here's some mud made of blood and these teeth are decayed

In the middle of taking pics for this entry, a sudden surge of multi-text spam crawled across the DV8 store group:

[03:19 PM] Georgia Verino: :*☆*.:*★*.:*☆*:..:*☆*:.
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ❤ ◥◣FENIX CLUB ◥◣
┊ ┊ ┊ ☆ DJ FLAVIO BELO
┊ ┊ ❤ FESTA FERVENDOOOOOO
┊ ☆ ILHA FENIX O MELHOR POINT DO SL
❤ SÓ FALTA VOCÊ!!!! ENTÃO VEM LOGO!!!
╔═══╗ ♪
║██ ║ ♫
║(●) ♫ I ♥ SE JOGA NESSA VIAGEM
╚═══╝ ♪♪
♪ [slurl I'm not even BOTHERING to give out] ♬

And that's why you got muted, Georgia. Born in 2009, you should know better by now. Tch.

Runes of Magic has released a new "slim client"--they say it will take up only half as much space as the original, and has compressed many features to give you the same game experience without the total system shutdown some of those experiences required...

This sounds like a good thing, but it still leaves me in a slight quandary. Part of the reason for the lack of Runes mentions on the blog is that for two months, I was unable to play it, due to the dying hard drive. By the time I came back, I had been kicked out of my guild again, whereupon that guild subsequently dissolved, and my main play partner hasn't been interested in logging in for...well, ever.

Past level 50 in Runes, it's pretty much essential to have a guild, or at least a working relationship with folks on my same schedule to advance at all...so...I'm somewhat stuck.

Not sure how--or if--that's ever going to resolve. But a client that draws on less computer resources is never a bad thing for an MMO.

Aggressive femininity. There's a fun concept. (And if you want to hear some of these songs, just click the link at the bottom of the article. Everything's clickable for an instant dose of early sixties girlpop.)

I have several questions regarding this:

1. Why is Professor Sputnik in this picture?
2. Does this mean we'll be seeing in-world advertising from companies that don't have an in-world presence?
3. To be blunt, this is who they see as their target audience to show companies that may be curious about buying in--urchins, catbois and old guys? Seriously?

If you're any serious fan of horror, and you haven't seen each of the ten films on Roger Ebert's non-list...well, Ebert's thought ahead. You can watch each of them at the links provided, with a click of a button. (And he's right. These are all classic, enduring, and on occasion still very scary films.)

Next few stops on the Unknown Hunt. (See part one and part two if you're coming in to this now.)

Also--**WARNING**!! This is a PICTURE-HEAVY post! If you think I'm kidding, the caps hit TWENTY on this one.

Yeah. LOTS of pictures. Thankfully, they aren't huge, though they are clickable in case you want to see larger versions...

#22: YaYo. The clue: "This little birdy flew right inside...perhaps someone should have duct taped his wings..."



The prize: A tattoo of bats in flight on all layers (including the 2.0 tattoo layer), and:



a makeup tattoo layer of diluted blood tears. The tears are oddly realistic/not so realistic--I mean, they look like tears, is the thing, not streaming blood down the face. It's a more subtle effect that I personally think works, and it's handy to have in the arsenal...whenever one might need, um, bloody tears...

Worn: Still the BriarRose eyes from the last shoot, with the additions of the Candyass Geisha skin in Grape from Malfean Visions, bought during their Wear Purple promotion, and Mania hair in Candy Corn from Calico Ingmann Creations, acquired during their pumpkin hunt (still going!).

#23: Blue Goose. The clue: "Not here Yet." (The hell, I thought. Then I wandered, and I got it. Very clever.)



The prize: Multiple. The "Chole" aged jeans miniskirt, and an "I'm a Cat" costume t-shirt.



There's also a male prize, which makes the costume t-shirt red. At least they're not cut-offs for the guys...

Worn: So, I snapped the pic of the prizes from #22 last night, and this morning--as is my wont--I changed everything. The hair is Eleanor 1 in Pumpkin Patch from the Calico Ingmann pumpkin hunt (ongoing). Eyes are from MiaSnow; they may still be available in her "prizebomb" thingy. The color is "XPRESSIVE hazel"--silly name, but lovely, lovely rich color. Skin is House of Ruin's CBH Exclusive "Raven & the Sun" in Palomino (doubly sad because even the business has closed up shop. I will sincerely miss Ruina Kessel's work on the grid). Shoes are DV8's Morrhigan Bitchboots in Rust--I believe acquired through their profile picks system. And the outfit is out for today only, the Gor Gurls' "Gor Likes Stripes" outfit in Orange (L$25, today, Tuesday, only--comes in five colors total).

(Forget most of that passage--that was written before I skipped this and half of everything else to photograph items lower on the list....Um, oops? Everything I've worn on this shoot IS labeled, just...not accurately in all cases. Ask me if you really want to know what exactly tracks up to which SLUrl or which business.)

#24: Gestures by Mi. (Oh, gods. Not a gesture shop.) The clue: "Search every corner".

