Mardi Gras Masquerade 2014 (Aftermath)

If you didn't manage to make it on Saturday, I forgive you.  After being gone for so long I was kind of surprised anybody came at all.  But I was happy to be in good company with so many old friends and some new faces!

Freyja Nemeth and Ran Garrigus

Darlingmonster Ember

Cayenne Republic rocking two amazing outfits

 Of course I played some of my favorite swing and big band songs and we all danced and chatted the night away.  And after dancing and admiring the beautiful costumes, the king and queen of Mardi Gras were chosen for this year: Panarroway and Ravenna Soothsayer. 

 Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to grab a picture of them together in their prizes, so the event mask will have to be a surprise!  Don't worry, I'm working on it. I need to work my magic and finish up some details before I'm willing to share. 

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2014

With winter starting to decline, animals start to come out of their holes and so, too, am I.  Let's get through the remaining cold with a party, yes?

Mardi Gras is this Tuesday, but I hope you'll forgive a bit of flexibility when it comes to the date.

 

You're invited to the Illusions seventh annual Mardi Gras masquerade.  It should be my eighth, but regretfully last year I didn't hold one.  We'll just have to make up for it this year!

As with all of my masquerades, there will be a vote to decide the King and Queen of Carnivale and the winners will receive a pair of new, unreleased event masks and 1500L gift cards!  Even if you're not planning on trying for the costume contest, at least come for the free mask: the one shown in the invite will be available for all of the attendees.  Oh, and of course come for the music!

The theme is more formal, so think Venice rather than Rio, but beyond that let your imagination soar.  If you're not sure where to begin, purple, green and gold are a good start!

This year rather than having rules around prim limits etc, since mesh kind of throws those out the window, I'll just say please keep your script usage as low as you can, 100kb or less is ideal.  You can find your script info under Place Profile→About Land→Script Info→My avatar.

I'm looking forward to dancing the night away with you, come join me!

Illusions Mardi Gras Masquerade

March 15th, 4pm SLT
Held at the Illusions Event Hall on Carnivale
Costume contest winners will be announced at 6pm SLT

The Luminous Masque 2013 (Aftermath)

The sun has dawned once more and the creatures of the dark have retreated.  Another marvelous masquerade has passed and I'm so thankful to those of you who came to join me and dance with me.

The company of dancers was a spectacle to behold, lighting up the darkened dance floor with their lambent lights.  Two dancers had to be chosen as the most effulgent of them all however, and so the vote was held.

After a very tense and close vote the winners of the costume contest were the radiant Kaelis Ember and effervescent Ran Garrigus.  The prize that you see them wearing is a new mask I've been working on, the skull of a deer adorned with luminous paint.  Normally I do a male and female version of the mask but that would involve one version not having antlers, and I just couldn't force myself to make that sacrifice!

My outfit for the masquerade, with modified pieces by Deviance, Ni.Ju, 

Schadenfreude, Gauze and ChaoticSpire

Don't worry, the mask will be for sale shortly, it needs to have some finishing touches put on and scripted before I'll be putting it out, but that won't be long!

It's been a hard year for me due to a lot of real life turmoil, but being able to escape for a while and enjoy the creativity and originality of your avatars and the joy of your company really did light up the dark.  Thank you so much for coming and I hope that if you missed this one, you might be able to make it to the next one. 

The Luminous Masque 2013

I've been in a dark place for a while now.  But if I'm in a dark place, I might as well make the most of it, right?

Light up the darkness with me this year at my Luminous Masque.  Everything that glows, illuminates, luminesces or incandesces is to be found and celebrated at the Illusions event hall on November 2nd, at 4pm SLT.

 Show the glow, and play with the contrast of light and dark.  Those who are the most radiant or effulgent will of course be rewarded with the promise of prizes, including goodies that I might bestow upon my favorite costumes and of course, the grand prize for the lucky pair who are voted the King and Queen of Lights.  A 1500L angel card and a new, unreleased mask made especially for the masquerade await you if you manage to claim the title!

