race to slip into whatever fits you

I know. I KNOW. It's a problem. I get it. I think I've worn a hollow in my back from the amount of times Ive been kicking myself.

Also, you ever have one of those moments where you suddenly realize why your online aesthetic (and, occasionally, RL aesthetic) is the way it is?



Ohhhh. That explains some things.

For the rest...still working on some things in the background, and trying to muscle the brain into the slightly less well-worn tracks of "this is what we're dealing with now" instead of staying on the very well-worn tracks of "if the train's going, then we're going to be just fine".

Nobody ever said you couldn't lie to yourself.

Which leaves us with the image I created, to use...somewhere. Might as well be here.

Let me preface this by saying, I'm not Christian. I don't care if people are; if people aren't; if people discard the whole faith question entirely. "Live your life the best way you know how, and don't hurt people when you can avoid it" has been my daily struggle for years now.

But, there is a point where my tolerance ends.



If any reader recognizes the notecards this maker is including in all products sold, or the text over the angle on the draped cross shot (seriously--are we supposed to buy that whomever shot this, shot it on their knees? Or that we're on our knees looking up?) with more exhortations to repent--well, I did my best to anonymize. But I have a huge problem with this.

And if this maker happens to notice this--hi, there. Happy you're happy and all, but getting the notecards and the cross photo in every single goddamn product box is draining to the extreme. Stop.

Because this? This is against your own friggin' religion, what is WRONG with you??

Think I'm kidding?

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
~~Matthew 6:6-7, New King James Version

There are other passages, and there are some who say the four named "follower" chapters (plus the fifth, generally unacknowledged) are closer to fiction than "reality" (and...I'm sorry, that's just comedic gold there), and sure, there are points to be made. And I'm not even that fond of the New King James version, but what it lacks in congeniality, it usually makes up for with (at least fairly) unambiguous language at times.

This is why I make the distinction between Christianity and Churchianity. This is why I make the distinction between the faithful seeking fellowship, doing the best they can, and...well. EVERY SINGLE EVANGELICAL MORON OUT THERE. And yes, I did--and do--mean every single one, and a large segment of their congregations as well. If you're a preacher on stage, and you need a rock-arena level sound system so you can broadcast to the people one entire football field away from you--I'm talking to you. If you're a pastor who's exhorting your followers to buy you a private jet--I'm talking to you. If you're a mega-pastor who wants your congregation to front the bill for two, no, three, no, four private jets--I'm talking to you. If you're the guy onstage saying that "someone" should just round up all the gays and the transsexuals and put them in camps, or better yet, in graves, oh, you had best BELIEVE I'm talking to your ass.

And I have hit my limit. Do I like a lot of her designs? Yes. But they're all going into the trash, and from now, not going back to her store. If I have to make notes and buy the mesh templates and make my own to wear, I WILL DO THAT rather than deal with YOUR PUERILE BLEATING ON YOUR NEOPHYTE FAITH.

Or, to put it another way--if we're talking, and religion comes up, sure. Feel free to tell me. But if I'm just wandering through your store and you scream and tape a flyer on how cool Jesus is to my face--at the very least I'm walking out, if not walking away from the smoking hull of your firebombed parcel.

Done with it. Just done. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

well, what the hell, it's just as well I'm here at home

I had completely forgotten I'd put the Creepy Doll out at Drear Fen after Fantasy Faire last year...



Silly me...Anyway...enough on my haunt, purplemoon opened a haunted forest!

(Those appear to be the same SLUrl, but I swear, I pulled one from the official landmark I have, and the other from standing at the port-in point...



This is a lovely little piece. Mesh Entity makes it; you can easily find it on the Marketplace for L$150.



The circus has definitely seen better days...



Poulet, you had me until the cabin, and the floating model from Silent Hill: Homecoming. Game rips everywhere, and nary a haunt to enjoy...

So look: if you don't care, this is lovely. She's put a lot of love and care into this, and I'm harsh on seeing game rips. Most people don't bother. if you're one of those, you may have fun roaming the parcel.

If you're like me, well...this is where I walk. Two out of five skulls for atmosphere alone.

Okay, how about the Spooky Season Pop-Up Event? Sounds inoffensive...



Seems to be largely a market for kid avatar costumes. But it's okay, I can work with this.



At least they have decent...uh...punch, yes, that's it, punch...to drink...