The prize: more gestures. Animaniacs, Invader Zim, I think one from Friends, and most of them in a font that is rendered occasionally unreadable. Whee.)

#25: Secret October. No hint really needed, it's pretty obvious.



The prize: "Hip to be Square" earrings. I'm not keen on most accessories--I don't, as a rule, wear much for adornments RL or SL, and in SL, especially, with the amount of times I change from cat ears to elf ears to human and back again...assuming my av has ears at all...I've gotten in the habit of just not bothering.

These are cute, though. Simple, fun, definitely costume jewelry...but pretty.

#26: Incendia. The clue: "Have a seat and Meditate, Careful you might get wet!"



The prize: Hay bales with poses. The poses are pretty dorky (and admittedly, it would be a better showing over ground, rather than the blue tiles of my work studio), and the thing as a whole is no copy/no mod. But interestingly enough, the pose sets themselves (found in each of the four blankets) can be edited, because the pose script is full perm (you, uh, might want to look into that, Incendia) and, since that is, you could easily drop in your own poses to work with the script.

Store #27 seems to have left the hunt. We move on, then, to:

#28: The Grungey Hole. The clue: "Time is Running Out." (Wander around, you'll get it.)



The prize: "Sabrina" skin and shape, and "GrungeyHole Female" black jeans (there's also a male skin and shape in the box, with jeans for him). The skin obscurely flashes me back to Alice Cooper, but the shape is...

Well, I've seen worse on this hunt. I guess that's a good thing.



(Amusingly, I tried on the male skin, though I didn't feel like shifting gender so didn't try the shape. It's not half bad on the female shape, though with the Miasnow eyes, 'he' does look scarily intent and stalkerish.)

#29: ViLada. The clue: None given. None really needed, either.



The prize: Um...it's...a...babydoll halter top in orange, tenuously, but...I think the babydoll portion is sculpted. At the very least, the scallops look exceedingly odd.

Worn: The Golden Angel Ghost skin from Ello Poppet, which is in one of five pumpkins at the Calico Ingmann pumpkin hunt you can get for free. Just search around the sim.

#30: Halloween Memories. The clue: "May they Rest in Peace." (This one took a long time to find, only because I was searching the main store. The main store is fun--this is sort of a Hallows party place, with flashing lights and a lot of prop pieces--but it's not in the main store.)



The prize: Three fedora hats, one of which I rezzed out, thinking it was a set of eye prims (Come on. It said "Halloween glowing eyes". What would you think? "Fedora" wasn't in the object name!); I'll get it later.



This is "Halloween Fedora kife in head". I am not a fedora person, but I have to admit, the handle on the "kife" is wonderfully well done. (There's also one more not pictured, the "candy corn" variant.)

(Why yes, the observant will note that I took pics of item #29 before changing into other hunt items. I'm in an odd mood today. I also screwed up both attribution and picture order for Blue Goose. Ergh.)

#31: is Gauzed Patches, and they seem to be missing. There's no word on the blog, so I'm jumping to the next store:

#32: Hypnotizing Creations. The clue: You need to chill.



The prize: Two 'haunted window' shadowboxes; they aren't the best capture of the items because the items are partially transparent. That being said, I ended up taking my work studio back rather than the picture windows, so I didn't want to rez them out again. How'ver, all have ghosts flickering in and out, a neat little shattered-glass motif, and there are bands of flickering color around the witches hats adorning each one.



Just as an aside, this is a very small shop, but she has amazing designs. Simple, most of them, but highly effective--mobile, color-shifting art. But don't think of typical mainland animation pieces; this is deeply subtle, with fading glow and liquid fluidity. Her prices are very reasonable, and after I found the hunt item, I stayed, just looking at what she's offering up for sale.

#33: Homes with a Heart. The clue: "Take a dive!"



The prize: A Halloween snowglobe with deep flaws, which is sad, and I'll explain why.

First, the prize itself is lovely. Putting it out by itself as a snowglobe decoration would work beautifully. The base is an intriguing wood-trunk texture, the inside 'glass' work is very nice, the props are appropriate and delighful.

But there's a sit pose. Why is this bad? Because the object's no-copy/no-mod, and that sit desperately cries out to be adjusted. I'll poke at it, because I like it, but I'm really afraid this is going to go into the 'maybe' pile of Hallows keepables, because of the no-mod permissions.

#34: iHoliday Bliss. The clue: Not really needed, just look around.



The prize: A Halloween 'breaking barrel'. This one's odd, I tried to capture a pic of the effect (and yes, until I went through these, I didn't realize I still had an alpha layer obscuring things. So yes, my feet are missing. Move on.)

The barrel never exactly breaks. What happens is, the animation sends you partially into the barrel, while the barrel says (in green text):

[04:40 PM] Barrel: What have you done, you broke me!!!

So...intriguing roleplay item? Maybe?

#35: Twat-Waffle. (I loathe the name of this store, but hey, I'm not too keen on SN@TCH as a name, either, and I wear her stuph...) The clue: "I have a Sweet Tooth." (Look around, this one's pretty obvious too.)