Masks are of course required for a masquerade, but if you're short on Lindens fear not, the mask shown in the invitation will be provided as a free party favor for all attendees.  Despite surely wanting to look truly effervescent, when assembling your outfit please:

Check your Avatar Scripts

This info can be found in Place Profile->About Land->Script Info->My avatar. Check the list to see if there's any scripts you're wearing that you could delete from copiable items or remove, such as HUD's, resizers, invisiprims (switch to alphas!) etc. Your total script memory total should be as low as you can get it, under 100kb would be ideal.

Keep your prim count low

I just ask that you leave the extra fluttery petticoat layer at home, and not wear the 256 prim wings with your alpha flexi hair made of 180+ prims. Remember, you're going to be on a sim with a lot of other avatars.

It will be wonderful to see you again, or perhaps to meet you for the first time.  Perhaps together we can light up the dark.

Illusions Luminous Masquerade

November 2nd, 4pm SLT
Held at the Illusions Event Hall on Carnivale
Costume contest winners will be announced at 6pm SLT

The Unseelie Ball (Aftermath)

Dawn breaks and the fairies return to their realm, and I'm left to sweep up the fairy dust and clean up the spiders the drow always seem to leave behind. Another enchanting night, full of revelers and as always, amazing costumes!

The enchanting Nicole Tigwald

The magical Sonya Marmurek

The effervescent Evangeline Miles

I know what you're wondering though.  You're thinking to yourself "But Siyu, if everyone was so fabulously dressed, who could have possibly be voted to have the best costume in such a crowd?".  Well, as always it was a tough decision but the noble host of the court crowned their Lord and Lady of the Unseelie.  A consistent favorite, Aceius Hax, and the wickedly toothsome Yukio Ida were lucky enough to take home both the title, and their prizes.  The new Unseelie masks made especially for the event.

Lord and Lady of the Unseelie, Aceius Hax and Yukio Ida

The masks are as of now not complete, but I'm working on finishing the male mask and adding colors for the female one. However, they still made suitable crowns for the new Lord and Lady of the Unseelie. As always, I was dragged from my hole appreciate an excuse to socialize and spend time doing something other than work for a change. I love sharing my music with you, catching up on news and dancing the night away. I want to thank all who attended for brightening my night and making the party what it was: a success, but most of all a fun gathering of friends.

Siyu in an outfit by Evangeline Miles and wings by Violaine Villota

The Unseelie Ball 2012

As I recover from my crazy working stint, and subsequent goofing off in Guild Wars 2, October arrives and with it, my favorite season! Every year, I simply must throw a Halloween masquerade. With my elven ears, a new breed of fairies and elves of the Seelie court emerged. Elegant creatures of whimsy and fantasy capering in opulent clothes, playing at the politics of the fae. However, in the undercurrents of the fairy world there is a darker place. Where the creatures of the deeper forest hold their own court to play against those that dance in the light. The Unseelie fae...

You're cordially invited to join your fellow members of the Unseelie court in a dance of wings and gossamer. The dark fairies, the goblins, the bogarts and creatures of the vicious, mysterious night will be made welcome in the halls of Illusions. On this night, two of the court will be elected the king and queen of the dark fae, so be sure to regail yourself in your finest raiment, in case the honor fall to you! Two previously unreleased masks will be your coronations, along with 1500L Angel Cards to spend at your royal leisure.  Masks are required, what if the Seelie fae found the true identities of the Unseelie hidden in their court?  But have no fear, the mask shown in the invitation will be provided free of charge as a favor.

If we all show up looking amazing and can't see each other then what's the point?  Hopefully with a couple of guidelines we can strut our stuff and move well enough to dance!  When assembling your outfit please:

Check your Avatar Scripts

This info can be found in Place Profile->About Land->Script Info->My avatar. Check the list to see if there's any scripts you're wearing that you could delete from copiable items or remove, such as HUD's, resizers, invisiprims (switch to alphas!) etc. Your total script memory total should be as low as you can get it, under 100kb would be ideal.

Keep your prim count low

I just ask that you leave the extra fluttery petticoat layer at home, and not wear the 256 prim wings with your alpha flexi hair made of 180+ prims. Remember, you're going to be on a sim with a lot of other avatars.

