20 Years in Second Life

I made a Second Life account twenty years ago, on October 14th 2006.  My father told me about this thing that was like an MMO, but users made all of the content.  When I joined up, I searched for fantasy sims and ended up on the Isle of Wyrms, a fantasy roleplay community and store that sold dragon avatars.

I wanted to play dress up and make my avatar pretty, but I had no leisure money to spend on it.  I fumbled with my avatar, wearing freebies and hunting for lucky chair scores, but I couldn't make her look how I wanted.  Rather than shelling out $700L for a new skin, I thought it could be fun to wear a mask.  I couldn't find any that weren't just a picture on a cylinder, so I made one out of prims and wore that instead of looking at my avatar.  This is to say, my fate changed entirely because default Linden avatars looked weird back then.

One of my first prim masks in 2006

I made little prim accessories for myself, and then people asked me about them, and I sold them to friends and fellow sandbox goers to earn a little shopping money.  I eventually made enough things to rent a little spot in the Isle of Wyrms marketplace, and then enough things to warrant my first little store.  

An early branding experiment from 2007.

I bought a parcel on the mainland and made my first main store there.  Sculpts were introduced and I threw myself into learning how to use them.  I taught myself how to use Zbrush and figured out how to make masks out of squished spheres and torii, and my store grew.  A friend of mine offered me half of a sim to play with, and I decided to try working in Second Life full time. In 2012, after mesh import was introduced, I taught myself the software and techniques I needed for that too.  I created a reputation for myself and my store for creating 100% original, hand made mesh designs.  I tried to make a place for other original artists to flourish after I took over the rest of the sim of Carnivale.  

The Illusions cathedral store overlooking the marketplace

After ten years, real life events wore me down, and I had to step away.  Even just opening Blender would give me anxiety, but I promised myself that at least once a year, around Fantasy Faire, I would come back and make one thing.  My life took me in other directions, but I still wasn't willing to say that I "quit" Second Life.  I wasn't entirely done with it.  I sold my sim, but one of the friends I offered a space to on Carnivale returned the favor and made a space for Illusions on their sim, The Twilight.  I came back maybe once a year, and every now and then checked my email to answer customer service requests.  Illusions was still there, even if I wasn't.

In 2023, after having a baby and craving a creative outlet that could be done without creating (any more) mess, the muse tapped me on the shoulder again.  I got the itch to come back, so here I am.  I am still committed to all of the values I had back then, and of course, still very purple.

I don't know if you want to "count" it as twenty years in Second Life, after such a long time away, but either way it's Siyu's 20th rez day.  I still don't know how I got this old.  It seems like I should do something to celebrate, though. 

I'm throwing a flash sale.  Twenty years of work, whatever you have ever wanted from my store. Come get whatever you have had your eyes on for only 20% of its original price.  The only items not included are the new Demon Ears, and the old antique stuff that's already been discounted.  I've never done a sale like this before and likely never will again,  but you don't turn twenty every day.  

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Twilight/191/238/39

Demon Ears @ SL Halloween Shop & Hop 2026

 It's my favorite time of year again, spooky season has returned.  I am happy to once again be at this year's Halloween Shop & Hop, hosted by the Lindens.  This is the second anniversary of the release of my new generation of elf ears, which makes it the perfect time to debut a new set, perfectly in theme for haunted happenings.

 

 These ears are the result of a creative collaboration with Sin Enchantment, the winner of my auction item to benefit Relay For Life during Fantasy Faire this year.  They won the opportunity to design a new ear with me, and after sharing pictures, chatting, some screen-sharing sessions, and my realizing that I had to play my own devilish dress-up to get in the right mood, we designed an ear fit for a demon queen.  There are some details in it that I find quite delightful, like the pointed tragus and ear lobe, and that the larger your ear slider goes, the bigger and sharper the points get.  They also are at the right angle that allowed me to utilize ear tip weights, so you can play with the ear tip slider and they look fantastic with animations.  They also don't have to be just for demons, you could use them for a gargoyle avatar, or a thorn druid, or even use them for a mer avatar.  As with all of my ears, a gauged version will be coming soon.

These are out now at the SL Shop & Hop, and even if the ears are not your style, you can find a free gift at my stall. I made a new set of earrings to match my Curia masks.  After having so much fun making a set of my Barocco pieces and having everything coordinate, I would love to do the same with the Curia masks.  First was the mask, now some earrings, in the future, perhaps a necklace, or ear adornments?  We shall see!  In the meantime, these are free but will be available after the event ends for a modest price.

