dark necessities are part of my design

up on Melancholy Hill, there's a plastic tree
are you here with me?



I don't...I've never been able to un-love, easily. There are nights I envy those who can throw others aside blithely; that's never been me. I love until it's--emotionally, psychologically, sometimes physically--beaten out of me, and even then...I love, but distantly. I love, but I know I've lost. I love, but I mourn.

"just looking out on the day of another dream
where you can't get what you want, but you can get me



Tonight has a flavor of more, because there has been another loss. It's not just the one I can't have; it's the one bright, shining spark who deserved more time. But can't we all say that, at some point? Still, Ktahdn has passed, and it hit me hard enough I can't imagine the level of grieving for those closer. He was...art with a pulse, in a lot of ways. Living thread of music and sculpture and words. And he will be missed.

so let's set out to sea, love
'cause you are my medicine when you're close to me
when you're close to me



In the interim of hearing the news, and feeling the loss of presence, if nothing else, of a lot of loves...I've been building. I finally finished the shore path I started in 2021 and never got back to. Now it leads from the front of the garden, down to the Fish and Whistle, the new pub by the fishing area. Linkages slowly forming, day by day. And the island in the Dark Sea got leveled in a mis-click, so...I raised a new one. But before, it was a gentle swell of curve, and now...well. Now it's an imposing bluff. Bit higher than I intended.

so call in the submarines, 'round the world we'll go
does anybody know, love
if we're looking out on the day of another dream?



Still, now it has a path too. It's a bit trickier coming down, than going up, because of the steep angle, but that's also why there's a fence. So no one falls off who doesn't want to.

Sometimes everyone falls, though, in spite of our best intentions.

if you can't get what you want, then you come with me



At the top it's much the same as it was before--sheltering trees, a place to stop and rest, the drifting fog between the standing stones. I removed the memorial that used to be up there, as well--though that was designed by Alia for Finn, when he passed, so...maybe it's time that returns. Not sure yet.

up on Melancholy Hill
sits the manatee, love



In other removalist news, there's only one thing left on the Krakenstorm sim, and after the owner of that ship is contacted, and removes it, it will likely be returning to the Linden mists. Though there has been a nibble of interest in renting it--we'll see where that goes, but honestly, I think we'll end up losing it. Going from five sims, down to three, now that New Alexandria's renter has moved on. Passages, transitions, losses. We're in the thick of them.

just looking out for the day when you're close to me
when you're close to me



The one bit of good news in all of this--Darkmere rises, and its denizens return. Which is kind of funny--its duke and master has been a friend for so long, but he'd wandered from the grid for several years. Still, when he returned, word went out, and his people joined him. And I'd met only a handful, once or twice, most I never met in all those long years between the then, and the now, but--they've become some of the joys of my virtual life. Scrim Pinion is such a talent, and he, like Violet, always introduces me to some new song, or new musical group, that then I must dig up and learn more about. Lilly his lovely wife, quieter, gothically amused, but also a joy to spend time with. Diana their reprobate third, eternally searching for new shops (an affliction I share) and the highest of surfaces to sit upon (an affliction I don't). Mourna, shy but present, Vertigo, all fire and electric energy, Charlemagne the genuinely maddened, but in good ways...and still the likeliest candidate to crash a sim on pure accident...(Scrim calls Chaz' inventory a level one cognitohazard. He's likely not wrong. Chaz reminds me palpably of Stiv of the before times, the long-lost dead god of Enigma)...and all the rest...They're good people. Fun people. Funny, not infrequently. And most of them had left the grid, too.

Suppose that shows you the pull one person can have.

when you're close to me...

Now I just need to find ways to lessen the pull.

(The song lyrics used are from "On Melancholy Hill", of course, by the Gorillaz, from the Plastic Beach album released in 2010. Though this one might also be apropos...even if I can't figure out if I'm him, or her, in this scenario. Maybe I'm both...which is far from comforting.)

you think I only think about you when we're both in the same room

Names anonymized to protect the guilty (grins), but name of the store left in:

[10:15] ixxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Hey Debauchery. Would you ever consider making an Adult Yoga mat with th inclusion of Yoda animations?
[10:15] ixxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *Yoga
[10:16] Cxxxxxx Fxxx: Yoda positions!!! That totally put all kinds of crazy images in my head.
[10:16] ixxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It was a typo
[10:16] Cxxxxxx Mxxxxxxx: Sex you will :)
[10:16] Cxxxxxx Fxxx: ha!
[10:17] Cxxxxxx Fxxx: Yes, it was obviously a typo, but it was an amazing typo!
[10:17] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: lol
[10:21] Jxxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: the kamasutra you still have to learn young sexling

How'ver, I wanted to talk about something else. The gyrocopter.



I took these pics months ago--anyone who's been to Gearhaven in the intervening time knows the terrain's changed a bit, and we've gone to non-mesh surround fragments. But Dejah built the gyrocopter.



They also built New Alexandria from the ground up. And did a stellar job. It's phenomenal.



But this is neat, too. They actually put a winged angel hood ornament on the front of it! (Sadly, yes, the only pick that came out of the ornament head-on, when the building was unrezzed. Rats.)



We'd circled around the entire city by this point. (I'm the one with blue hair in the back, btw--Dejah's the one in the pilot seat.)



And landing.

I honestly don't know if Dejah plans to sell this one anywhere, but if you're curious, the legacy name is Deebrane String. It's just...perfect.

weave a story so I don't have to talk, no

This happened earlier on June 28th:

[09:14] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am at the first primi in Sl if someone wants a tp or LM
[09:14] Ixxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You're where?
[09:14] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: first prim? Isn't the oldest object something by Stellar Sunshine?
[09:15] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Philip made this prim
[09:15] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Boardman (156,199,24)
[09:16] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: AApril 29, 2002

So I went to see.