Back in 2008 I did a very similar themed masquerade to this with my Goblin Masque, and it was so much fun I've been wanting to play with that theme again.  Considering that it's now been four years, it's probably fresh to most folks anyway.  I hope you'll join me there!

Illusions Unseelie Ball 2012

October 27th, 4pm SLT
Held at the Illusions Event Hall on Carnivale
Costume contest winners will be announced at 6pm SLT

Mardi Gras 2012 (Aftermath)

Another party come and gone, though this one went a little differently than others! On Saturday, my sim suddenly stopped accepting teleports and when I crashed, I was locked out of my own sim! I kept the music going for an hour as I spoke to Lindens to get them to reset the sim. By the time it was fixed, a lot of people had had to go, and so I decided to continue the party on Sunday.

It was a very unique feeling being actually ready for my party. I felt like I twiddling my thumbs because I had done all of my last minute scrabbling to finish everything the night before. As if to make up for the trouble on Saturday, everything went perfectly smoothly for the entire night.

Part of the fun of effectively having two masquerades was seeing even more amazing costumes and outfits. Some people that had come the night before changed outfits, and more people that hadn't been able to come showed up and dazzled us. There was so much eye candy I took over 200 snapshots! It didn't help that people even did mid-masquerade outfit changes! So in the interest of keeping this blog post relatively short, here are just a couple of my favorites. You can find more on my Flickr.

Anigma Eulenberg

Sonya Marmurek

As you should probably know by now, every year we vote on the best costumes for male and female, to see who goes home with my new event masks. For the third year in a row, Aceius Hax was voted the Mardi Gras King.

Can't say I'm too surprised to be honest

His partner in this year's royalty is a newcomer to my parties, her newly minted highness Sarah Treplicki. She stood out amongst a sea of color by rocking an oldie but goodie, my harlequin set and some fab horns.
Aceius and Sarah took home the debut of a mask that's been almost a year in the making. One of the first things I tried making when I was accepted into the closed mesh beta was a new Volto mask. It was almost the first thing I did after signing the NDA and I worked on it off and on until I could get a good base mesh, and then neat geometry, and then finally start playing with shape and form. But more on that later when I actually release them, I need to do the colors first!

Considering this was my first party without needing a registered group, I did need to remind a few people to keep their prims down but aside from that it was a definite success. I think from now on I will simply remind people of the guidelines but no more need for group registration!

I had a marvelous time with everyone who could attend, my fingers are tired from chatting with all of you. If you missed it don't feel like you need to excuse yourself, stuff happens and there will always be more parties!

Myself in an outfit by Surreal LeShelle of Deviance, I coerced her into doing a recolor

See you at the next one :)

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2012!

Time creeps up on you, and before you know it it's the most important day of the year. Anniversary? Birthday? Christmas? No! Mardi Gras!


Can you believe this will be my sixth annual Mardi Gras masquerade? This year, I've decided not to do my usual "event group". So there is no need to join anything, if you can come, come! There will be a free mask for the party (shown on the invite), prizes to be won, as well as exclusive event masks to be unveiled and awarded to the two people with the best outfits. The theme, as always, for Mardi Gras is purple, green and gold. Please also keep in mind that my sim is rated General, rather than Mature, and think Venice, not Rio. Because how often do you get an excuse to break out the ball gown and tuxedo and truly dress your best? Just please, when planning your outfit, keep an eye on the following so that we can all have a relatively lagless experience:

Check your Avatar Scripts

This info can be found in Place Profile->About Land->Script Info->My avatar. Check the list to see if there's any scripts you're wearing that you could delete from copiable items or remove, such as HUD's, resizers, invisiprims (switch to alphas!) etc. Your total script memory total should be as low as you can get it, under 100kb would be ideal.

Keep your prim count low

In the past I've had a solid guideline for this of 200-250, but this year with the new prim equivalency it makes things more muddled. For this party, I just ask that you leave the extra fluttery petticoat layer at home, and not wear the 256 prim wings with your alpha flexi hair made of 180+ prims. Remember, you're going to be on a sim with a lot of other avatars and please dress as if you were going to the classiest expo ever.