I once again invited my friend Violaine to join me at my stall, so do also swing by Fancy Fairy.  She has a store credit available that, with her update group discount, will get you a free set of her gorgeous wings.  She hand paints them herself, from her own real life designs and they have the best fairy wing animations on the grid.  

Check us out at Zinnia, now through to November 1st.  

Il Fiore Mask @ Midnight Order

 A long long time ago, in an age of sculpty prims and flexi skirts, a designer of beautiful ball gowns and formalwear came to me and a few other creators with a lovely dress design and basically said "let's make this a whole look".  I accepted her invitation, and was able to collaborate with some other creators I admired.  The outfit was Le Fleur, and of course my contribution was a mask.  This mask was quite a feat at the time for my burgeoning abilities and sculpty techniques, and I was quite proud of the flowers.  However, of course, time has marched on and it has now been relegated to the antiques section of my store.

 Imagine my surprise when I saw someone blogging it!  Eighteen years later!  My sculpty mask on a modern mesh head and outfit, with PBR lighting and it looked... okay? It sparked an urge inside me to drag the design into modernity.

 

 This is more of a re-imagining than a remake, but the spirit is there.  I liked the original shape and concept, and every time I tried to add embellishment to the mask itself or some flare to it, it felt wrong.  For this design it felt right to let the flowers take focus. 

 

 Once again, I'm most proud of the flowers.  I modeled them mostly after magnolias, and started with a simple array of an ovate mesh and contorted it with radial symmetry tools in Zbrush.   I actually used some cloth manipulation brushes, along with liberal use of polygroup masking to make those basic ovals into these delicate, curling, soft petals.  

The flowers weren't enough, though, and I simply wasn't happy with the shapes I was getting from the branch like forms I was playing with.  I scrapped them and went for feathers.  These feathers are a sort of mix of the ones from the Feather Mantle and the Volto Altiero/Altezza.  I blended aspects of them together and added a whole new collection of colors to play with.

 

Il Fiore, like "Le Fleur", means "the flower".  It can be found at the new round of Midnight Order starting today. You can also find my Ravenna Hennin and the Barocco Necklace and Earrings there for 25% off until August 20th.

 

Midnight Order @ Syndicate 

Perilune Earrings @ Bleeding Solstice

 I haven't had much time to create lately, but I heard about an event called Bleeding Solstice.  It's a gothic celebration of the summer solstice, and the theme is dark and witchy elegance.  It was enticing enough to motivate me to find the time to make a new item with celestial vibes.

 

 

 

It's been a while now since my last set of earrings, and they're long overdue.  The Perilune earrings feature a dangling chain, a delicate ear cuff, hoops, studs and a detailed moon earring.  They change texture to my usual six metal options, and offer the option to show and hide various components.  I've even made them compatible with the Barocco ear accessories.

 

 The little dangling moon earring turned out so well, I decided to make a full size earring to wear with them, which is unrigged and appropriate for all ears. 

 

The moon earrings on their own will be sold as a separate option in the future, but for now are available as a gift exclusively at Bleeding Solstice.

Find them here at my stall on the Difony sim until July 13th, and at the main  store after that.

Fairy Ears @ Fantasy Faire 2026

While I was working on updating the ear seams, it was difficult to justify making a new ear style knowing I would just have to go back and rework it all again.  I didn't want to make things even more difficult for myself, so I just held off.  Now that that's done, I'm free to make more new styles again! 

I've been wanting to do another upright style that was smaller than the Drow.  I set out with the intention of making an entirely new style.  As I worked on them and got the shape just how I liked it, I realized I had basically just made the Fairy ears again.  

That's not a bad thing though! 

 

Shown wearing a skin by Alexandrite, hair by Stealthic

The Fairy ears have always been a favorite of mine, a quirky yet elegant style with flair and distinction.  The original Fairy ears were smaller than these, but you can get a similar look as the olden days by sliding the "ear size" slider down to about 0-10.  Thanks to their shape, this is also the first style of ears I've made where you can also play with the "ear pointiness" slider.  These no longer have to be the diminutive, shy, peeking out of-your-hair tips they once were.  They can now be just as dramatic and unmistakably fae as my other styles if you up those sliders.

I was also able to finish the gauged versions just in time for this weekend!

