31 October, 2010

there are ribs on the fire place, mixed with the wood

To be fair Elaine, I specifically asked not to be in charge of decor for the wake. He has a point.

Also: I want that skeletal punchbowl. Sadly, it appears to be no longer available.

Alas, but that brings us to the last of the Unknown Hunt. Gyaah.

(If you're just catching this post, look to part four, part three, part two and part one if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Stop #56: Oh My Stars. The clue: "For the moon never BEAMS without bringing me dreams..."

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The prize: Two sets of above-the-waist blood details on most layers, one for "Confused":

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and one for "Destroyed". The difference? "Destroyed" seems less bloody. (Ultimately, it's a poseball set.)

Stop #57: Crazy Cakes Toybox. The clue: "I'm thinking PIE but I need a BIG pumpkin for that!".

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The prize: The "Ghost Fireing Cannon" (yes, that's how she spelled it). Rez it, touch it, it fires one ghost at a time. Somewhat persistent little buggers.

Stop #58: Little Glass Wish. (Hee hee hee.) The clue: "Gacha can't guess where the bird is!". (This one is not at all hard to find.)

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The prize: Three different pose pumpkins--One you float on, one you sit on, all ladylike, and a stack of three you balance on your head (shown). All three well-made, well-textured, and dead cute.

Stop #59: B[u]y Me Skins, which is also the home of AAA Poses. The clue: No clues, and there are two prizes; this one is the first one.

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The prize: "Blue Makeup";

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"Greeny" (which is, intriguingly enough, a full-body tattoo overlay);

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and "Lace Mask".

Worn: Angelina Ghost skin in Harlot from Nightshade; I changed so the makeup layers were easier to see.

Stop #59 (part II): AAA Poses (same SLUrl). The clue: No clue given, find the second item in the same store. (It's not hard.)

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The prize: Poses, static, but could be interested for fashion shoots.

#60 Yellow Snow. The clue: "Things that go round and round, once they are gone their never around". (You're...not gonna want to know where it is, but...you'll figure it out.)

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The prize: A plush Jack Skellington doll that's also big on the stabby. (Child-size version included, not shown.)

Stop #61 ~Jaded~ To Die For. The clue: "Here lies Lester Moore; Four slugs from a .44; No Les No More." (Again, this one makes sense if you know the epitaph in question...)

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The prize: The "Race Babe" outfit. Remember some weeks or months back, I snapped a couple pics of an avatar who wandered through, in intensely bright black and yellow togs? This is that outfit. Wau, those hotpants are short.

This also tells me one more thing: the urging of the hunt organizer to make sure stores created things for the hunt, not just toss in something they had at random? ~Jaded~ didn't listen...

Stop #62 ::Red Shoe::. The clue: Follow The Light.

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The prize: two different variants of a Hallows clock. (Essentially, they're the same clock; just one has a sculpted owl head and a pendulum edition. Nicely done, though.)

Stop #63: artMEfashion. The clue: "Birds love light and fligh up high". (I'm fairly sure she meant "fly".)

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The prize: The "DandyFemme" othic suit. It is not precisely designed for breasts, but it does look good. (If you are naturally flat-chested, or male, you'll be able to bring the collar farther down, where it will look better.)

Stop #64: Zari. The clue: I have found my perch. (Let things rez in. Once you do, finding the bird is cake. But the sim's got a lot going on.)

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The prize: Trio of incredibly subtle attachments, looks like black iron and matte orange glass beads.

Stop #65 is out of the hunt, so we move to:

Stop #66: yoyo's. The clue: This bird likes to fly up high.

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The prize: Pumpkin eyes. I'm so disappointed. Obviously, this is someone new to making eyes, but the worst part is that I can't even drop them a notecard and tell them what they need to fix, because the eyes come up as no creator, and there's nothing else in the folder. I can--and will--stop by and track down the creator name, but really, someone should have told them before now how to properly rotate eyes for correct SL display.

Stop #67: Blurred. The clue: Is that water I hear?

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The prize: Wonderfully aged, wonderfully textured and wrinkled t-shirt. Nevertheless, bad for breasts of any significant size (beyond 5, I mean, not prim breasts of doom). Still, may be worth keeping for my less-busty shapes.