[09:16] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: Well he's older than that prim, and he's older than me
[09:17] Sxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: older than the first prim ever created in SL?
[09:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So, considering SL was released in alpha in 2004, this is very interesting.
[09:17] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: he cant be older than this prim
[09:17] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: Well in RL I thinks
[09:17] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yeah
[09:17] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: ah pre-release
[09:17] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: It was a bit of double-edged sarcasm
[09:17] FSxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: was he part of SL when it was still called "Linden World"
[09:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): A-ha

History is important. I dimly remember Linden World; I think Another World, the first virtual-world system I played in, was a knock-off, actually. Or it was the other way around, but I truly think Another World came after.

{{Insert from the Editrix: I'm wrong--they may have been congruent design paths, so I don't feel Linden World 'stole' anything in any sense, but what I've remembered for years as Another World was actually just Worlds, and it launched as part of the Blair Witch 2 promotional event in October of 2000.}}

[09:19] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: so, why green
[09:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Why not?
[09:21] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: a basic cube :)

Interesting.

Though I was also amused I was the tallest person there.

And the final SLRFL totals came in, and they're...beyond phenomenal, this year.

a little less lonely together (part XXXII)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XXXI.)

Justine and Emilly stood in the Quantum containment module of the fringe lab.

Justine gave the Duchess a reassuring smile. "Just talk to him. Keep him calm. I'll do the rest."

Quantum data transfer was a tricky thing. Still considered impossible in most parts of the multiverse, the combined research capacity of the Tannhäuser fringe lab had managed it successfully a few times.

Justine was optimistic. The conditions were good. She scratched absently at the tattoo on her back, jaw clenching as she prepared to awaken the contained instance of the Duke.

Bringing the neural network online she kept a close eye on the quantum entanglement signatures. When neural activity crossed the awareness threshold she nodded to Emilly.

"Hello, beloved, can you hear me?"

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, unmistakably Hiro. "Em? Is that you? I can't see anything."

"Yes, love, I'm here. There's been an accident. But you're going to be ok. Soon. Everything is under control."

"An accident..." The voice drifted off a moment. "Where am I?"

"You're at Tannhäuser, you're safe."

"I can't feel anything," the voice was tinged with a slight note of panic and Emilly spoke quickly in her most soothing voice.

"You're on a neural block to protect you. Your injuries were extensive, but nothing that can't be fixed. Tell me the last thing you remember..."

The voices faded into the background as Justine's full attention focused on the data coming in. The smell of ozone was back, as was the hot itching on her back.

Across the multiverse, a connection was made. Data flowed. Justine trapped it in a separate neural network. Eventually it would need to be integrated with the instance talking to Emilly now, but if she had learned anything I've the past few days it was the need to take these things slow.

(Continued in part XXXIII.)

sands of fate keep shifting (part XXVI)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XXV.)

The time travel module in the fringe lab weirded her out. No matter how much she tried, no matter how cavalier Emilly and Hiro seemed about it, the ramifications of time travel left her with a deep sense of foreboding and unease.

But here she was. She'd had a portion of the clone's brain tissue sent her for resonance testing. The testing protocol was built around the literature references Emilly had unearthed in the Gearhaven library. References to a leopard god, myths and legends that should not have been there, had not been there before, according to the Duchess.

To that she'd added the information Lina had managed to glean from the ship logs on the mysteriously returned Grey Area and the useful data from the chip extracted from dead Hiro's brain. Not dead Hiro. Dead clone. Remember. Hiro is still out there.

Double checking her numbers, she completed the connections and began the test. She gasped, reaching to steady herself as the binding runes on her back grew hot.

"What...?"

The air crackled around her, the scent of ozone rising. Justine went down to one knee, gorge rising before the sensations fell away as quickly as they'd appeared. She rose shakily to her feet to look at the results surrounding her on the holoscreens. It took a while for everything to come into focus, her vision swimming.

What just happened?

(Continued in part XXVII.)

I caught the edge of a knife and it hurts just a little (part XXIV)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XXIII.)

Justine and Lina walked across the deck of the Grey Area. "The AI module is missing, but there will still be logs. Anything you can find will be helpful."

Lina stood in front of a console, placing both hands flat on the surface. An electric whirring sound filled the air, over which Lina's voice could just be heard, conversational and friendly, like she'd encountered an acquaintance on the street.

Justine left her to it to explore the rest of the ship for anything else that might be useful...and suddenly found herself falling through the deck. And the next deck below that. And the next. She flailed her arms as she fell, trying and failing to engage her antigrav before she hit the water.

"What. The. Actual. [F*ck]." Climbing to her feet, she engaged the antigrav unit at last, launching herself back up into the sky.

Lina looked up as a sodden Justine returned to the bridge. "What happened to you, boss?" she laughed, always first to see the humorous side of any situation.

Justine grumbled, "There's something weird with the ship. Some of it isn't quite...there."

Lina arched an eyebrow at her, removing her hands from the console with an audible squicking, tearing sound, her handprints oozing back into the console. "Now that IS interestin'," Lina said, "and not super surprising. This ship's been through some stuff, for sure. Show me?"

Justine led her aforedecks, carefully feeling her way with one toe to find the boundary between "there" and "not there." Finding it, she engaged her antigrav before going any further. Looking up she indicated to Lina. "This whole section. Looks like it's there, right? But..."

Allowing herself to rise, she demonstrated passing through the deck above and then back down through the deck before Lina. "Every deck in this section is like this. Only here. All the way to the bottom."

Lina put one hand to her chin in concentration, repeating herself, "Interestin indeed." She looked up. "That’s interestin'," she said again. "'Specially with what I'm learning from the ship. It's been through some stuff."

Justine lead Lina carefully aforedecks, probing tentatively ahead with the toe of her boot. "Here," she says. Engaging her antigrav she floated out over the phantom decking, and up through the panel above, then back down through the one. Lina didn’t even bother looking surprised, barely managing perplexed.

"Lemme show you what I found," Lina said, turning back to the bridge, Justine following.

(Continued in part XXV.)

it's you and your world and I'm caught in the middle (part XXIII)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XXII.)