 

Shown wearing a skin by IVES, Earrings by Opalite, Hair by Nylon Pinkney, Eyeshadow by Someone, eyes by VelvetVue

 

Shown wearing a skin by Alt3, earrings by Valhalla, tattoos by Aerth, Hair by NoMatch, Eyes by LovelySweet, Horns by Static

You can find the new Fairy ears for sale at my Fantasy Faire stall on Stoneveil Crossing until May 10th, and after that they will be out for sale at my store on The Twilight.  

Illusions @ Fantasy Faire 2026

     It's that most magical time of year again, which is of course, Fantasy Faire!  

    First off, I am extremely pleased to share that I managed to finish the Drow and Elfin seam updates, and I'll be sending those out to folks this weekend.  I will also be sending out updates to the Seelie ears, as I fixed an issue with the masculine ear fit and added new blending layers into the tintable skin bases.  I have been working hard, but all on things that aren't that impactful on their own.  However, the seam updates were crucial for something else.

    Part of my work on the seam updates was adjusting the different head fits, so that earrings or ear accessories no longer need multiple versions for masculine or feminine avatars.  This means that only items on the ear lobe or plugs/gauges will need to be adjusted per ear style, which makes things easier for me, but also easier for you...

     I am so excited to share that part of all this toiling in the shadows has been to build towards the completion of a project I've been planning since I first released the Sylph ears in 2024.  I know with my limited time to create things these days, I will never be able to keep up with everyone's dreams and desires for jewelry and accessories.  So I'm leaving that up to you.  Do you want to make earrings and accessories for your elf ears?

     I've put together a set of .blend files for each style of ear that has had its seams completed.  I am pleased to announce that developer kits for Illusions elf ears are now available! If you would like to apply, here is the form.  The requirements for acceptance are some existing body of related work, that your items are the products of your own mind and hands, and that you have the knowledge you'll need to utilize the files.  If you make jewelry or accessories in Second Life, and you are a fan of my work, I hope you will apply!

 

For Fantasy Faire itself though, I'm obliged to provide at least two items which will wholly benefit Relay For Life, a fundraising event for cancer research.  Last year, I offered up versions of my elf ears for the paper doll avatars by Salt & Pepper.  I've had more styles of paper elf ears on my to-do list since then, and now seemed like the perfect time to add more.

 

You can now get flat paper versions of the Sprite and Seelie ears for your Cardy and Cardo avatars.  They work the same way as the Sylph and Elfin ears, with BoM overlays compatible with any of your cardboard skins.  They're available for just 30L each at my spot at the faire.

I couldn't be happier with the sim that I'm on.  Stoneveil Crossing is the perfect fit for my store, a beautiful Elven city full of elegant stone arches, meandering canals and creeping rose vines.   Thank you to Janire Coba and Kadaj Yoshikawa for doing such a stunning job on this place.  

 

 

 I have more goodies to share, but I will leave my new faire exclusive release for another post.  For now, find Illusions at the gorgeous Stoneveil Crossing

 

Ravenna Cowl @ Engine Room

 After releasing the Ravenna Hennin, I've been wearing the cowl part of it on it's own quite a bit.  It looks fantastic under other creator's hats and headdresses, and sometimes I like to put together a low lag/low complexity look to visit crowded shopping sims and the cowl works perfectly to provide a less graphically intensive option to hair.  After talking to the folks on my Discord server, I decided to package up the cowl and sell it as its own item.

 

 It has all of the colors that it does with the hennin, with a simplified HUD.  I also put in a few variations for different amounts of coverage so you can wear it underneath other mesh clothing items.  The cowl includes the fits for masculine and feminine avatar bodies, and was tested on the Jake, Legacy M, Reborn, Legacy F and Lara X bodies.  It was fit for LeLutka heads but may work with other bodies and heads, just make sure to try a demo.   

 

Now available at Engine Room for $300L, which runs until April 20th 

Cigno Curia Mask @ Engine Room

 I wasn't sure about being able to do another event so soon after another,  but after I got a message saying that The Engine Room had a spot for me if I wanted it, I felt I had to grab the opportunity.  The Engine Room is a Steampunk themed event that also welcomes other historically inspired and fantasy themed items, and since coming back to SL has become one of my "must see" shopping stops whenever I hear a round is going on.  For the past couple of years, I had an aspiration to one day be a part of it, since so many of my items fit the theme.  I'm happy to say that today, I am!  

