It's certainly been a year, hasn't it? I hope you and your loved ones have been staying safe, hiding inside, basking in the dim glow of LED screens staying entertained in quarantine. Once again I have come out of my own hole in the ground in order to release something for Fantasy Faire: the one event in Second Life I simply can't bear to miss.
Are you guys sick of masks yet?
Well, I guess I could always make "I Survived a Pandemic" T-shirts, but I get the feeling you guys might like a mask better.
The Vaporbecco is my interpretation of the popular steampunk vision of the Plague Doctor mask. "Vaporbecco" literally means "steam beak" in (bad) Italian. I wanted to model the brass goggles, the machined metal beak tip, and of course everyone's favorite steampunk motif: rivets. In case you missed my old post about the Plague Doctor, the distinctive beak shaped mask was developed in the time of the black death. They had the general idea that being around sick people was a bad idea, but they believed that the reason was because of "bad air" or "malaise". To protect themselves, doctors would clothe themselves in oiled robes and a mask stuffed with sweet smelling herbs. Rather than having the herbs right up against their faces, they created the beak shape for a pocket, and thus we have the eerie bird-like silhouette of the Dottore Pestere. For what was known about sickness at the time, it was a rather reasonably engineered piece of personal protective equipment.
Steampunk culture seems to have embraced the plague doctor, who might be seen seen as a tragic hero of a bygone era. A plague doctor muddled through a harrowing time, using their best understanding of the science of disease, while protecting themselves as best they knew how. You know, kinda like how we're doing right now.
For RFL I've put out two unique colors not included with the original mask, for roughly half the price. They still allow you to change the rivets and metal details, but not the mask itself.
These will be available for sale on the Fantasy Faire sim of Tempest Bay, where you can find my store from April 22nd to May 9th. It's sort of pirate themed so I've also put out a couple of my old pirate hats and the Niobium Alato mask from 2018. I would love to have done more this year but truly real life is just kicking my butt. This year has been so crazy in a lot of ways, and has certainly kept me busy. As always I appreciate your patience, and I hope you enjoy this spooky and iconic mask in honor of the... (hopefully) unique experience that was 2020.
1 comment:
It's nice to see you still returning for your favorite event years later!
Viva la purple!
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