Aranel Ah, “Yellow Mermaid”

I’m not sure if you all know, but I make the NiXiE tails.

I’ve been grateful and honored that many SL Photo-artists have chosen to use my tails, or parts of them, in creating mermaid-themed imagery. I wanted to post a few of my favorites. Links to appropriate flickr pages are provided.

Aranel Ah (Model: Claire Dallin), “/me sleeps with the fishes”

Divine Tokyoska (Model: Psy Carnell), “Mermaid Psy^^”

Melodious Source, “Return to Innocence”

Abigail Heron, “To Swim Forever”
 

If you are the photographer and would like your work removed, or a credit is incorrect, please contact me.

Until recently, I had a lovely little corner of the world to call my own. It was the perfect place to let me explore some of my building ideas for my own vision of  a mermaid’s home. I tended to lean more towards dark fantasy here that the traditional Greco-Roman or, uh, Giant-seashell styles. Instead, placed my grotto in the remains of some large ruins. Whether or not these are the empty halls of a long-dead human or mermaid civilization remains to be seen. They are deep, dark, and littered with decaying magic, and maybe even a few ghosts.

I recently took the plunge and got myself a larger piece of land on a nice, private SIM. I’ve been slowly constructing a living space for myself—you can see part of my bedroom here.

Now, I’ll admit I’m not much of a fan of the giant-seashell vein of mermaid furniture that I see decorating mer-homes across SL. I guess I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to this, but I see no logical reason why merfolk furniture would parallel human furniture in any way. Merfolk may be humanoid, but the sea is a completely different place from the air, with different materials and different physics governing the environment. I suppose I’ll investigate this as I build more, as it’s difficult for me to find furniture that suits my vision for my living space.

My interest in SL has been wavering a bit lately, but I’ve been exploring mermaiding in other avenues. If you’re curious, I’ll write more about it later.

This is Tithis, a lovely octopus that I met the other day. I actually noticed her in one of Diver’s photos before I even made her acquaintance. Her form is of her own creation, and as you can see, it’s fantastic. There’s such a deluge of tails and tail-makers now, but so little variety (with a few notable exceptions). Considering how diverse life is within the sea, I hope in time we’ll start to see more creations like this. Rightly so—merfolk are some of the most imaginative I’ve met within Second Life.

Tithis’ cephalopod avatar isn’t yet for sale, but I’ll let you know when she opts to make it available.

What are some of the more interesting aquatic avatars you’ve seen in the digital oceans? What would you like to see that you haven’t seen yet?

Really. Where are all the Merfolk? What are you doing?

Why do I always find the abundance of mer-themed locations and shops  on the grid empty?

Why is almost every group I find dead or inactive (save for the occasional announcement)?

You’re clearly out there. What are you doing?

It’s getting frustrating being a mermaid in SL. Mermaids are social creatures too. As fun as it is to swim and explore new places, I do it with the hope that other seafolk will find and enjoy those LMs, and perhaps even share that enjoyment with me, and around that, community will form. There is no mermaid community in SL. Maybe there are pockets among friends, but nothing unified.

I used to think that one never found many mers around SL because there wasn’t enough to do as a mer. Then I watched Solan Nightfire open Aquaria, who spent tireless hours creating creative events and activities for merfolk only, only to see it fizzle out after about a year. Aquaria was teeming with merfolk in its early days, but then they disappeared. Where did they go? There was always plenty to do. Aquaria is closing now mainly as a victim of the land-upheavals, but also due to a lack of interest and willingness to participate in the community.

Other commitments have kept me away from my exploits in Second Life in the past months (though I do plenty of swimming in my FL, just sans fins . . . /me sighs), but when I do rez in, I get bored fast unless I’m exploring a new place. When I do come on, I usually send out a message to the three big mermaid groups (MERGE, Mystic Mermaids, and SL Mermaid Community) inviting others to come swim with me. Despite lots of names being on the chat window, I’ve rarely had more than one or two replies.

So, what are you all doing? Really? I want to know. Do you feel my frustrations? Do you think I’m out of touch being only a casual SL user? What am I missing? Where’s the party at? Please leave a comment.

I took a few months off from Second Life. I’m back, sort of, but really only logging in once a week a most.

I’ve been really, really glad to see lots of development in the merfolk community. Lots of things I’m curious about investiating more, but haven’t had the time to.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there are flexi tails now popping up in various shops. Erluen Twin’s Merwings has some (I’m always impressed with the technical quality of her products. Not so much the textures, but her tails are some of the best built I’ve ever worn). I’m curous how flexi’s work. I’m guessing that invisiprims are used to hide the legs? And how does that work with an AO? Wouldn’t the tail flop all over the place?

My Japanese friend Kyotta Spittler has also opened the doors to a brand new Mermaid Temple. It’s been under construction for a while, and I’m pleased to see that going!

Anyway, I hope to be back and updating this blog even if it’s on a semi-regular basis. Please send me LM’s of any intersting places to swim and photograph.