I've done my best to do my part at the Event Hall by making it secluded from the rest of the island, and keeping the number of unique textures, sculpts and resolution down as much as I could while still providing an elegant venue. With a collective effort we can all enjoy everyone else's outfit as well as our own, and not end up dancing with gray ghosts.

Alright, enough technical talk. I have music to find for my playlist and masks to make! I hope to see you at the Masquerade, don't miss it!

Illusions Mardi Gras Masquerade 2012

February 18th, 4pm SLT
Held at the Illusions Event Hall on Carnivale
Costume contest winners will be announced at 6pm SLT

Mythic Masquerade (Aftermath)

Myths became real on Saturday! I was delighted to see the folktales out in force, and it seems the theme gave people a lot to work with. There were a few favorites like fauns and fairies, but there were also more exotic beasts who joined us from distant lands: an Annunaki, Hone-Onna, succubi and more. Amazingly, they all got on famously; there must be some camaraderie in being legends.

Ami Tamura as a Hone-onna and Selos Dae being Selos Dae

Freyja Nemeth as a morrigan

Even Horus decided to descend from the sky, I guess it wasn't as fun to watch us dance as it was to join in!

Tauxieros Rainforest as Horus

It's rather cruel of me but I do enjoy celebrating the best costumes, and so I make everyone have to choose and vote for the King and Queen of the Masquerade. This year, two very well deserving people earned the right to those titles!

Kala Lunasea and Ravenna Soothsayer

I was quite pleased and honored to award them with the new mesh Mythic Dragon Mask, which will be coming soon as soon as I finish fiddling with the colors :) Ravenna even matched the decor! Sadly, although I got a picture of them in the event masks, my snapshots were being finicky and a lot of them turned out just black. However, this was my outfit for the masquerade and should do just fine to show their prize.


I had a marvelous time, and want to thank everyone who came. I hope everyone who missed it will be able to make it to the next one!

Mythic Masquerade

The air is getting cooler, and the nights are getting longer. It's getting to be the time where people would gather near fires and tell stories of incredible creatures, magical beasts and gods of old.

Sometimes it feels as if these creatures come alive, and perhaps one night they might join together in a fantastic dance...


You're invited to a Mythical Masquerade, where the creatures of fairy tale and folklore can arise and gather. What visions from myths and legends have always captivated your mind? What old gods, spirits and stories capture your imagination? Show us, by coming as your favorite fantastic beings.


When you're assembling your costume, please keep in mind a few guidelines which will dramatically help everyone's ability to rez and dance smoothly.

Please keep your prim equivalency in total to less than 250

This limit helps to keep everyone rezzing quickly. Check how many prims you have by going into Edit and holding down shift to click each item you're wearing. The window will display the collected total of those prims.

Streamline your AO, or leave it at home

Nobody likes looking like a noob while being a wallflower. However, if you don't plan to dance, fill a veritably lag free, low prim ZHAOII with your two or three favorite stands. Otherwise, just go without.

Check your script totals
Viewer 2 now has an "Avatar Scripts" total you can view, by going to About Land->Script Info->My Avatar. Try to make new, clean copies of items that have resize scripts and aim for less than 600kb

In past years, the collaborative effort of all of us has greatly improved lag. I know the costume rules are tough to follow, especially when it's so tempting to go for the excess, but I have the utmost faith in your creativity. Hopefully, this year as well!

As with past years, I will crown a male and female winner the King and Queen of the masquerade. Two previously unreleased, themed masks will be awarded as the prizes, along with 1500L Angel Cards to each! I will also be passing out gift cards to honorable mentions and other people whom I find simply fabulous. So make sure to dress your best!

Make sure you join the group, because for the first two hours (4pm-6pm SLT) the sim will be open only for the members of the Illusions Mythic Masquerade 2011 group. You also need to join to be eligible for the costume contest! Masks are required, but the mask shown in the invite will be available for free. Can't wait to see you there!