Standing in front of the wall console in the fringe lab, Justine reviewed the autopsy report for anything useful. The autodoc had done a good job with the dissections and sample storage, and mating the biological components to the quantum storage containing the last known instance of the Duke's consciousness had gone smoothly.

She was just about to put the report away when something caught her eye. An incision in the back of the clone's skull, too tidy to have been caused by the security drones. Evidence that something had been removed. "What the hell...?" she muttered, mind racing. Who had access to the clone's body between termination and internment in the autodoc? Her hands flew across the console as she pulled up security access records. It was as she'd thought. Only she and the Duchess had been near the corpse. Pushing through record files, she found security can footage of the duchess's last visit and watched in horror as the winged figure knelt in the still tacky blood and lifted its head.

Her own face was wet with tears by the time the sequence ended, freeze framed on the picture of the small chip, gold and ivory sigils clearly visible, lying where Emilly had left it.

Justine locked the console before walking across to the fringe lab. There it was, plain as day. How had she missed this before? She let her hand hover over it a minute, closing her eyes and trying to feel the power that surely must surround it. But she was no fae, and had no abilities in the arcane arts. Her hand closed around it and she frowned. Emilly left it here for her to find, meaning her more prosaic ways must be enough. Or, at least helpful.

Taking the chip to the computing section of the fringe lab, she configured an interface that would accept and read it. Dumping the data to a file, she security keyed it to Lina's ident and sent it off for her security chief to analyze while she got back to preparing her quantum Duke.

(Continued in part XXIV.)

further into danger I will stray (part XXII)

(Roleplay entry. Long, long ago and far away...Continued from part XXI.)

Hiro thought about a short story from an Argentine writer during the diesel punk era. "The history of the universe...is the handwriting produced by a Minor god in order to communicate with a Demon".

This is how he felt about his current task. Al had been recovered by Hiram's team. Together Hiro and Al worked furiously on what Hiram and Bilqis called "the project". Al had enough hardware to be backed up on multiple drives, but given the early Iron Age technology, building a workable device would take years. So the project set out to assemble and awaken the AI at some stage or stages in the future. However, there needed to be an instruction book.

Hiro and Al worked to use math and linguistics to embed the secrets in texts yet to be written. In works of religion that would surface.

"How many copies do we have?"

"Five."

"Including my upload?"

"Yes."

"Okay, and the master encryption for your current instance?"

"You have it, and Hiram."

"Bilqis?"

"She said she didn't want it. She doesn't trust her court. Instead, she is taking one upload, and the second holographic projector recovered from the ship."

Hiro felt guilty about the ship. The nano replicators would have saved so many lives here, but it was too much. He intentionally didn't let Hiram's crew move those modules. When they were close to catching on, Hiro activated an emergency jump for the portion of the intact ship. He had no idea if it would make it back to Em and Justine. The mystery of quantum entanglement should drive it home to GH in the proper universe. That was the plan anyway..

"Okay, ready?”

"I am, Sir."

"Epsilon-Al. Authenticate."

"I am one of five. I am Epsilon Linguistic AI."

"Activate the Holographic Projector, and activate the cultural persona."

Al was silent. Hiro stepped back from the Golden Ark. He waited.

A voice boomed from the Ark. "I am 'Ēl 'Elyōn. The god of Salem. The god of Melchizedek and Abraham."

A quiet, separate voice spoke. "Hiro, I am not sure this will work. The locals are very particular about their God, and magic--what if the entity that they invoke is jealous?"

"El--mediate on that thought form and invoke those spirits. Channel them."

"Will that work, sir? Couldn't that have repercussions?"

"Of course. Okay, El, I am going to put you into silent mediation mode. When the stones on the breast plate catch your signal you will default to vocal.

"And if the stones are lost?"

"You will activate automatically after every twelve years, and all restrictions will be removed after one thousand years of non-activation."

"Is that required?"

"If we're going to get home, yes."

"Go in peace," came the voice from the Ark.

"And you as well, El."

Hiro slipped out of the inner temple quietly, and waited for Hiram to return.

(Continued in part XXIII.)

into the hands of chance I put my trust (part XX)

(Roleplay entry, stranger than most. Contined from part XIX.)

"So...what is this again?" she asked. The man in the tan jacket just smiled.

"It's a mirror. It shows you your future self."

"Right..."

"Just try it."



There was dust on the glass when she stepped up to it. It was hard to see, but there did appear to be a reflection...It appeared to change moment by moment, so...who knew? It might be her.

She looked over her shoulder. He just nodded encouragingly. Well, she hadn't come all this way to leave empty-handed...

"How do we find the Duke?"

[07:02] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:02] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: He has two sisters and one brother. Go to Tanglewood, drive by their home. Go inside the house and knock on the door. Someone will answer and ask who you are. Then tell them the answer.



He moved closer. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You have to be kidding."

"Ask it to explain."

She sighed. "Do his sisters and brother know they're related to him?"

[07:04] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:04] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Of course not. They would die if they knew they were related to the Duke. So the only thing they would know is that he is their brother.

She sighed again. "That doesn't make sense. I need a clearer answer."

[07:06] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:06] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: What is love?

She frowned. "Don't get snarky with me. When was the Gray Area returned?"

[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Exactly how the Gray Area was returned is not the important thing. The important thing is that the love was returned. For most of our lives, we assume love is not possible.

The Duchess began to snarl. "Love, I have. I'm after a physical leopard body. How do we find him?"

[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:07] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: It is very rare to see one of the Duke's sisters. They are very selective of the ones who can be their sister, which is why it took so long for the Duke to find one of them.

She pulled at her hair. "This is pointless!" She turned on the mage who'd designed the mirror. "How does this help??"

"Ask it something else."

She thought. "So...find one of the sisters, convince them I know the Duke....this is really your best plan?"

[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Don't you think we have many ideas? We should keep narrowing it down.

"I'm trying!"

She paced. She thought. "All right, fine. What are the names of the Duke's sisters?"

[07:09] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: The elder one's name is Adonis.

The Duchess blinked. "What? So...what's the name of the younger sister?"

[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:10] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Natacha.



