Before we get going, just a reminder that
Surreal Complex is still a thing. It's a thing with lots of good stuff. I have some things there. Things and stuff. Some of it is good! And it is only at Surreal Complex until March 2nd.
And n
ow, The Future!
More to the point, Futurewave. This is also a thing. It is a very shiny, glowy future...y thing. It's also a thing that I was uncertain for a while would be in my future, which is my now. But it is and so is I and I is rambling.
I first heard about the idea of Futurewave in embyro, before Gothmas IIRC. One of the Cursed people told me, "There's probably going to be this new event thing." Soon after that, the event was announced as open to apps. But the same person had told me a few times that this was a brand new thing and to not take it personally if I didn't get in. Of course I knew them better than that, submitted an app anyway and waited. There was much other stuff to do in the meantime.
After three rounds came and went of staying cool, I got the email that I was in. I'm not sure how exactly, but there it is. That morning, I went shopping.
The hair and circuit board hairbase was the first idea I had, back when I first learned of Futurewave.
I was quite pleased at how quickly and closely vision became reality on this one. The first idea I had didn't work out no matter how hard I tried, so I went to Plan B before I heard back about a greenlight for Plan A. But what came out in the end captures the feel of what I wanted without all the bells and whistles originally imagined.
The style itself evokes the early days of Goth but with a flare that is Future all up in your present's grill. Or something. All the underlying hair textures are black only, because darkity dark dark.
 |
| Full 1-color ad showing back of hair |
The hair and hairbase are copy/mod for tinting, and allows for some adjusting of the hair textures (repeats, etc.). Be sure to make a copy first, of course.
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
The next few pieces came together over the next couple of days. The armwarmers were the next thing that caught my eye. Again I knew right away what I wanted to do with them, and the result was just like the hair; quick and close to vision.
Of the three, this was my favorite to work with and will likely be seen again in another theme.
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
I don't remember exactly when the idea for the headgear came along. I had all the components, and the original idea was to adapt it to work in a different direction. What ended up happening was the kit losing half its weight, an addition born out of the hair's Plan A, and lots of bits turned into shiny glowy bits.
The inside screen is an animated scrolling text field, and the rose icon at the bottom right of the screen pulses at a slow steady interval. The rose is the only part of the whole that's scripted, and it can be removed if you know how. You can also adjust the shine and glow of all parts to suit your tastes. Again, making copies first is a Good Thing™.
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
The dress almost wasn't a thing. I first though about going with an outfit to match the warmers, but decided against it and went with one item with male and female versions and one unisex item. But a few days later, while looking for something completely different (thanks, Marketpoop), I found a different outfit and an idea clicked. The idea turned out horribly. So I left it alone for a couple of days, came back to it and after a day of much swearing I worked out a better idea.
There was a lot more swearing to come, but more on that later.
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
There's also a promo/demo dollarbie wall where you can get several combos of a ninth color: female hair & headgear, male hair & headgear. Not sure what a promo/demo is? Click the info sign at the booth for a detailed notecard before purchase.
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to take any pics of this stuff that aren't ads, but Miss Lainey Thorne has already done a beautiful job in her
blog post and
Flickr. Aaand...
Here Quan Lavender
hits the spotlight and goes for the gold.
Here the multi-talented
Aarya Phantomhive manages to run into the ceiling
but keep her hair perfect.
Here
Sonya Marmurek done the impossible.* I don't really like green. Sonya? Sonya
made me like green.
Here Shadowed Luik once again
nails the presentation for the event, and the does-this-woman-ever-sleep pinner
Ely Hynes makes sure
everyone is on the same page.
{@I'll post more blog links here when I can@}
* last fandom reference, promise.
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
There's more stuff below, a bit on the ranty side If you don't want to stay tuned for that, then for you the Future is now! ...until Feb 23rd. You can hop your
cyberhearse to the Future, or come by the
main store and get a landmark from the display in New Releases.
Stay Beautiful,
☥ Stacey
@->~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<-@
(disclaimer - tl;dr territory below; might be ranty, might be boring, might be both)
So why 'Future Imperfect'? There's a few reasons, starting with the overtone that in a cybergoth future, not everything is perfectly polished and shiny. Entropy's always hanging around bumming ecigs. While the hair and headgear is all (mostly) perfect and shiny, the warmers and dress have a rough edge under the shiny stripes. Some of it was intentional, some wasn't. The base textures came together better than could be planned. From there it was a roller coaster. Which brings us to reason two: while there are aspects of every item than I'm pleased with, all of them are faaaaaar from 'perfect'. But like everything else I make, I put in the best of myself into what I'm making
now.
And it was beyond frustrating for this event. Not because of the event, I was confident I could easily stay in the theme even though I've only ever made one other 'cybergoth' item, for a hunt yonks ago. Not because I was for the first time sharing space with people who are big in their own right, I've always chugged along as The Little GothShop That Could. The frustration was in the making of things. The latter half of the set felt like an exponential increase of mistakes, errors and rework. At one point, there were five dress colors to redo because of an uncaught earlier change in reproduction. The adshoots were a nightmare. The front and back shots of
all the hair colors, male and female, had to be reshot at least twice each. One dress color had to be redone from almost scratch on the spot during that set of ads. Then SL itself decides to act up while shooting the warmers, refusing to load the mesh and forcing me to start over three or four times.
I never once came close to quitting out completely, but a couple items came close to getting the axe. Sure, I wasn't under any obligation to finish any of it. But I was determined to finish what I started and all four came out in the end, for better or worse. I wanted to prove, to myself more than anyone, that I could tackle a new subgenre. The obstacles I faced were more technical than anything. Are my creations perfect? No, but then what is? Could I do better? I won't know until I try. Are they the best I could give
now? Totally yes. After I had the booth set up, one of the the staff that I've liked for quite some time because they Know Their Shit and come to admire in a few ways and appreciate in many many more for the same reason, told me, "We're proud of you."
I couldn't ask for better than that. I'm still cracking smiles about it.
☥ Stacey