Illusions Mythic Masquerade
Saturday, October 29th, 4PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
(Join the "Illusions Mythic Masquerade 2011" Group)
Formal Dress and Mask Required

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2011 (Aftermath)

The music has died down and I've put the dance balls away. I'm exhausted from another wonderful night with marvelous company, and I'm so glad I got to see so many familiar faces as well as some new ones. Well, sort of see them, after all they were wearing masks!

Amyla Wakowski

Jackal Ennui & Achariya Maktoum

Group shot with Katrina Qissentell in forefront

As always everyone was impeccably dressed. It's such a delight to see people coming together, dressed to the nines in their very best, turned out in a way only Second Life could express. Is it cocky of me to think that the people who come to my masquerades have the best taste in fashion? I don't care if it is, I can't help it when everyone shows up looking so amazing!

I didn't envy the people who had to vote to choose a King and Queen of Mardi Gras. But, when the music stopped and people got to really examine each others outfits, they chose their well deserving winners...the King even came prepared with a crown (cocky bugger ;)

Aceius Hax & Ami Tamura

King Aceius Hax and Queen Ami Tamura made a lovely couple, and shared a few dances together, each in their matching masks. Which I'm very proud to present: this year's event masks are the King and Queen of Carnevale. I will be finishing up, scripting, and releasing them in the next day or two. If you can, click the picture to zoom in and see the detail... it's lusciously decorated. I threw everything I had at it!

I greatly enjoyed this year's masquerade... my fifth year in a row that I've hosted a party for Mardi Gras. I love being able to invite you all to dress your best and spend an evening in excellent company, because you guys surely are the classiest and most original people I've found on SL. I hope you'll come to my next masquerade, and maybe see you at next year's too :)

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2011

It's official! Everyone is excited with the feeling of a holiday in the air. Folks are picking up goodies for their loved ones and decorating everything with the traditional colors. Baking cakes, eating candies, getting... beads thrown at them?

You thought I was talking about Valentine's Day didn't you? Well, it seems you forgot about Mardi Gras! Obviously the most important day of the year.
I hope you'll join me at Illusions' fifth(!) annual Mardi Gras masquerade, held as always on a Saturday because I know all too well the woes of staying up too late on a weekday. However, that just makes for earlier revelry!

As always, formal dress is strongly encouraged, befitting of a grand and elegant venue. But, I do encourage you to be creative and to seek out colorful and fabulous ways to celebrate. The theme is purple, green and gold but if you have something in mind, go for it!

When you're assembling your costume, please keep in mind a few guidelines which will dramatically help everyone's ability to rez and dance smoothly. There's no point looking fabulous if you're a gray blob to everyone else!

Please keep your prim attachments in total to less than 250

This limit helps to keep everyone rezzing quickly. Check how many prims you have by going into Edit and holding down shift to click each item you're wearing. The window will display the collected total of those prims.

Streamline your AO, or leave it at home

Nobody likes looking like a noob while being a wallflower. However, if you don't plan to dance, fill a veritably lag free, low prim ZHAOII with your two or three favorite stands. Otherwise, just go without.

Check your script totals
Viewer 2 now has an "Avatar Scripts" total you can view, by going to About Land->Script Info->My Avatar. Try to make new, clean copies of items that have resize scripts and aim for less than 600kb

If we all follow these guidelines, I know we can contribute to a more fun and smoother experience.

As always, there will be a costume contest, determined by vote, to vie for the titles of Mardi Gras King and Queen. Two previously unreleased, themed masks will be awarded as the prizes, along with 1500L Angel Cards to each! I will also be passing out gift cards to honorable mentions and other people whom I find simply fabulous. So make sure to dress your best!

Make sure you join the group, spots will go surprisingly fast. After 50 join, I will have a waiting list just in case anyone leaves the group, which has happened before. There will still be hope to get in even if you hear about it too late.

Masks are required, but a freebie mask will be included, which is the mask shown in the invite. I know the costume rules are tough to follow, especially when it's so tempting to go for the excess, but I have the utmost faith in your creativity to be able to work around the limitations, and flourish. I can't wait to see you there.