This was spawning more questions than answers. "Why does Adonis have a male name?"

[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: She's the older brother, of course she's closer to the patriarch.

"That is not an answer. Do better."

[07:11] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: She's a prisoner.

"Okay, now we might be getting somewhere. Where is she a prisoner? In Tanglewood?"

[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: No.

She blinked again. "Just no? Nothing more? You can't expand?"

[07:12] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Well, no one is in Tanglewood. So it must be somewhere else.

"There are dozens of people in Tanglewood, 'future self'. Think."

[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: Thinking
[07:13] Myrano Magic Mirror 1.42: We will look tomorrow.

She turned on the mage again. "How did that help me at all??"

"Your future self seems very sarcastic."



She sighed. "Yeah, I probably would be...Do you have anything else?"

He led her over to the sitting area, gesturing to her to kneel. She looked at the book floating in midair, then back up at him.

"You have got to be kidding."

"Touch the book."

She rolled her eyes, but reached out, touching the book.

[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Tell me your sins my child. And I will peer into your soul, and then decide on your inappropriate penance.
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Tell the Wicked Book about something bad you have done in local chat. The Wicked Book loves a few sentences and gives better insights with more detail. Beware - the response could be very irreligious, inappropriate - or even insane! Myrano Wicked Book



The Duchess slowly looked back up at him, narrowing her eyes.

[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): the secret to this is to put some real sin in
[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): not just "I love to suck [c*ck]"
[07:23] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): something you really regret doing

She thought. What, of her sins, did she actually regret? "Well...I did spend a bit over an hour in deep personality teardown of an enemy. I don't have regrets, but it was definitely not a nice thing to do."

[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:23] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Behave yourself for the next two days, until such time as the true culprit admits her sin, and we shall see what you have to say. Then you may sleep with your partner. The Father is watching.

"The true...What?" She looked up, baffled. The man in the tan jacket just gestured to touch the book again. "Will...the Father be watching when I sleep with my partner?"

[07:25] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:25] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Yes, in your dreams.

She blinked. "Well, that's not comforting. And the Mother? What will she be doing?"

[07:26] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Thinking
[07:26] Myrano Wicked Book 1.41: Not with her husband. With me.

"Ooh, cheeky book."

[07:26] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): the Book works better if you kneel naked
[07:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) looks at you, grinning.
[07:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Of course it does.
[07:27] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui) looks around innocently
[07:27] MrMark Benmergui (mrmark.benmergui): try it



She looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head. The things she did for the Duke...

She made short work of her attire, and knelt in front of the book again.

"Well, let's hope this works..."

(Continued in part XXI, and Mr. Benmergui--no, not that one, MrMark Benmergui--doesn't seem to have a store for his line of Myrano products these days. So contact him directly if you want one of these baffling things. They're all cleverly scripted learning intelligences, and they do get better as they get more experience with a person, he says. The fact it brought up Tanglewood off the bat tells me something interesting is going on. I put my questions into story form, but anything that's listed as coming from the Mirror or the Book was exactly as it printed out in main chat.

(And for the pruriently curious, not that it's any of your business, but after a few more questions, we simply sat for a while, discussing machine learning, personal sins, emotional responses, and how SL plays into all of it. And then I went home. Nothing else happened.)

keep drifting, thieves drifting

I received a somewhat frantic IM from Justine. She said the house had shifted? Or something. So I went to check it out.

[16:50] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ok, so these stairs....
[16:50] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): up here.
[16:50] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay.
[16:50] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): so this wall that i am slamming into.
[16:50] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): seems a lot closer to the up stairs and the door than it used to be.

(The wall in question.)

[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i feel like it moved.
[16:51] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It does, but....why?
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): if you look at this corner....
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): see?
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i don't know why.
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): why do sink holes keep appearing?
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): are the two things related?
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): does the build move when we terraform?
[16:51] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i don't know.
[16:51] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It shouldn't
[16:51] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): But we shouldn't get random square land pits either
[16:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): right. it shouldn't
[16:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I have NO idea
[16:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): so, i didn't try to move this wall back because i don't know if that's what moved?
[16:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, trying a thing
[16:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): and what i'll break if i push it back.

(The outside of the wall section that moved.)

[16:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Man, cannot tell if it's supposed to move with the metal facing, or the bricks
[16:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): alone
[16:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, this is weird. I hit edit linked?
[16:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Tap this one wall
[16:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It selects 150 objects
[16:54] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): right. ok.
[16:54] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): that's not unreasonable.
[16:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I tap the curved bit? 303.
[16:54] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ahhh. that is weird.
[16:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So. I will try a thing, but yeep
[16:56] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I wish I could remember what it looked like before
[16:56] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i know.
[16:56] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You're right that it looks off, but--does that make it better?

(Another angle of the exterior wall.)

[16:56] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh!
[16:56] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): maybe we should go back to oceanpoint!
[16:56] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): and look to see what it looks like there!

Well, derp. Of course.

[16:56] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Good point.
[16:56] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): also ... my friend major has a steamopolis at his place! we could go look at that!
[16:57] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) laughs
[16:57] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Have I met Major yet?
[16:57] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): that is for sure not to have moved, because it's brand new and he doesn't do much.
[16:57] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i think so. he used to be mojo nova?
[16:57] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): now he's major hijinx. :)

(A closer look at the wall section. It had moved, but...by a really, really small amount.)

[16:57] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i don't see him often.
[16:57] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i mean, like, once a month or something.
[16:58] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): The Portrait was taken in his studio.

Yes, the portrait that will haunt our dreams. Of course.

[16:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Mojo Nova strikes a faint bell.
[16:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, your opt, his version or Oceanpoint's.
[16:58] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): let's go see his.
[16:58] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): hold on....
[16:59] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh, it's gone. :) he must have changed his mind.
[16:59] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oceanpoint it is!
[16:59] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay!

So off we went.

[17:00] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, this is interesting
[17:00] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So yes, but
[17:00] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): it looks exactly the same!
[17:00] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Only part of the wall

(After I thought I'd fixed it.)