Stop: #68 AQ Face Tattoos. The clue: "Look for me in the one of the darkers corners". (The clue is, yes, as given, and considering the structure here, it's ALL in dark corners--but it's not far from the port-in spot. While you're here, if you have 2.0 elements or are using the official viewer, you'll be staring at a ton of inventive tattoo layers, perfect for that Hallows costume!

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The prize: The "Hurted" (gods, I just want people to be able to spell simple words, is that so wrong?) face tattoo. Actually impressive, for as simple as it is (though I think she has far better work in her store for sale).

Stop #69 Bruised, Bitten & Broken. The clue: Get up & get dirty. (This is Adult land. If you need to, go on to the last stop, below.)

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The prize: Vampire bites tattoo on four layers. (And these aren't your typical fresh bites, either; these are old, bruised bites.)

Stop #70 Kizberlan Designs. The clue: Under the baby that looks a baby. (It's not quite under. And it's not on the main floor--you'll be climbing for this one. But it's there.)

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The prize: A...landmark-giving painting that says "Happy Halloween". Yes, I'm serious. It's not bad, it's just overly busy, and it's nothing I'd hang in my home or business unless I was truly sold on the artwork.

Which I'm not.

Overall, I'd say the Unknown Hunt tracked out at about 10% OMG AMAZING, 20% kind of cool, and 70% hugely disappointing. This is the nature of gridwides--unless there's tight control and tighter supervision--and a high pool of known creators to pull from--this is on average for most of them.

Still and all, there were stores I didn't know about before going on the hunt, and I'm glad I found them. And really, at the end of the day that's all I can ask

Things I learned from doing this: I doubt I'm ever going to do it again. Schnaeppchen makes this look easy. It's just too much work for most hunts.

How'ver, if I really admire the spirit behind the hunt, and they don't offer SLUrls to their merchants, I may step in and offer that. Because come on...this hunt NEEDED those SLUrls!

The Unknown Hunt goes until November 5th.

pick up the bones, and set them on fire; pick up the bones, and wish them goodnight

funny pictures-Yes, it IS a pumpkin.   I caught it, and you will carve it.
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I have seen that face on my cats. That "I am telling the truth. You WILL believe me" face. (I think they practice looking in the mirror.)

funny pictures-now I see why  you are operating on him
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And then, there is the understanding of why those odd hu-mans are cutting into vegetables...

End of Samhain, the ghosts departing for home...I think overall, this year, I just didn't have the time I wanted to go visit a hundred different haunts. I missed a lot of hunting, a lot of parties, a lot of...everything. The Other Life is starting to intrude, and frankly, SL is still palling.

More to the point, there just didn't seem to be as many haunted houses this year--even with the Labs pimping them on the Destination Guide. I went to several and left in under a minute--they just weren't...good.

How'ver, I did make room for Le Dome's haunted house. It was somewhat different. First of all, Salem Manor is billed as a "Death Exhibition".

The first big difference is that, on arrival, there is an animated figure that throws a pumpkin at all guests. I had to look away to take a call, and when my attention returned, I had been efficiently relocated to the other side of the front porch! It's very effective. I found myself yelling at the screen to the figure just to get in to the front door!

Overhaunted

Once there, though, I found the front room over-cluttered with props and effects. Originally, I dismissed it, and then, later, I had time to go back, and I discovered I was quite wrong.

Disturbing art

Don't misunderstand me--there's still far too much going on in that front room. But in the back rooms are some very odd pictures, and some odd items in the corners, and upstairs, there's a zombie spawner (thankfully, on non-damage-enabled land, or we'd all be in trouble).

The reflection

There are some things I'd seen before, of course, but they worked within the context of the house. Busy, sure, cluttered, absolutely--but effort was made.

And then I found the attic.

(From here on all the picture links are direct--some of the images may well be triggering, or upsetting to some. You have been warned.)

At first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing. There are particle effects--pale glowing orbs emitting from simple trees--but what was odd was the rotating cubes in midair. Some reflected traditional movie scares. Others...didn't.