Illusions Mardi Gras Masquerade
Saturday, March 5th, 4PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
(Join the "Illusions Mardi Gras Masque 2011" Group)
Formal Dress and Mask Required

The Burning Night (Aftermath)

Playing hosts to the hosts of hell turned out better than I could have expected... who would have thought they would be so kind, gracious, and considerate? One thing I noticed especially is that they are impeccably well dressed.


The costumes are always so stunning and creative at my parties and I end up a hopeless shutterbug, taking as many pictures as I can to take all of them in. There are a few more pictures on my photostream on Flickr. It's always almost impossible to choose who has the best costumes, however the voting cast Dyisi Oppewall and Ran Garrigus as the Burning King and Queen.


They are now the proud owners of the Burning King and Queen masks, which I will be releasing soon pending a couple of tweaks. I've been busy cleaning up all the ash from the floor and removing the tormented souls that stuck to a few demon's hooves.


Don't worry if you missed it! If you were in the group, I'll be sending the event mask (the one shown in the invitation) through a group notice. I also know that real life gets in the way sometimes, and that I do hold more masquerades >.>

The Burning Night

Things always get a little metaphysical on Carnivale around Halloween. Last year, the veil of life was thin and the dead rose to dance again in the halls. Some of those souls returned to paradise, others to eternal damnation. Well, the ones that returned to damnation apparently spoke of the marvelous time they'd had at the masquerade, and made their captors jealous. Last night I was contacted by an imp, a courier of a demon, who alerted me to the fact that certain creatures of the underworld were going to be inviting themselves to my masquerade this year. Rather than be a poor host, I decided to hold it in their honor.

You are invited, if you dare to come, to dance away the night with imps, devils, demons and seductive succubi. I will be host to the hosts of hell, and open my halls to those that you hopefully will never meet elsewhere. Come, all those that are tired of the same old circles and tortures and have some fun.

As usual I have to ask that when planning your costumes, you adhere to the following guidelines. They've been a policy since 2007 and have allowed my masquerades to be relatively lag free and very enjoyable for even those on older systems. If we all pitch in, we can all enjoy the costumes without gray people.

Please keep your prim attachments in total to 200 or less.
You can double check how close you are to the limit by using build, and holding down shift to click each item you're wearing. The build window will display the collected total of those prims.


Streamline your AO, or leave it at home
Nobody likes looking like a noob while being a wallflower. However, if you don't plan to dance, fill a veritably lag free, low prim ZHAOII with your two or three favorite stands. Otherwise, just go without.


No particles, and no listening scripts
Turn that bling off, and make sure you don't have any items on you that respond to chat commands. Make copies of items that have resize scripts in them and use the remove feature that many have included.

As usual, there will be a costume contest, determined by vote, to vie for the titles of the Burning King and Queen. Two previously unreleased, themed masks will be awarded as the prizes, along with an Angel Card good for 1500L worth of Illusions goodies.

If you are planning on coming, please be sure to join the "Illusions Burning Night Masquerade" group. There is a small fee of 150L as a token of commitment, to make sure that the people who are members seriously intend on coming. Make sure you join the group early, do not put it off because you don't have a group slot. Spots will go surprisingly fast, and I will refuse to add a single soul more than 50. I will, however, have a waiting list just in case anyone leaves the group, which has happened before. There will still be hope to get in even if you hear about it too late.

Masks are required, but a complimentary mask will be offered at the hall, which is the mask shown in the invite. I know the costume rules are tough to follow, especially when it's so tempting to go for excess, but I have the utmost faith in your creativity to be able to work around the limitations, and flourish. I can't wait to see you there.

Illusions Burning Night Masquerade
Saturday, October 23rd, 4PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
(Join the "Illusions Burning Night Masquerade" Group)
Themed attire and mask required

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2010

I completed the new event hall just in time for the Masque! We gave it a hell of a christening.

I tried very hard to make the interior ornate and detailed while still being rez-friendly, and I wanted to have as many picture friendly places as possible. I also wanted it to feel grand, and able to hold a full sim's worth of people yet still able to actually hear chat on the other side of it. I'm so proud to say I succeeded!

The way people work within the rules of the outfits never fails to impress me. I love to see people get creative and the time they spend planning pays off. You guys are always unfailingly and impeccably well dressed!




