Pixy Clothes

Like bunches of people, I've been getting into this whole "Petite" avatar craze. As seen here, my wee pixy alt has had a micro-sized sculpted avatar for a while, but when a mesh avie was introduced by Yabusaka (in partnership with other creators; SLurl) I had to get one. Like the previous, sculpted avie, though, clothes were hard to come by as only prim-based items could be worn. I had started modding clothes to fit the older avie but switched my efforts over when the new one came out. Today, I modded parts of the Linden Female Gladiator outfit that you can find in your basic inventory.

For this pixy, an iPod Touch would be a very large iPad.

Of course, not all parts of the outfits will work, like the shirt part. But templates are available to add mesh clothes to the mesh body. You can't see it in the picture above, but Zyx is wearing a body suit under he armor. Also of note, her hair is from the same Linden outfit. So if you are looking for clothes to outfit your "petite" avie, look in your inventory. You should find stuff you can modify.

Too Busy Being a Pixy

Cripes, I had to spend 90% of my day in Real Life today, getting my first manicure and pedicure, amongst other things, when I really wanted to be in Second Life being a pixy!

Fallen Gods has a new mesh fantasy avatar, a micro-sized girl -- elf, demoness, or fae (L$1500; SLurl). Of course, I got the fae and a full set of hair from Wasabi Pills (L$500; SLurl), and one rather girly outfit (L$400). Immediately I began fitting the clothes I had for my other micro pixy avie, one composed of comparatively primitive (pun intended) sculpts, and adapting my regular pixy's eyes for this teeny form. And here is the result!

Wee Zyx is even more wee-sized but a bazillion times cuter!

Fabulous Hair

Late last night when my wee pixy alt was wrapping up a purchase of a freebie item on the SL Marketplace, the site suggested several other items in hopes to wring some cash out of her. Interestingly, one of the items was a free demo hair from Wasabi Pills (in-world at SLurl), pretty much obviating the attempt at bringing the checkout total above Zero Lindens. But she quickly grabbed that, too, and grabbed demos of other styles including the one pictured here, Sebastianne. Everyone who saw it the next day agreed that this mesh hair was far too adult for such a child-like pixy. But not for her bigger "sister," another pixy alt of mine ... the adult one. And, my goodness, she makes it very, very adult, indeed.

Several shades of one color for L$250 or a complete set of all colors is just L$1500 (if I recall correctly). This shade is Night Shadow, part of the pack of all blacks.

Yes, you saw the word mesh up there. This is new tech hair that anchors to the body thus moving naturally. Those tresses draped over the pixy's modest assets won't "fall" into her body as her pose changes. Nor will they stiffly stick out into space as sculpted and non-sculpted prims both do. The hair stays put. Add some strategically placed flexi prims (none in evidence here) to simulate fly-aways and the look could be oh so natural. In any case, I think the hair looks great and even mesh detractors likely will, too. Sure, there are some drawbacks. Like a special hair base and a hair-specific alpha layer are required. And there is a rendering error common to invisi-prims with some of the space between the hair and the body. I'm not sure why. If this big pixy were bustier, the gap would close and no one would be the wiser, despite their increased propensity to stare at the increased bounty.

But I am thoroughly pleased, indeed. In fact, I made this style her standard hair, the one saved with a dressable nude avatar. It even looks good with her usual blue skin ... but I'm too thrilled with this effect to change skins just yet. Her wee "sister" pixy has some money and the names of a couple more youthful styles available at Wasabi Pill and plans on ducking in tomorrow to shop. If, that is, her big "sister" is done playing.

Happy Wings!

Those dancing penguins have nuthin' on me, 'cause I gots Happy Wings! My ultra-talented friend Kaelin Westland asked me to try her MICRO Flappy Iridescent Wasp Wings, a new version of her full-sized wings and they sooooooo rock! Check 'em out!

I'm at Forest Floor (SLurl) again, a gorgeous place to be a pixy.