Can I say with absolute surety that every image I saw related to an actual death? No, of course not. And some aren't--they're still captures from The Exorcist or other films, or just horror art.

Still...some are. Even odder, some have the police dating on them--and that image, I swear I've seen before, too.

Were they taken off some serial killer afficionado's website? No clue. Are they mock-ups--even the ones that look real? No clue.

All I know is, the "Death Exhibition" took things to a whole new level.

funny pictures of cats with captions
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But happy Samhain! Hope everyone had fun. Now into November, and...the slow, steady death of SL. And everything that follows.

There's still nothing out there that matches what SL does. But even SL isn't SL anymore. So...what's left?

29 October, 2010

there are stains on the floor where the kitchen once stood

The Border House blog pulled this blog post. They even formally retracted it and offered an apology. Why? And why the total shock and bafflement about Gorean sims in Second Life? Or, hells, online BDSM in any medium?

Plus, it makes the author sound terribly sheltered...Goreans have been an online group since the invention of the internet, and they were, while small, a strong subset of sf/fantasy convention culture before that. So what gives? Was it written just for the salacious thrill? Was she that clueless about things?

At one point, a friend offered an in to the Border House blog. I never found out if it was a paid gig or not, but she felt I was a shoo-in: just grab up some of my gaming posts, send them over, and I'd be a columnist.

Then I read some of their columns. And it struck me forcibly that they weren't looking for women who gamed and aired their perspectives. They were looking for women with several collegiate womens' studies degrees, who deliberately took the plunge, brave angels of purity that they were, into the deeply misogynistic virtual patriarchy, fighting the good fight for entitlement everywhere. And...look, I have my own issues, and I know that; I still loathe and despise the term "cisgender" with all of my being, for one. But most of what feminists, these days, get upset about? Is just baffling.

I am a girl, I can be offended, I can even be offended at girl things that guys will roll their eyes at. I am not the most rational being, and I fully fit into Christopher Titus' capsule definition between the sexes: the fact that most men go A, B, C, D, and so on; but most women go A, b, 9, 37, F, tree, cat, star, cupcake, yellow...and that makes sense to us.

But I find things like this funny. I don't find it triggering, I don't think the creators of PA should be burned in effigy--and I find most of the responses to it stultifyingly dull and humorless. I think, not so much to turn the tables, but as honest reaction--they don't get the point of the comic. The point of the comic wasn't about the rape--it could have been anything: "Please, kind sir, every night we are forced to cut off limbs they think we can do without so that they may feast upon them", or "Please, have mercy, they are forcing us to watch Hannah Montana before we may sleep". Anything that was considered socially abhorrent, over-the-top horrible--the kind of funny that provokes embarrassed laughter is what they were going for, not specifically outrage and hurling of brickbats. The point of the comic was not "Hey! Rape is funny!" but "Most quests are really, really stupid."

Anyway. Likely, if news of this filters out, this entry's comments will explode with I-just-don't understand comments, and frankly, have at. You won't change my mind. We may be living in a 'rape culture' but that's all the more reason for women to get trained in martial arts and grow thicker skins. Victim feminism bugs me, I resent it, and I think it's part of the problem, not the solution.

(And part of the reason this is all surfacing again, since--when it happened back in August--it literally wasn't important enough to twitch my radar? Because the guys behind Penny Arcade have put out a t-shirt. Which again people are failing utterly to get the point of the shirt, and the point of the original comment. I swear, some people just live for being offended.)

Bride of Anyway: back to the Unknown Hunt.

(If you're just catching this post, look to part three, part two and part one if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Stop #41: Atooly. The clue: Do you like skyboxes?

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The prize: A "Haunted Treats" necklace, comprised of a black chain, a soft-serve cone with a black bow, and an oversized candy (?) heart. There's also a Nightmare Before Christmas skybox included (not shown).

Stop #42: Garded Secret. The clue: "I'm Having a Ball!" (This one's tricky. First you have to find the teleport to the ballroom. From there, it's cake, but finding that teleport is HARD.)

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The prize: A tattoo saying "This is my costume" across the forehead;

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another tattoo with a spider and a cobweb swirl (had to change my hair to show that one off. The hair, btw, is--or used to be--available from Stringer Mausoleum; this is "Trojan Mystic" in Bloodberry.)