As always, there was a vote to determine who would be the Mardi Gras King and Queen, and be awarded the two unique masks made especially for the event. Aceius Hax was a clear favorite, looking very dapper with his cane and tailored, colorful suit. Kala Lunasea turned heads with her golden skin and vibrantly colored coat. In the end, they turned out to be a very good match!

The King and Queen masks will be released soon, I have a few tweaks I'd like to make, but I'm very proud to have made an elegant Volto after all this time. Took me long enough, yeesh.

Everyone was very good company, and six hours flew by! Before I knew it, it was just me and few other folks dancing, listening to the music, and quietly being busy at hour eight o.o No matter how long you stayed, your presence was enjoyed. This was my fourth annual Mardi Gras masquerade, and I'm so happy to continue this tradition. It was the best yet, and I want to thank you for being a part of this celebration of masks and fabulousness. I hope to see you at the next one!

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2010

Purple, green and gold aren't just the colors of a Concord grape at sunset, they're also the colors of Mardi Gras. When everyone else is thinking about Valentine's Day, I've got carnivale on the brain!



You're cordially invited to the fourth annual Illusions Mardi Gras Masquerade, held in Carnivale's elegant event hall. Even though Mardi Gras is obviously on a Tuesday, I know there are people who would like to withhold their revelry to a time they don't have to get up early to go to work/classes the next day.

As always, purple, green and gold are apropos but if you have something specific in mind, go for it! But please, keep the showgirl outfits in your closet (you too, men!) and keep in mind this is a formal affair.

When assembling your costume, please keep these rules in mind. These rules have worked exceedingly well for former events, even with the sim at capacity! So please, do respect them. For the sake of all of us, if each party-goer abides by them we should all be able to dance and camera around without molasses.

Please keep your prim attachments in total to 200 or less.

You can double check how close you are to the limit by using build, and holding down shift to click each item you're wearing. The build window will display the collected total of those prims.

Streamline your AO, or leave it at home

Nobody likes looking like a noob while being a wallflower. However, if you don't plan to dance, fill a veritably lag free, low prim ZHAOII with your two or three favorite stands. Otherwise, just go without.

No particles, and no listening scripts
Turn that bling off, and make sure you don't have any items on you that respond to chat commands. Make copies of items that have resize scripts in them and use the remove feature that many have included.

As always, there will be a costume contest, determined by vote, to vie for the titles of Mardi Gras King and Queen. Two previously unreleased, themed masks will be awarded as the prizes, along with 1500L each.

Make sure you join the group early, do not put it off because you don't have a group slot. Spots will go surprisingly fast, and I will refuse to add a single soul more than 50. I will, however, have a waiting list just in case anyone leaves the group, which has happened before. There will still be hope to get in even if you hear about it too late.

Masks are required, but a freebie mask will be included, which is the mask shown in the invite. I know the costume rules are tough to follow, especially when it's so tempting to go for the excess, but I have the utmost faith in your creativity to be able to work around the limitations, and flourish. I can't wait to see you there.

Illusions Mardi Gras Masque
Saturday, February 20th, 4PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
(Join the "Illusions Mardi Gras Masque 2010" Group)
Formal Dress and Mask Required

The Dead Can Dance

Last night was the Masque of the Dead, and Carnivale welcomed back some of the most notorious ghosts and departed wraiths this side of the Cornfield. We danced the night away, making sure to not step on each other's feet even though some might have been strewn across the floor.

The costumes were amazing as always, I'm consistently impressed with how well people are able to work around the limits and get creative with concept and execution.

Looking at my own pictures, honestly Carthalis Rossini and Arilynn Karu both out did me, those crafty cadavers.

Arilynn's slideshow
Carthalis' Album on Snapzilla

Some of Carthalis' pictures of the spirits that haunted us last night

Norathiel Silvera

Achariya Maktoum and Mourna Biziou

Mabb Dilwig

Mabb was so well received as a once beheaded and long dead French aristocrat, that she was crowned Queen of the Dead. Carthalis joined her as the King.

