they take a Polaroid and let you go, say they'll let you know

This is still amusing me to no end. I've been LOLcatted!

And Dr. Mason brings Something in the Sea to my attention. Imagine crossing BioShock with The Mothman Prophecies (or go that one step further and go directly to the Mothman Chronicle DVD) and you'll get an idea of what an intriguing concept this is.

Or just push all that aside, potential cryptozoology, the "what is that thing?" response for half-glimpsed half-in-shadow shapes along the shoreline--and just go for the heart of the tale. Someone is kidnapping little girls. Someone who leaves not-quite-human footprints. Someone who doesn't look quite like we do, and is frequently accompanied by glowing red lights under the water. That, in itself, is terrifying.

Add in the rest of the growing BioShock mythology, and things get very unnerving indeed.

The effects of virtual reality on the treatment of PTSD. Very interesting also--could Second Life (and other virtual worlds under development) end up being good treatment sources for those in emotional/psychological pain?

(Of course, the reverse can be true as well--those in emotional/psychological pain are frequently drawn to that which harms them...because they're familiar with that harm. I see that a lot, too.)

So I've been reconsidering the dress, and I KNOW what you're all going to say: OMG, woman, put that thing out already!

But...collar. Damn it, it needed a collar!

I found some good collar laces. I am COMPLETELY IGNORING the back of each gown set, but--I think I can eke by on just making the fronts, because some of us have long hair, and those that don't, well, it may not matter, and b'sides, most people are looking at the front of us anyway. WE'RE the only ones usually stuck looking at our ass....ets.

And in thinking through things, I'm going to make sure back and front match up, but I'm only uploading (and making) the blouse bases. I figure, I'm offering between two and four jacket-layer plain corsets, and a shirt-layer corset/blouse combo, plus gloves, plus two skirt options, leggings, system skirt and seamed stockings--ENOUGH, already! Hells, the corset tops alone could be worn just as is. Come on now.

And--if Lady Kira deigns to let me grovel enough to get this up somewhere, even if just in the shop--it's all for charity anyway, so I think it's a grand deal considering what I'm likely to offer as the 'minimum donation'. (I'm thinking L$200 or so. I'll talk it over with Kira-Kira.)

Tipped by the mysterious Andy, a UK article goes into what Joss Whedon sees as the core themes of Dollhouse. Power, love, expectations--those are pretty big thematic concepts for a TV show, but so far, he's doing a good job.

Several interesting things culled from Twitter (I know, I know, don't everyone go peep over at once--I did stealthily creep on, but it's also true that I didn't exactly make it hard to find me): a follow-up on the out of body VR study; Warren Ellis discovers Julianna Barwick (and love her or hate her, you have to admit what she does is odd and surreal and compelling); training kitchen safety inspectors in Second Life; an interesting point from Zha's blog on anonymous adventuring, roleplay, multiple characters, honesty, and transparency.

Now, I will disagree on one point: I, personally, do not care if the same driver is behind the eyes of four avatars (or two, or nine...whatever). Where I start to care is if all avatars act as if (or outright state that) they're as the same person. If I don't know, generally, I don't pry, and I treat each avatar as a discrete individual, to the best of my ability. (Because I know me, you see--if I know, I do my best to avoid it, but I do pull the 'sidewise communication' trick now and again. It may be Jane in front of me, and I may only really know Jessica, but if I know it's Jill behind both of them? I may use that knowledge to communicate to the person behind the screen, and not the avatar I'm facing. And that, to me, is underhanded--on my part.)

Blip from a discussion about adult content, and how it's amusing the blog got noticed for what I consider a 'fluff', or just fun 'filler' piece, and not for the eight weeks or so I spent dwelling on adult content issues:

[19:31] Sphynx Soleil: Maybe treat it like baaaad comedy hour? "thank you thank you, here 'till thursday, try the veal...wait, no, you can't that might be adult content, you know" or something :) Eh, it's a thought. I'm feeling a bit demented. :)
[19:40] Emilly Orr: *cackles* Veal is AC now??

Other than that, she has a point. :)