you a hint. You have to ask nice though.

Hint: You can find one of the lost rupees somewhere near the cherry tree, at C&D designs. It is a Special Edition hair, not to be resold!

Happy Hunting
Helena Stringer"