This picture doesn't do them justice as there is no motion, but when I launch into flight they go all flappy (hence the name, I'm presuming) and look so real. But what I really like is that they fold down when I'm at rest. I love my Material Squirrel dragonfly wings, but they are always sticking out (unless I hide them). It's much better to have the wings fold down.

You can try the demo for yourself free. Just go to the Marketplace on the Web here. If you see other wings you like, contact Kaelin to ask about having them made in MICRO size. Me? I've upgraded my full-sized pixy to her wings already but for now I'm gonna fly around some more! See ya!

More Pixys

Fallen Gods, a fabulous store for the Fantasy-minded, has pixy avatars. While I preferred to create my own, these are very nice. Dragonfly-like wings, colorful skins, pixy dust, and a tiny shape, and more for L$1900 per color or an All Colours Pack for L$6600. Try the demo for free. And check out the role play areas. The region is a really nice build.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Selidor/177/173/23

On Being Zyx, Part 1

Those who frequent Lucky Chairs and other devices that give prizes in Second Life have developed strategies to gather the most prizes or to increase the odds of getting one they really want. As a very long time member of the Lucky Kitty Crew, one of SL's oldest freebies/shopping groups, I've probably tried them all, save for one: Alts. Then Zyx Flux, my cute pixy girl, came along. I was at a Lucky Chair that insisted on giving it's treasure only to those whose first name began with the letter Z. Getting frustrated at having to wait 20 minutes until it (hopefully) cycled to another letter (usually going to Z again, though) I took the time to make an Alternate Character named Zyx.

I chose the name as an expedient, simply typing part of the alphabet backwards. She could have been Zaphod or Zeta or Zimbo (thanks, Grampie!) or any of a number of names that came to mind, but I thought if I'm going to take the time I might as well make the Alt useful. The name made me think the character would eventually be a gender neutral robot, especially as I chose Flux as a surname. Then the sign-up sequence suggested that I join via a Community. I'm fond of the Steampunk regions (SLurl) so I almost picked the Caledon group, but the Fairy community intrigued me and so Zyx went swiftly through their "portal" and on to help me conquer the Lucky Chair that so vexed me.

Later that day I thought back to how nice the noobie experience was at Faery Crossing (SLurl) and took Zyx back through, more slowly. It came to mind that having a role play-specific character might be fun. After all, SL is full of people who enjoy being someone other than themselves or exploring a narrow aspect of themselves by focusing on it via role play. Despite having lived on Tamerthon (SLurl) at one time and peripherally participating in the medieval-ish community, I had not really tried this part of our world.

But elves were everywhere, I didn't really feel like Tinkerbell, and drows really don't do a thing for me. As a fan of Kim Harrison's "The Hollows" books I had one alternative left: Pixy. These four-inch tall (on average) creatures love families, battle hard, and are greatly underestimated by anyone but their fiercest rivals, the fairies.

"But," you say and I cut you off before you can finish asking "pixys and fairies are the same, right?" Yes, and no, I need to say. Here's what I have in Zyx's profile Picks:

Many silly humans think that pixys & fairies are the same creature. Both are magical woodland creatures who love gardens, are allergic to silver, & are very territorial. But pixies are smaller, usually have colorful skin (like blue or green), & don't need a wand to do their magic. Fairies are often mean, bossy, & almost never have colorful skin. I'm a pixy. Tinkerbell is a fairy (or fae). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie

Second Life has some limitations so I've made adjustments to the Real World pixy and taken a few liberties, as well. For example, Zyx's body is as small as I can make it while keeping the proportions right, made her blue with a nice but very inexpensive skin, and started a back story that I'll relate via this blog in subsequent posts. I should confess here, though, that she is a child avie. Well, she's like over a hundred years old, but that is a kid by pixy standards (a liberty that lets her be Adult Verified while being rather child-like). This will make more sense if you look for Zyx Resident in-world ... a grown-up Zyx. More on that later, too.

Zyx Flux and Uccello Poultry, July 4, 2010, on Menagerie Isle