Pacing Battlements

Lingering in the doorway

Sometimes, even the supposed spring is too cruel to handle. You need a place to hide. Gwyneth discovered this beautiful tower on the edge of the Realm. Much of the snow has melted, but that does not mean the newly-revealed grass is anything short of freezing. More snowfall is predicted. Time to climb up.

I pace upon the battlements and stare
On the foundations of a house, or where
Tree, like a sooty finger, starts from earth;
And send imagination forth
Under the day’s declining beam, and call
Images and memories
From ruin or from ancient trees,
For I would ask a question of them all (WB Yeats)

Up in the tower, my refuge.

Up in the tower, my refuge. The cold seeps in, but the view is great.

A ladder to a bed, a reading nook, and pillows.

A ladder to my bed, a reading nook, and pillows. What more could a soul in hiding need?

And lights, lights strung up everywhere.

And lights, lights strung up everywhere. It’s enough to make even the coldest soul smile.

Am I the coldest soul?

Am I the coldest soul? My heart locked away, my body under layers of leaf, my hair a constant stole around my shoulders, my body marked for spring and the reintroduction of life, and yet we must hide away for a bit longer, hide away.

And evening lengthens into night….

And evening lengthens into night—it’s hard to tell when there’s so little light from the sky. But inside, despite the cold, there’s light and blankets and books, books, books.

I will stay for a little while.

I will stay for a little while, as spring blossoms in the belly but has not reached the world.

Oh, this my friends. This is the Boho Princess Tower from Death Row Designs. You can get it at Collabor88, and it’s well worth the money, if you’re into princesses and towers and stuff like that. It’s gorgeous from the ground up! If you get the whole set, it comes with everything you see pictured in the close-up shots, plus some lamps you can use to light the exterior. I will probably keep this on my land and decorate it up even more as the months go on—it’s an excellent refuge for Gwyneth when she’s feeling like getting away from it all! So what if it’s a little … under-bricked? It’s full of chahm and charactah!

Gwyneth is wearing the new Ayashi hair that’s at Hairology—it’s called Urumi, and I love the way it wraps around the body. Her skin is the Lumae Aurora Lelutka head applier from The Coven, in Tone 3, Shell. This is the “loved” version. The stunning tattoos are from The Muses; they’re at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival. The dress is also from the FGC; it’s from Broken Style. I fell in love with it when fellow blogger Arwenn Evenstar Undomiel showed me a photo she’d taken of it on the Lumae group one evening. I’m still madly in love with these ears from Eclipse Art Studio, and even the eyes are a departure for me: they’re not Omega appliers. They’re from Clemmm, the Ringlet Eyes in Silver Grade.

It’s such a blessing to be inspired by the beautiful creations I see on Second Life. This post ended up being a mishmash of things, like so many other posts—but it all hangs together on that tower. I’m continually impressed and inspired by the geniuses that are behind Death Row Designs. Aside from the mesh talent, which is daunting, it’s the ideas themselves that blow me away. Whether they’re designing a post-apocalyptic plane crash or creating a baroque salon, the work stands up. It’s always beautiful, always detailed, always such a joy to rez and discover. Thank you, DRD.

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Lelutka, Simone Mesh Head
Feet: SLink, Pointe feet
Hair: Ayashi, Urumi (Available NOW at Hairology!)
Eyes: Clemmm, Ringlet Eyes, Silver Grade
Skin: Lumae, Aurora, Loved (Available NOW at The Coven!)
Tattoo: The Muses, Bodyart 03, Omega, Blue (Available NOW at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Ears: Eclipse Art Studio, Elf Dior Ears (Available NOW at Fetish Fair!)
Locked Heart Piercing: Ama, Forever Yours: Collar (Available NOW at The Liaison Collaborative!)
Hands: Vista, Bento Prohands
Dress: Broken Style, Fairy Dress Blue Maitreya (Available NOW at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)