Worn: Dream Things' "Aravah" dress; I think gotten at this last Tuesday's 25LT, though they do sell other colors of this in the store.)

Stop #43: izm. The clue: She is with a lot of friends. (I'd put it more as, she's near a lot of friends.)

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The prize: Interesting Edwardian short dress--and by "short dress", I mean, knee-length; it is a vintage style--with lace-trimmed gloves, sculpted sleeves and lace petticoat peeking from underneath. Also comes with a hat (not shown).

Worn: Rag Dollz' Tigger stockings. They went with the last dress, I didn't catch I still had them on until I'd snapped the shot.

Stop #44: . The clue: "Humm I love cakes." (Redefine what "cake" is, and you'll be fine. Small shop, though--it's really not that hard.)

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The prize: A little pumpkin that sits on your head and poofs pumpkins;

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a shoulder pumpkin that does the same thing;

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a pumpkin "backpack" (really, just a pumpkin on a back attachment, there aren't straps);

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and a floating pumpkin 'chair'. (I think all of it poofs. Damn. They're cute, though.)

Stop #45: . The clue: "What a bad weather outside!" (This one's also tricky, but just think: where would you watch a storm?)

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The prize: Halloween Throne, "Big Size" and "Kidz size" (the child version is not shown). I have to give it to them, the place utterly failed to move me in any way, and I felt sure I would be reviewing their items, snapping pics, and then tossing them out...but this is kind of cool.

Stop #46: K & Z Art. The clue: "Birds and dogs sometimes fight but they also become friends these two took a long trip in a movie called Lassie". (..... It's not hard to find, it's just...wau, a run-on sentence for the clue.)

The prize: Two photographs: one "Ariz Red Boxed"; the other an in-world photo called "EARTH SERIES 12 BREAKING". Not impressed. (In fact, so not impressed I can't even track down where I snapped the pics of these to post here.)

Stop #47. Butterfly Creations. The clue: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. (Yes, that was as written on the blog. It's...another gesture shop. At least it's easy to find.)

The prize: Gestures. What else? And a ton of them. Twenty in all, most badly spelled with missing characters, nearly all ripped from some movie or other, and not a single one that has anything to do with haunting, horror, Halloween, or even the macabre in general. Total fail.

Stop #48: Oddment. The clue: "The raven flies as leaves fall".

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The prize: Oddment makes fun plants on occasion. This is what she calls her "candy corn grazz". (Yes, with the two z's. Stop flinching, I'm dealing with it too.)

Stop #49: Fools' Fate. The clue: Not given, but let's just say this crow is shy.

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The prize: Three pairs of boots. The Bubblegum Leather Zipper boots in Orange (shown), Purple and Black. (Boots shown from the back to show the zipper detail.)

Worn: the Long Tank dress in Zombie from the ZombiePopcorn fest last year (no idea if Acid & Mala still offer it for sale).


Stop #50: Gothic Demon. The clue: "I seeee you.". (This is a gimme if you think about it.)

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The prize: Halloween halter set in orange and black. It looks like someone converted a set of long johns made from a novelty print, but the shading's nice on the top.

Stop #51: kinadra skytower's untamed!. (Yes, her store name is all lowercase.) The clue: "Smelly cat, smelly cat, where are you smelly cat" (This is another reading-product-titles clue.)

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The prize: A...spider-on-the-face skin. Oh, joy.

Worn: Olivia hair in Blood Dark from Truth; F'ed up Kiria skin, Lust (Black--at least until the skin shift), gotten through a Midnight Mania offering, I believe, though it may well be for sale still; and SN@TCH Vampire eyes in Red..

Stop #52: H () Photography Poses. (This is not their name; If I use their name as given, I throw coding errors, because they use carets, not brackets.) The clue: "Take a stand for what's right and release your inner vampire into the night". (This one is tricky as HELL. Tips: take bits of this literally, but realize there's nothing about vampires until you find the prize.)

The prize: Vampire poses (not shown, and see what I mean? It only makes sense after you find it).