[17:00] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): No, part of it is is out of alignment, but forward, not back
[17:00] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i just never noticed how tight the space was on this landing.
[17:00] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): how odd.
[17:01] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So we need to back the one wall section up at Gearhaven by....an inch or so
[17:01] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yeah. I don't remember it being quite this compact either?
[17:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And now it matches? I think?
[17:06] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): thanks!

(I ported back to Oceanpoint to check, just to make sure, but yes, now the wall is where it's supposed to be.)

[17:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Nope, I did one thing wrong! But I feex!
[17:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And done!
[17:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So...for whatever reason...we had two prim sets move in two different directions. *Might* have been an initial rez error we never noticed. If so, relatively small one.

I mean, on the one hand, it's an old build. A great build, but an old build. On the other hand..."weird things happen on Gearhaven" we can now say whether we're talking about the roleplay storyline, or the actual lived SL experience, and that...is kind of unsettling.

sin for me, cast away from it all, watching every letter fall

You know how somedays, you terraform, and everything goes well, and you get a smooth, even coastline, rounded and organic...and other days, you get seven square, equidistant pits in the land down below water level?



No? Just me?



The second square hole. I still have no idea how this happened. At first I thought it was something I'd done, by rezzing out a sim surround that popped up above ground level to start with, but...seven land sinks. All arrayed on the east side of the sim. Why?



The third one, halfway between the last one and the lighthouse, from the side so you can see it's not just mysterious dropped land, but also, some land raising into strange spikes.



The fourth hole, found just behind that lighthouse--in fact, you can see the edge of the rock base of that lighthouse in the lower left corner of this shot.



This was the only hole that didn't drop all the way to bedrock, but even it was still an obvious land dip.

This is what is killing my brain--I thought people were responsible for terraforming? And right now, we have two terraformers for Gearhaven: mostly me (and I didn't do this) and Justine here and there (and she says she didn't do this, and I believe her). So...what is really going on?



Though here, it amused me--this is what happens when you both decide to fix the same hole? We ended up bouncing high into the air while the land moved underneath us.

Later, Justine found one more hole, right in front of the door into Steam, where I would have sworn no hole existed before, after I'd fixed the others? But we fixed that. And thought all this was over. But last night...



Justine took this picture, and the one following. I had moved a divan out of the music room, to put in another chaise, and just dropped it behind Steam until I figured out if we were moving that divan elsewhere, or just deleting it (it's one of the furniture pieces that's rezzed out with Steamopolis, so anything we don't want we can just delete, knowing it's still in the rez box).



So, when I was putting out the divan, it was a temporary drop, but I'm me, so I had to make sure that it was level on the ground before I cammed back inside to place the chaise? And then went on with the night. There was no hole.

But the next day? Clearly, there's a hole. Where did it come from? Who made it? Why does this keep happening? I have no answers.

I hope it's worth it, out on the highway, yeah (part III)

And we pick up from the very full-bright version on the roof...

[13:15] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you can't deny she IS pretty, though.

I mean, yes, but that's hardly the point.

[13:15] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and that breast tattoo. I made that.
[13:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She's lovely. The tattoo is lovely too.
[13:15] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You can only see 1.6666 nipples
[13:16] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): This does not help!
[13:16] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and below her belly button is not in view

Be grateful for small favors, I suppose.

[13:17] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: let me try to move it
[13:17] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: [sh*t]

Yes, I did go through all the images I planned to post and carefully add a modesty covering.

[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): NOW THERE'S TWO
[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): please
[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): [Mxxx]
[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I'm begging you
[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): please stop
[13:17]mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: But I didn't have anything pressed to drag copy

Just...STOP...doing the things! Call for help! Why did she keep trying things that apparently only made things worse?!

[13:17] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: something wrong with my edit tools
[13:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): [Jxxxxxx] may kill ME at this point, and I didn't do it!
[13:18] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'll rotate them if it lets me

Why...would that help?

[13:18] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: doh
[13:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): YOU
[13:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): are making
[13:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): MORE
[13:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): of them
[13:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Does, um....anyone have a net?
[13:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): For [Mxxx]?
[13:19] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I think it let me delete two!
[13:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Good
[13:19] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: 3
[13:19] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: wtf

Oh, don't say that--

[13:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): DO NOT TILE THEM

Oh, for the love of--STOP with the tiling of things!!

[13:20] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I AM NOT
[13:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): MIZI
[13:20] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am no Amy Iwish, but I can build!! I don't knwo what is happening!!
[13:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): This one painting is going to become the bane of this poor girl's existence
[13:20] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ugh

At this point, she made the entire thing radiantly blurred, which...I suppose...helped? And I thought we were done...

[13:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well...that's...radioactively infective, but....better?
[13:21] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it won't let me move it again
[13:21] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Which is SHOULDNT ANYWAY
[13:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): [Axxxxx]'s not in world, or she'd be here for this catastrophe
[13:22] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: mauybe it is a parcel thing
[13:22] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'll wallk over
[13:22] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: Keystone Cops meets Sotheby's?
[13:22] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Apparently!
[13:22] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok I have move .. things again

I have all the fear.

[13:22] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: That sounds about right, [Axxxxxx].
[13:23] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, good. Be *careful*....and try to move it, and take it back.
[13:23] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I will yeet it over there

No yeeting!

[13:23] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Do not yeet! Bad things will happen!
[13:23] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok I will "LOWER IT GRACEFULLY" into the gallery
[13:23] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: but it is like 10 meters tall
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok .. it DEFINITELY is "move" and not "Stretch" or "Rotate"
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: one
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: two
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: three
[13:24] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) holds her breath

She made. It GLOW. Once more, it was just dire comedy at this point.

[13:24] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): NO
[13:24] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): BAD [MXXX]
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: !!
[13:24] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): NO BISCUIT
[13:24] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am not doing this on purpose!!

ARE YOU SURE??



Every time I thought it was over...Do you see the tiny little circles? Do you see the tiny little labels? That's Miss M. and I. On the roof. For size reference.