So let's talk the "Baphomet" Lapel Chain and Signet Ring from /Vae Victis\. Welcome to the first accessory that was actually something of a pain to adjust, and while I know why--I am, err, rather bustier than Grim or Mesmer Macabre--I was still gritting my teeth a little. This, like the fabulous shoulder pauldron set, is on the finicky side to get exactly right, and for me, breast physics mean I don't just move slightly forward and slightly back, breathing, but I also...well. Jiggle, a bit?



So this is going to be a still photograph piece.



Still, it's a lovely set. It even has a blood-spattered version, and maybe it's just me, but in the sunset light on this sim, it looks like there's a teensy skull swimming in red liquid in the gem of the ring...

The expected detailed HUD finishes this off; one section for metal, one for the head, one for the gem the head holds, and one section for the wee little diamante stones set around the band. Very elegant.

But I'm a bit confused--I thought it was at the LEVEL event from October 1st on--did it close already? As far as I can tell on the other side of the barrier walls, the merchandise still seems to be live. From where I'm standing, /Vae Victis is the fourth booth in on the left. and this set retails for L$425. Get it if you can?

I stare at my reflection, I don't know who I am

Did you know you can now see the entire Book of Kells in digital form, online? This work has been foundational in terms of design for fabric, needle art, paintings, and calligraphy, and I'm beyond thrilled it's now out there in its entirety.

And look look look! Tannhäuser Gate's in the Sci Fi Con hunt! We're even the second listing. I'm so thrilled. And this is the prize Dejah made for the hunt:



It FLIIIIIES. And it's so gorgeous. I can't stop squeeing over how pretty it is.

Speaking of pretty...I...guess...welp, finally decided to hit Dollholic again.



This is...still way too twee for me.



Okay, Short Leash's "Purrfect Hideout" chair is cute. Won't lie. Petplay oriented, several different color options, cuddles up to adult--unfortunately only for couples. L$899.



Yet again, though, there seems to be a fairly even mix between "this is babygirl/petplay gear, not Doll gear", "this could be at any fashion event in SL", and...things like this, the Shine platforms from PerveTTe. Don't get me wrong, these look nicely made, but my brain automatically assigns these as stripper heels, because RL, I've known a LOT of strippers for whom this height is the automatic default.

But what makes this doll gear? Adult women, sure. Babygirls, yeah, okay, fine, there's a lot of fetish shoe action, I get it. But doll? Has the doll community changed so much I no longer can recognize it?

Or does Dollholic mean not doll gear, but just--"Daddy's little dolly", in which case...all the DD/lg action makes sense, but...it's still disappointing.

This is evidence of how much going through this event depressed me--I didn't even bother to pull these into Gimp and throw frames around them.

I don't think I'm going to cover Dollholic past this.

pack up your bags and throw out the toys

Short but funny:

[10:46] oxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I hate when that happens LOL, a group chat opens and you think the person is talking to you, not realizing it is group
[10:47] Ixxxx Mxxxx: Especially if you're being naughty
[10:48] Ixxxx Mxxxx: I never do that of course. *looks around and whistles*
[10:49] Exxx Kxxxxx: squints her eyes stearing at him mhmm suuure
[10:49] Exxx Kxxxxx: we are never naughty...
[10:51] Ixxxx Mxxxx: Only when you're sleeping... and the jury is out on that one. ;-D
[10:52] Hxxxxxx Sxxxxxxxx: or when you step away to make dinner and come back and go.. ok... the topic changed... lol
[10:52] Exxx Kxxxxx: lol
[10:52] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Wait, it was gardening, why is it now pregnancy huds, WHAT??"
[10:53] Hxxxxxx Sxxxxxxxx: pregnancy huds that fart? what??? o,0
[10:53] Ixxxx Mxxxx: Wrong seed planted?
[10:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, that's my go-to example for those situations because that was a home and garden store group.
[10:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): HEE!
[10:53] Hxxxxxx Sxxxxxxxx: You want to know if you can still dance on the pole?
[10:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well. Now it makes sense. :D

And in other news...

[14:30] Hxxxxxx Hxxxxxx: Couldn't find any proper puppet strings, so I decided to use Saturn's Bindings. I think they work just as well.

[14:30] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, nicely done.

you committed, I'm your crime, push my button anytime

This next link involves quite a bit of NSFW language, and also reveals yet another massive flaw in Bethesda's perceptions, both of their own company and their players: they completely and utterly failed to register the domain "falloutfirst". They have only themselves to blame.