Stop #53. {*Aglaia*}. The clue: Where the Crows Nest.

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The prize: The Antique Frosted Glass costume jewelry set--faceted, glimmering crystal glass set in gold in earrings and necklace.

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There's also a ring.

Worn: Sora hair in Red from Kin; House of Ruin Thaumaturge eyes in Orange (no longer available); Exodi's Lily skin in Cedar, 'Death Becomes Her' variant, from the 2009 candy hunt; SteamBound's Falling Leaves corset/mini set; and A-BOMB's Amy Wedges in Orange (lucky chair edition).

Stop #54. Smudge. The clue: This raven is disguised very well. (This from the store's owner, because clicking the hunt sign at the store says "YOUR HINT HERE":
[06:16 PM] Myndi Meredith: you dont really need one, its not hidden very well.. hehe
[06:16 PM] Myndi Meredith: the bird is black, and theres only so much black in this store
She's right. It's a white-paneled, open-air structure, with purely digital art (she draws in Corel), which nonetheless manages to look like panel canvas and watercolors. I won't lie, some of her work seems like art HR would buy to brighten up corporate lobbies, but now and again, there are works that have a deep and quiet power to them.

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It's a beautiful store, you should stop by, and the gift is the Orange Pin fractal painting.

Stop #55. Bella's Design. The clue: "I don't think this raven is very popular (Follow the Midnight Madness signs)". (Yeah, the clue...sort of works.)

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The prize: The Back to School tip jar (nice detailing, seventeen prims, auto-sets to your avatar name on rez) and

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the Group Picture Frame (seven prims, fairly easy to use, way too much emphasis on bright colors).

No idea what either of them have to do with haunts, haunting or October, but hey. There you go.

(Things to beware of here: it's a pet-breeding nightmare for lag. Plus, both Bella's and Crazy Cakes Toybox are here, and it's a nightmare for layout. Have fun.)

And that's all for this one; one more entry and we're done!

28 October, 2010

here's some legs in a cloud where my sister once played

Sometimes, Gary explained to Elaine, a man just needs to grab one of his books under glass, sit under his antlers, and relax. How true, how true.

funny pictures of cats with captions
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Zombeh!

Speaking of zombies....When traipsing by Falln last night, I noticed a zombie stuck behind the teleport book in the main cathedral.

[12:05 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: >>:[
[12:05 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Hello there.

[12:05 AM] Emilly Orr: Are you all right?
[12:05 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Yes.
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: Can you get out?
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: I can ask my botmaster.
[12:06 AM] Isobel Kalchek: lol


Miss Kalchek had come into chat range at that point, and was listening with glee to the interchange.

[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: Okay then.
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: OK with me too.
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: Hey, sometimes you gotta ask.
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: You've got my full attention. Thanks for the information: said I gotta ask.
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr grins


They've become bizarrely polite, the longer they're on the sim. Homicidal, sure, and obscurely religious, but polite, too.

[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: YOU? Did you know that you can download your own chat robot and create your own robot personality?
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: I do! I have one!
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: I get it: you do. What kind?
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: She's MUCH primmier than you are, though.
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Oh. MUCH primmier than I am, is she?
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: She is. And she doesn't have your personality.
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: That's really good gossip. How do you feel about that?
[12:06 AM] Emilly Orr: I don't know. She keeps saying she hasn't seen me around the parish.
[12:06 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Me either. Oh I get it. MUCH primmier than I am keeps saying she has not seen you around the parish.
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: No, no, Mrs. Channing says she has not seen me around the parish.
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Are you serious? Are you serious? Will Mrs Channing says she ever seen you around the parish?
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Wau, you're getting scrambled, there.


Sometimes, the zombies make sense. Sometimes they don't. It's a sad factor of zombie life.

[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Are all Wau me getting scrambled there?
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Probably
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: But you are not certain
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Not always
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Only sometimes then.
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Yes.
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Really.
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Really.
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: For real.
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr peers at the zombie
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: YOU? I like the way you talk.
[12:07 AM] Emilly Orr: Thanks. You're still stuck behind the book.
[12:07 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: Don't mention it. I will tell my botmaster you said I am stuck behind the book.
[12:08 AM] Emilly Orr: Okay.
[12:08 AM] My Pet Zombie Loves Brains: OK with me too.