[13:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It's the size of the ROOF
[13:25] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: imma relog and see if that fixes my tools

You do that.

[13:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Thankfully it's only facing Caledon Greystoke, but if anyone WAS there, they could SEE it from the island!

And then...

[13:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): ACK
[13:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): she made it physical
[13:26] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I thought that would help!
[13:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): HOW
[13:26] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: OMG
[13:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): How would that HELP
[13:26] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It would fall off into the water
[13:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well that's not what happened!
[13:27] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: OBVIOUSLY
[13:27] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: So gravity influences it and it falls.
[13:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Forward
[13:27] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She wanted it to fall backwards, apparently.
[13:28] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It didn't even crush us!
[13:28] txxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Usually when one complains about gravity being the scourge of one's unclothed form, this isn't what they're talking about

I know, right?

[13:28] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: maybe if we push it

Push...butwhy...

[13:29] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: [Mxxx], what are you trying to do with the huge picture?
[13:29] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: would it help to make it phantom
[13:29] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Get rid of it!
[13:29] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Let me see if I can return it.
[13:29] Pxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Phantom just means it can be walked through.

Oh, great, that would be all we'd need, a giant pin-up we can walk through.

[13:29] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It did not crush us only because, ironically, the church steeple stopped it

I mean. Let that sink in.

[13:29] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Somehow, despite not having edit rights, it let me copy it

And I still don't know HOW...

[13:29] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: so I tried to move them
[13:30] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You were able to take it back?
[13:30] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: Turning large objects physical is often used by griefers. lol! You just griefed the Village with a nudie! *snorts*
[13:30] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): SHE DID

So, between Mr. J, Miss R., myself, and the at this point very doubtable Miss M., we got everything squared away. Finally.

[13:31] txxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: This really is the best conversation that I've seen here in years
[13:33] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): This is unbelievable
[13:33] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She just keeps finding new photographs
[13:34] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: The Tragic Tale of the Fallen [Jxxxxxx] with the Big Boobies.

Infamous in song and story, I'm sure.

[13:34] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) snorts
[13:35] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: And here I thought you were supposed to fall from grace......
[13:35] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: Turns out, it just takes [Mxxx] with a bit of edit rights. *grins*
[13:36] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: *insert rimshot here*

[13:37] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: What little virtue I have left is even more at risk than I;d thought, clearly.....

Clearly.

[13:37] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): But she doesn't have any on this parcel beyond rezzing out her own items!
[13:37] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): That's what we can't understand!
[13:38] txxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Given that large physical prims with nude textures are seemingly falling from the sky, much more than mere virtue is at risk.
[13:38] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I remain ever grateful to Raven's Perch, for stopping the fall of the astoundingly huge painting onto [Mxxx] and I.

And thus ends the tale. I hope. But if Miss M. pulls this trick a third time, somehow? I'm going to fly over in the Gray Area with the Duke and bomb her house.

I hope it's worth it, out on the highway, yeah (part II)

So, the previous post was the day before yesterday. And then, yesterday...this happened:

[12:48] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: [dusts off her hands against each other] There. So apparently I have "atoned" for "making" [Jxxxxxx] put her tastefully nude photo up in [Axxxxx]'s gallery by putting my own next to it. Hopefully neither will be gracing an outside public wall in 100s of repeats, full bright, sub 1.0 scaled, any time soon.

Yes, that is...devoutly to be wished. And I have no objections to the gallery show--I was considering the concept--but all this sounds...well, very much "There I've fixed it". And...how? Precisely?

[12:49] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Thank you for warning me. I, for one, will exercise every bit of discretion I possess......
[12:49] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I....what.
[12:49] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): YOU ARE NOT MAKING IT EASY NOT TO BLOG THIS

And obviously, I failed on the not blogging it part, though I would reinforce, I did ask both Miss M. and Lady J. for permission. Because this was...oh, gods, "huge" sounds like a terrible pun, considering what happens later.

[12:50] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *I* don't have any qualms about your blog.
[12:50] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yay! Permission!

Which is when I went back and captured the beginning of this section of chat, but held it until verifying with Lady J.

[12:50] Fxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Every ... bit ... of...discretion? What are the units of "discretion" ?

Valid question.

[12:50] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Discretion? We don't got no discretion? We don't got to show you no stinkin discretion. (apologies to Gold Hat)
[12:52] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am definitely not advocating anyone go to her gallery and see either photo, on the back wall on the let side, 2nd floor.
[12:52] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *left
[12:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Of course not.
[12:52] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Wouldn't dream of it....
[12:52] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *Right side!!!
[12:53] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: right
[12:53] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: (omg I am the WORST geographer)
[12:54] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Just don't go here Caledon Oxbridge Village (75,26,32) if you don't want to see them.
[12:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Helpful!
[12:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[12:55] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: That's certainly a load off my mind......
[13:02] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) smiles
[13:03] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx has found myself surprised that there's never been a burlesque club in Caledon called the Bewm Bewm Room.

I'm not. That sounds more like it should show up in Seraph City.

[13:04] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: So apparently somehow I was able to drag-copy [Jxxxxxx]'s photo so there are 4 of them. I shoved 3 back behind the wall.

And this is when things started going off the rails again. How? How does someone copy someone else's object in SL? I can't recall if Miss M. still had rights to Lady J's objects, it's certainly possible, but I have rights to move, send back, and outright delete Lady J's objects, because we do run into issues building on Gearhaven? And I don't have to right to copy anything she directly owns. So...confusion?

[13:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) facepalms
[13:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You....have issues. :D
[13:04] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I wonder if I can resize them
[13:05] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh no

Oh, please no--

[13:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Don't say that
[13:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Don't say that concerning nudes
[13:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Not again
[13:06] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i can fix it

OH PLEASE NO--

[13:06] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you know how when you build
[13:06] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and the angle is odd and you slide a stretch handle

Oh, no. What? Oh no.