 

 The Cigno Curia mask is a return to my roots, an ornate masquerade mask inspired by traditional Venetian maschereri. I couldn't be too ambitious with the limited time I had, but I figured I'd make a new variation on my Curia series.  Cigno means "swan", and is characterized by an elegant sweeping wing or feather shape framing the face.  Its usually a riff or variation on another character or style of mask, like a Volto Cigno or a Columbina Cigno.  My version is somewhat based on my Civetta mask, and offers eighteen color variations for the mask itself as well as my usual set of six metal colors for the accents, all accessible via an easy-to-use HUD.

 

With the Steampunk theme, it made me think of an item that would be a perfect option to update next. 

 

Despite a corrupted file that nearly prevented me from being able to complete this, I can thank a stray temporary quick-save file on an old computer for the high detail version of this mask. Because of this serendipitous savior I am so pleased to share that I have updated it with a new, higher definition model, PBR materials and HUD.  I also included the limited edition RFL colors that I released at Fantasy Faire in 2021, and added a blue color and a red vinyl option.  I have to say, the vinyl material really does pop with PBR materials and a reflection probe.

 

These can be found at the Engine Room event, which starts today and runs until April 20th.  

Gauged Seelie Ears @ Skin Fair 2026

When I first started making my new line of elf ears, there was a flaw in them that I just assumed was part of making things in Second Life.  A visible edge could be seen along where my ear met the head, but only in some lighting.  After seeing various creators of other mesh body parts create perfectly blended edges on bodies and heads, I realized I must be missing something.  It started me on a quest to find a way to make my own elf ears seamless.

Many general modeling resources weren't helpful, because it's an extremely rare use case to not be able to alter or touch the mesh you're trying to blend with.  I asked other Second Life creators and got leads and clues but nothing satisfactory.  Finally, someone was able to give me the key I was looking for, and with enough persnickety tinkering I'm happy to say I've done it. 

One of the reasons it's been months since my last ear release is that I got it into my head that the gauged Seelie ears would be the first set with seamless edges.

 

Shown wearing a skin by Moccino, tattoo by Nuuna, Hair by No Match, Gauges by Faetal

It's taken me over a year, but I have now made an edge that blends into LeLutka's modern line of heads, (the ones that have the same edges as Camden/Rune and Camila/Vela).  They also have "Lite" versions to fit the heads that are available for free to all residents in the library.

 

 Shown wearing a skin by Ives, Hair by Stealthic, Earrings by A*S

   

Now that I have the new edges done, updates are going to be sent out for previously released styles as I go through them.  Anyone who currently has a set of ungauged Seelie ears should be sent an update automatically.  I will also be going back through my other ear styles and changing those edges as I get to them.  

 

The gauged Seelie ears will be available at Skin Fair, beginning March 7th.

 

Illusions @ Skin Fair 

 

 

Ravenna Hennin for Men @ Midnight Order

    When first I released the Ravenna Hennin, my intention was to offer an option for male avatars as well.  After getting the female version done just in time for the opening of Midnight Order, I started work on the male version thinking it might take me just a day or two.  I was very wrong.  

    I never imagined how much trouble it would be to rig it to move properly on male bodies.  Instead of using about five different weight painting bones like for my female version, I used nearly twenty.  The people who rig their items for both get extra kudos from me, now that I've seen what a pain it is!  However, I was committed, and men have few enough options in-world as it is.  After struggling for the past couple of weeks to get everything working together, I learned a lot about rigging.  After sinking so much time, work, and frustration into it, I didn't feel comfortable adding it to the female version of the hennin without increasing the price.  So, I decided to offer it as its own separate item.  

 

Shown with the "Loras" doublet by Sublime.  Skin by Gloom, "Camden" head by LeLutka 

Even though hennins are traditionally associated with women's costume, when it comes down to it, who cares?  In searching for images for inspiration I found some amazing men's masquerade costumes that incorporated hennins similar to this one.  My version includes three versions of the cowl, in different lengths, to accommodate wearing clothes with collars.  I also added alphas to wear just in case your neck or ears clip through, for Evo X as well as SLUV.  There are also two fits for the hennin itself, one that rests against the bare skin and another with a bit of space to wear over clothes.

I hope that at least few of you out there will see this and be excited to see what kind of magnificent outfits you can create with this.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with it.

 

Out now at Midnight Order through to February 20th