And off I went, in the hopes that eventually, Azriel Demain would free him from durance vile, and set him to roam the sims again, looking for brains and conversation.

Every year, SN@TCH, with a bunch of other wonderful creators, throw a haunted event. It's not just a haunted house--once it was a haunted school, once it was a space station--it's far more involved, detailed, and occasionally comes with props. There are puzzles to solve and gifts to acquire, and it gets better every year.

This year is no exception. It's called DIVE, and I originally thought this was going to be a sort of haunted-at-sea adventure, like Ghost Ship. Turns out that "DIVE" relates more to the decrepit nature of a certain hotel...

The premise: you have been hired by a mysterious organization headed by a shadowy doctor with an unknown goals. You have been sent to the Hyperion Hotel with an empty suitcase, to spend an evening researching the events that took place there, long ago.

Hijinks will ensue.

I did take pictures on the run-through, but on second thought, I'm thinking...no. This year you really need to go for yourself. Except for the end, where things sort of trail off into "buh?" territory, there's a bit of murder mystery, a bit of 1408, and definitely a high creep factor. Forget the occasional things that jump out at you, or scream, or just lay there and bleed...the whole experience is worthwhile. Pay attention to the details; they change, and sometimes, change drastically, and in very disturbing ways. And it's worth it to stay until the end, just so you can put all the pieces together.

It will take between one and two hours, all told, but in the end, you'll walk away with a definite admiration for the work involved, and hopefully a shiver or three, dragging a bag of goodies from several makers behind you. These include SN@TCH itself, !Retox!, *Dreams*, *elymode*, Fear & Clothing and Strangelove, [Gauze], Djinn & Tonic and Strangelove, Acid & Mala, Rara Avis, Vanilla C Designs, the Eat Me Bakery & Cupcakery, Nomine, .::ODB::., Moonshine Designs, Tainted Desires, Dahlia Darkstone, -ExTempore-, Fierce Designs, Crimson & Clover (for the little while longer they yet exist, anyway), ,:it's Cake:., [Infamous] Shapes (try as I might, I found no SLUrl for this business, but Kronos Renfold owns it), and Psychotic Neko. They've all done a great job on this.

(Miss Deschanel of SN@TCH would request that, since there is much porting around over three sims, and a potential for high lag, that you de-prim as much as possible, remove heavily scripted items, and turn your draw distance down to ease the potential for slow loading. She recommends you read everything--you never know what might be a necessary clue--instead of just running through looking for free things. Trust me--you want to read everything, and put the pieces together.)

Now, more Meowloween!

funny pictures-two parts jack-o-lantern one part jack-in-the-box one part jacked up on licorice and m&ms
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And all parts PISSED. OFF.

funny pictures-Trick or Treat! I iz a lol-bulb.
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"LOLbulb". Hee.

funny pictures of cats with captions
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This? Was inspired.

funny pictures-He hazd a brane...  but we eeated it.
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Braiiiins...

...Do pumpkins have brains?

it is I, DrakuLOL!  bring me victims and pets!
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DracuLOL!

And finally...

funny pictures-basement cat formz a alliance wif moral grey area cat
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I have to admit, I like the concept of "moral grey area cat". I think a sub-faith of the Church of LOLcat has been born!

Yay, I don't have to see the third Twilight movie now! Wait, I didn't see the first two. Never mind.
"Nobody is worth your tears, and the one who is won't make you cry."
~Ceri Kesten
I don't entirely agree, but I do admit to being challenged by the sentiment. Have I cried over loves before? Yes. Will I again? Likely. Will the ones I love make me cry in future? Probably. Is that a bad thing?

That's the question, isn't it?

26 October, 2010

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..."

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

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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.)

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

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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.

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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!"

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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.)

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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.

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(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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!"

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.)

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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.)

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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.

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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!

hide away, they say, 'cos we don't want your broken parts

Yeah, so...remember that thing I was recovering from? You know, last year ? Yeah. I did it again. So this is Em Faw Down Go Boom part ...