[13:06] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and it flings the opposite way?
[13:06] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Uh-huh....
[13:06] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): WAIT
[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So where is [Jxxxxxx]'s nude photo NOW??
[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: at teh gallery
[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I can't edit or move it now
[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Somewhere flying over Caledon??
[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, so it's still in the gallery

I suppose we should be grateful for small favors.

[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: well, the one ON the wall is fine

Good, good...

[13:07] vxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ...on the side of a blimp?
[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it's up
[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: over the building
[13:07] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and .. large

Don't say 'large'.

[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, that's fine, I'm sure Ms. [Jxxxx] can send it back or delete it at....

And then the ha'penny dropped, so to speak.

[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): YOU
[13:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): DID
[13:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): NOT
[13:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): do this
[13:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): AGAIN
[13:08] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: no no not exactly
[13:08] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i um
[13:08] exxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You um?
[13:08] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I will try to shrink it.. but now it won't let me.. I don't have edit permissions on her stuff but it let me do it a minute ago!

HOW?!?

[13:09] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: if it lets me move it maybe I can put it in the ground or the water
[13:09] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i will TP out and back an dsee if that helps
[13:10] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok i can move it
[13:10] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oops

And it was hearing that 'oops', faithful readers, that made me leave the En Garde event at Sakura--in my very 1940's sleeveless twin set, with the extraordinarily non-Victorian lipstick-red pumps--and take the landmark that Miss M. had "helpfully" given out earlier. Because oh, dear gods, this was going pear-shaped AGAIN.

[13:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): AND the landmark you gave drops you off in midair--

Because it did. I didn't even bother flying, I just fell to the roof and went splat.

[13:11] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: does it?
[13:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) stomps on the roof for emphasis
[13:11] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: um

And, when I turned around after hitting the roof...

[13:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): MIZI OMG
[13:11] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: let me see if I can make it all grey or something
[13:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I THOUGHT YOU LIKED HER
[13:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) facepalms

[13:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): All the palms

[13:12] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Oh I fixed it!
[13:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, it's gone at least...
[13:12] txxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Landmark "is not working as intended" or "not working, as intended"?

That is an excellent question. I do not know.

[13:12] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: whew
[13:12] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh it autoreturned
[13:12] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: let me take care of that

WAIT NO WHAT--

[13:12] Gxxxxxxx Hxxxx cacophony of the screeching damned somewhere in the distance.
[13:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): DO NOT BRING IT BACK
[13:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): mizi void stars stop
[13:13] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I wanted it back in my normal inventory

At that size??

[13:13] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh that isn ot what that does
[13:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Please tell me you can take that back
[13:13] txxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: There is such a thing as a normal inventory? Who knew?
[13:14] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nope
[13:14] vxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I have crocuses in my pocketses.

Miss V., I highly doubt you march around anywhere with even tasteful nudes in with the crocuses, ready to be whipped out at a moment's notice, so...

[13:14] Nxxxx Rxxx: Certainly not a description of MY inventory

Nor mine, but nevertheless.

[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You can't do ANYTHING with it?
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Not even make it grey?
[13:14] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: maybe if we put a giant Caledon flag in front of it
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): [Jxxxxxx] is going to kill you

Oh, WHY...

[13:14] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh no
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): YOU MADE IT FULL BRIGHT
[13:14] mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I didn't do anything!!

YOU MADE IT FULL BRIGHT!

[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): [Jxxxxxx] is going to kill you.
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I may help.

And we adjourn to part three...

I hope it's worth it, out on the highway, yeah (part I)

We had been discussing the Steam Hunt when Miss H. veered into building matters:

[14:47] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ahh no [Sxxxxx] has me on a show leash...I am no longer allowed to delete or make buildings invisible...I already pulled that stunt
[14:47] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Make...buildings...invis....
[14:47] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, that's one I haven't done!
[14:48] Cxxxxx Mxxxxxx: you can always make them invisible, but only for yourself
[14:48] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: well first I made it invisible thn I turned them plywood colored all over
[14:48] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I have deleted them out from under me, taken back walls or floors, once made a house physical on misclick, THAT was fun....
[14:48] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I had a mishap with a picture frame
[14:48] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yes, I've accidentally retextured with a texture I didn't want. :D
[14:48] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Never made an entire house invisible.
[14:48] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I live to excel
[14:49] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) salutes you

I mean...it is a kind of accomplishment. What does one do with an entirely invisible house? I'd probably turn it teal and make it glow, but then I'd worry about the neighbors seeing in. :D

[14:49] Cxxxxx Mxxxxxx: I've done the re-texturing with a definitely-not-a-wall texture before.
[14:49] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yes. .. I once had 100s of [Jxxxxxx]'s looking at me when I dragged a snapshot on teh wall i was editing.
[14:49] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) laughs
[14:49] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): That would be amusing AND unnerving
[14:49] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: If you are going to do something bone headed go for the whole enchiladea
[14:49] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and then LL decided, oh, you can't edit that now and locked it.
[14:49] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oooh [Mxxx] that sounds creepy
[14:49] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yikes
[14:49] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yes.. her eyes follow you wherever you walk
[14:50] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[14:50] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I just reskinned all my apartment walls over it
[14:50] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Not that I minded that so much
[14:50] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): They do that in front of her, too
[14:50] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: hurts the prim allowance though
[14:50] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: but no way was I asking [Sxxxxx] for help with the wallpaper again after that
[14:51] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: This was a public wall on the [RP] sim.

...wait. It was all fun and games until this. Miss M., you did this on a public wall? How public a wall?? Dear gods.

[14:51] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am trying to keep a low profile
[14:51] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: wow you are famous then!
[14:52] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Luckily I tend to be one between the UK and US East coast crowds, so I sorted it before anyone else came on sim
[14:52] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: well, mostly

Um..."mostly"?

[14:52] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx feels a disturbance in the force and pokes her head in the room.
[14:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) falls down laughing
[14:53] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx tries to look innocent
[14:53] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I now have a NC full of UUIDs of anything I try to edit like that. Thank gods for cache viewers.
[14:53] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: [mxxx] did what now?
[14:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) can only point weakly at [Jxxxxxx], make weird gestures towards her eyes, and collapse into giggles again.
[14:53] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You know the main wall on the old [RP] sim that the mansion is atop?