The prize: Black Queen Style piercings (fit for chin and mouth, though I'm not sure what size of head they're after, because no matter how I adjusted this, something is wrong somewhere). When I have the time--they are completely modifiable--to actually hang out on a pose stand and adjust this piece by piece, it will likely be fine.



Also, there's two different tattoos--the "Die, Die, Kill" tattoo--though I'm, err, not entirely sure what that would say about anyone who got to see that one...and a neck tattoo version saying Shi Ni Goroshi, which translates directly to "Death, Death, Murder"...but can be brought closer to the vernacular of "Die, Die, Kill". Huh.



Finally, there's the Uoki shape in human variety (note the "Shi Ni Goroshi" tattoo, almost visible). Wau, she is pouty. And the jaw's a bit underslung. Otherwise, it's okay. Hippy, but okay. :)

(There's also an elven style. It took me a bit to figure out what had changed. Finally had to take off the hair to do it. She's made no body style changes, but she's minimized to bud ears the ear slider. I can only imagine, so it is easier to put on Asian "Look Ma I can pull in CHINA!" antenna ears.)

Worn: A Netherworld's Lia dress in purple, because otherwise, I'd have been standing around in my underwear.

#36: Wonderland. The clue: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" (This one's on the obscure side unless you know where--in the Alice books--the quote originates. But look around, it is there.)



The prize: Four different styles of eyeball chairs (only one shown). I'm not entirely sure how comfortable I am with Sauron blinking underneath my butt, but it's a cute concept and a cute pose.

Worn: Salem Boots in Pewter from DV8, which I think was a straight-out purchase, not a profile pick gift; Forsaken Velvet Noir stockings in Purple, also from DV8, bought the weekend they came out; the Witches' Brew skin from Ello Poppet, found on the Calico Ingmann pumpkin hunt; and the Jill Hair in Spooky from the same hunt.)

#37: Skat Cat Neko. The clue: "So many little kitties". (Your guess is as good as mine. Also? I never found a bird anywhere in the store. I found a box, hidden in a very obscure place, that I could only get to by camming...that was buyable for the hunt prize. So I have no clue if the bird is actually out.)



The prize: A single tail. Yes, seriously. (The "42-42-564" is part of the "Shi Ni Goroshi" tattoo, along with back wings, and...I'm only assuming those are meant as a joke, on measurements? Because first, the wide-hipped shade is in no one's reality 564 inches around on her hips, and secondly, she has breasts, so the 42-42 doesn't match, either...)

How'ver, I want to be fair to the maker, so here's the good and bad of it, honestly.

Good: It's black, with grey and white streaks. This means you can wear it with black, grey or white fur and ears. That's a plus.

Bad: it doesn't come with matching ears. Come on now. Just a tail? Just a tail?!?

Good: The teddy bear open-heart surgery taking place on the tail bondage section is both vividly detailed, cute, and disturbing as all get-out. Five out of five skulls for that one.

Bad: It's a tail bondage tail. Not every neko on the grid is into tail bondage. Junking up the back of your tail just doesn't make sense--to me, at least. (Yes, I know, tail bondage hides the inevitable seam line division between non-flexible base and flexi-tail, but get real--it doesn't make sense.)

I'd say honestly, it runs 50/50 for good and bad, so...pick it up if you really like the concept of stuffed animal surgery.

#38: Robotic Arms. The clue: "I have a bone to pick with you." (Two things to keep in mind: if the SLUrl dumps you at a preset store point, go upstairs; and second, there is a VERY ANNOYING SOUND that will make you want to kill people. Don't. Turn off sounds if repeated, high-pitched whining sounds bother you.)



The prize: "Flytrap", an original painting brought into SL, copyright Nick Francel. That is so going in next year's haunt.

#39: Maven Haus. The clue: The forbidden fruit.



The prize: "Heiress of the Galaxy" hair. Wau. Slap in a headjack, I could broadcast to a concert hall! I given Maven Haus full points for invention, hands down, but...damn, where would even I wear this??

And finally...

#40: Gestures by FM. Gods, no, not another gestures shop. The clue: Hiding in the shadows of performers.


The prize: Gestures, what else? Two from Vincent Price, a clip from the original film "The Fly", a clip from Disney's "Haunted Mansion" ride...and all terrifyingly low-quality as far as the sounds themselves go. Dim and muffled, and in the case of the "Tales of Horror" gesture, really badly edited.

Also, a bit of warning: the shop is barely large enough to turn around completely without knocking something over. So, while you're standing in the postage stamp of doom, there's a greeter script that will keep offering you a chance to go to FM Gestures' website. Over. And over. And goddamn over. I had to click to close that bothersome thing thirty-seven times, just porting in, finding the raven, and getting my ass out again.

I hate gesture shops. And he packaged the gift wrong--it gives out in a box you have to take home and unpack, instead of a folder you can click open and click on the next landmark. (Which was, btw, specified more than a few times as being against the rules of the hunt.)

Really displeased with this one and will delete it as soon as the hunt's over.

More later. I may--or may not--finish this hunt. We're running out of time!