The deathly duo of Mourna Biziou and Achariya, the twin dolls were also awarded a pair of Queen of the Dead masks, in honor of them coming in at a very close tie/second. The horns were awarded with the masks, however they won't be available with the actual for-sale version; I needed something to make my own costume grander so I dug in for my personal horns.

Me and Selos before the Masque

Thank you to everyone who came. No matter how long you stayed or how much you spoke, you were most welcome and I hope you enjoyed seeing the dearly departed back in the mortal realm. Even if they smelled a bit funny.

Masque of the Dead

Halloween is coming up once again. And of course, as well all know, the spirit world is closer than ever to meeting with the real world on that night. Does that count for the virtual world as well?

On Friday, October 30th, the barrier between the worlds of life and death will waver, and the spirits of those departed will venture into mortal halls, to caper and dance like they once did.

Come back from the ether of the afterlife to be "lively" again. Be you a ghost or ghast, a wraith or revenant, you will be welcome to dance your feet off!

And then you can pick them up, put them back on and dance some more.

But please, no vampires. Vampires have never shuffled off the mortal coil, and still enjoy the luxury that so many spirits are denied. Do not rub your good fortune in the faces of those who don't get to enjoy the mortal world on a daily basis! Zombies are more than welcome, as long as you promise to pick up your pieces should you shed them.


When assembling your costume, please keep these rules in mind. These rules have worked exceedingly well for former events, even with the sim at capacity! So please, do respect them. For the sake of all of us, if each party-goer abides by them we should all be able to dance and camera around without molasses.

Please keep your prim attachments in total to 200 or less.

You can double check how close you are to the limit by using build, and holding down shift to click each item you're wearing. The build window will display the collected total of those prims.

Streamline your AO, or leave it at home

Nobody likes looking like a noob while being a wallflower. However, if you don't plan to dance, fill a veritably lag free, low prim ZHAOII with your two or three favorite stands. You don't need a walk or any other anim if you're not moving. Otherwise, just go without.

No particles, and no listening scripts
Turn that bling off, and make sure you don't have any items on you that respond to chat commands. Try to avoid scripted items at all if possible.

As always, there will be a costume contest, determined by vote, to vie for the title of King and Queen of the Dead. Two previously unreleased, themed masks will be awarded as the prizes, along with 1500L each.

Make sure you join the group early, do not put it off because you don't have a group slot. Spots will go surprisingly fast, and I will refuse to add a single soul more than 50. I will, however, have a waiting list just in case anyone leaves the group, which has happened before. There will still be hope to get in even if you hear about it too late.

Masks are required, but a freebie mask will be included, which is the mask shown in the invite. I know the costume rules are tough to follow, especially when it's so tempting to go for the excess, but I have the utmost faith in your creativity to be able to work around the limitations, and flourish. I can't wait to see you there.

Illusions Masque of the Dead
Friday, October 30th, 6PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
(Join the "Illusions Masque of the Dead 2009" Group)
Formal Dress and Mask Required

Mardi Gras Masquerade 2009

Seven hours later, I'm all partied out. What a bash, seriously! As always, the costumes were simply magnificent which is the more impressive because everyone was working within the 200 prim limit. I would almost think the best part of it was seeing all the costumes if everyone wasn't such good company :)

Ghanima Uriza

There were so many wonderful costumes, I had to pick only a few of my favorites for this blog entry, but there are far more on my and my store's Flickr streams from me and other party goers.

Myself and Miriel Enfield

Dream Resistance, Aria Eldridge, Sabina Takakura

Hehe, "the evil twins" as they were dubbed turned a lot of heads with their original concept, and so they won an honorable mention in the costume contest. But the winners who took the titles of Mardi Gras King and Queen were the impeccably and fabulously dressed Khamudy Mannonen and Juana Manuel.

(See their original costumes here and here)

It was an amazing send off for the Event Hall, which will be destroyed and replaced with a new one for the new sim build. It has seen four glorious parties and hundreds of amazing costumes within its walls, and I'm sure the new one will only serve its legacy well.

I want to thank everyone who could come for sharing your company, your wit and your beautiful avatar with us. It wouldn't be a party without you. Happy Mardi Gras, everyone :)