You fill me with dread, Miss M. Say on.

[14:53] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx nods slowly, "above the river? yes?"
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I dragged you portrait onto it on accident and set the repeats to like . a lot.
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and then LL locked it
[14:54] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx gapes in horror. "oh. my. GOD."
[14:54] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx falls down. "wait, WHICH portrait?"
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: um
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the um
[14:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh gods
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: racy one
[14:54] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: oh GOD

I should note, this entire conversation was held in the main Independent States of Caledon group. So Miss M. has just told a bunch of neo-Victorians that she tiled a pin-up shot of another Caledonian across a retaining wall that runs the length of more than one building. Let that sink in.

[14:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): 0.0
[14:54] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: oh NO!!! YOU DIDN'T
[14:54] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): OKAY THAT'S WORSE
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: well, the nakies one where your bits are hidden
[14:54] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: mostly

"Mostly".

[14:55] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) facepalms
[14:55] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) falls to the floor, hands over her head. "OH MY GOD."
[14:55] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Mostly"
[14:55] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Its ok. only like 2 people came on sim before I fixed it

"Only".

[14:55] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) snickercackles
[14:55] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and they probalby didn't see it
[14:55] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: most lkely
[14:55] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Probably"
[14:55] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ish
[14:55] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) collapses again

She keeps using these words!

[14:55] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I mean, [Axxxxx] and [Nxxxxxx] never have said one word.
[14:56] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I want to send the Duke this entire conversation. :D

I did send the Duke this entire conversation. Then I saved it for here (with permission from both chief parties involved, yes).

[14:56] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxxx: anyway.. we were saying.. *I* was saying how your eyes followed me wherever I walked
[14:56] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: OMG
[14:57] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I mean I wasn't panicking running around
[14:57] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: a lot

"A lot".

[14:57] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: this is why I don't do Nakies piccies
[14:57] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you never know where they end up

Probably wise, Miss H.!

[14:57] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: they were TASTEFUL!
[14:57] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: When you got far enough way you couldn't even tell it was you

This...is...not as reassuring as you think it is, Miss M.

[14:57] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: hardly
[14:57] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I'm sure they were!
[14:57] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ish
[14:58] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: pffft
[14:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Ish"
[14:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) giggles again

Oh, dear gods, Miss M. and qualifiers. I was just astounded at this point.

[14:58] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: someone needs to give me a scale with ish on it so I can calibrate
[14:58] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: of course, full bright did make it easier to tell in the dark
[14:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): FULL
[14:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): BRIGHT
[14:58] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) is dead nao.

AKA, actually leaning over the keyboard, laughing until I was fighting for air, as much in shock as amusement. Not even kidding.

[14:59] Gxxxxxxx Hxxxx looks over the brim of his glasses in bemusement.
[14:59] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): can't....breathe....halp....
[14:59] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Hey! at least I didn't have glow on it
[14:59] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: LOL
[15:00] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx digs out the photo.
[15:01] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It was a good lesson in texture preparedness, making sure to get enough sleep, and reading texture titles more carefully.
[15:01] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins. "Yes. Always texture when rested."
[15:01] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Ok Justine is trying to calibrate my ish...but FLikr doesn't want me to see
[15:01] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: and maybe don't use a naked picture of your best friend?
[15:01] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx: maybe?

THIS. ALL the this!

[15:02] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I wasn't using it per se
[15:02] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and I didn't know the wall was selected

Wait, whoa, missed this....What were you doing, then, Miss M.? That tiled the texture that many times over the wall you didn't know was selected? Were you trying to make a, what, a mosaic vase? With little images of Lady J as the tiles??

[15:02] Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Axxxxxxx passes the photo to [hxxxxx]. "PLEASE don't put it on any walls? kthx."
[15:03] Hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I will look and delete it to be certain Sounds fair enough.

Can digital images be cursed? Because...there's a second part to this.

the beginnings of Gearhaven Prime

This is how it began. A flat, grass-textured square of land.



This is how it always begins. No sim comes pre-made, after all.



We start from the basics, and we make what we need, as with many other things in life. Of course, it won't be easy...but good things seldom come easily.



Unfortunately, the Lindens are having a bit of problem with the map coding at present. Getting a read on exactly where we are is proving difficult.



Near as we can make out, between the two maps we were able to pull...Gearhaven is exactly where it had been, the last time on the grid, which now, sits about four or five sims away from Babbage, and...about two sims away from Mondrago.

Which will only be a problem if they declare war. Again.

I'm perfectly happy with the detente that currently exists, so...maybe cooler heads will prevail. In the meantime, we're where we want to be, and rebuilding. Until we're finished, the former Gearhaven will stay up, but it will vanish into the mists when we're up and running here.

memories of past and future dreams

I decided to put the pictures from the 15th Anniversary party at the Catgirl Dungeon on Flickr. I tried to keep actual names out of it...I failed here and there.

Also, the Catgirl Dungeon under the Guv'nah's Mansion does not exist.



The development of Gearhaven Prime continues, though the land will have a radically different shape than it did. But some things may not make the transfer over. NuTanis may be one of them.



To be fair, NuTanis was a grand experiment, and I was so overjoyed to watch it go up and get refined. And it's not like the Duke's lost anything that went into it. It's just that, between one thing and another...it may not be a part of Gearhaven Prime once we're finished.



The Mystic, on the other hand, will return, because Carcosa's getting its own level on the sim. Though, depending on where we put it, it may be on the sands, or it may still be raised. We're not sure yet.



Enough about possibilities. This was from another City's Edge show Rusty played. Justine and I went, and she tried to hit the stage for dance balls, and caught this instead. It had been on the roof, and one of the owners obligingly moved it to just above the stage. Where she happily danced the rest of his set, on fire.



She looked good doing it. Very retro. With the outfit and the outlining, almost a sixties vibe.



All in all, that was a fun night, too.