And the list of all haunts for this year has been tweaked, corrected, and updated with visible graphics.

Oh, and there is a phenomenal video on YouTube about the history of Hocus Pocus--why it flopped originally, how it was made in the first place, and why it's such a Halloween classic today.

Now, then. There's a haunt on Etienne Island that sounds intriguing:

A little creepy, a lots spooky... tons of those things that go bump in the night. The 2019 edition of Daddy's Girl Oasis Haunted house. Please turn sound on, set to night for the best experience.

I guess...good of them to warn me?

When I first landed, I couldn't see a way into the haunt. Then I walked around three buildings, and down the ramp, and found this sign. Then I had realized I'd taken off a rather signature tattoo for the Ursula outfit at the masquerade ball--pictures to come--so ported home to ink it proper. Then came back, and...right by the port point, there's a dark stone archway. Silly me.



What's a Snation?



Uh...you look...busy. I'll...I'll just come back later.



The asylum has seen better days. I wish it had also seen fewer game rips.



Case in point.

Which is really sad, to this point I was really liking the creativity. I'm very disappointed.

Okay. One more rip, and I'm gone.



One more rip.

I'm gone.

This isn't a straight zero haunt, I think, is the main problem. There's a lot of innovative ideas here. There's some really effective decoration. But the utter laziness, the callous uncaring in using known game rips...I can't give them points for that. I just can't.

So, I guess...overall, if you don't mind game rips, go, you could find some good photo ops. Otherwise, it just hit me as meh after all the copyright infringement.

you committed, I'm your crime, push my button anytime

This could be dire. The keywords to contemplate:

apocalypse, horror, urban survival, grunge, dystopian town, cannibal caves, creepy cemetery, photography, popular, scary, haunted hangout, hospital, asylum, carnival, circus, amusement park, freakshow, halloween, NO SEX,flicker,

The "NO SEX" prohibition is ironic, considering it's an Adult sim.



The night is rainy and cold. Distant whispers, the wind through the trees, the crackle of lightning directly overhead.



Oh, no. I've seen this build. It was used for a deeply tragic "asylum" shopping event a few years back. Whole thing depended on the trope of all mentally ill people being psychotic blood-covered murderers screaming in dirty hallways and corpse-infested padded cells. It was terrible.



I can't figure if this skeleton is screwed into the chair, or if that's just a halo-style clavical support.



That is genuinely creepy.



No.



Absolutely no.

I mean, look, the translucent floating toys effect is pretty neat. But the fact that one of the toys is YET AGAIN a Robbie doll, and the center figure is YET AGAIN a F.E.A.R. game rip, I'm done with this. There may be more; I didn't bother. Go if you want, it's not great.

running from the debt in the battle of cyber heads

I won't lie, finding out that my blog is essentially text-only at the moment sort of drained all the joy out of finding new haunts. I still have a few days' worth of entries I'd already completed, which will also launch without images, and...it's depressed me a bit, along with trying to find other working ways to get the pictures back to visible shutting down one by one.

But I'm still working on it. For what it's worth.

How about Lunar's Haunted House in Itaca? The description does sound like a haunt:

Interactive Haunted House. Halloween, Haunted Mansion. Fun for all ages. Take your time exploring and sit on things to interact. Spooky, Scary, asylum, Circus, Freakshow, Haunted Museum, Fright, Halloween Photo Spot. Vampires, Haunt, boo, witches,

It seemed to take a very long time to rez things in, and...asa I had a touch of headache knifing my forebrain, and it was late when I went through (the night previous), I just gave up and started walking around.

There's lots of screaming here. That is also not precisely helping.



Definitely an evil pumpkin.



I guess this is the entrance?



Hello, annoying collection of game rips.



Way overcrowded. There's just too much going on.



Was I here last year? I have the weirdest feeling I was. Or at somewhere very similar. I had to have been here. But it wasn't this cluttered last year, was it? I can't remember.

I walk alone, retrace my steps, where did I go wrong?

Ecstasy Trading has something with a very cumbersome name, "Halloween carnival cemetery Horror Asylum Medieval Fantasy St"...and there it trails off. Guess they ran out of room. The blurb isn't exactly better:

Halloween,haunted,creepy,scary,medieval,furniture,freakshow,romantic,decor,statue,fantasy,landscape,decor,home,garden,skeleton,gore,fall,manor,asylum,candles,cemetery,carnival,full perm,goth,vampire,baroque,magic,circus,club,photography,spooky

The vendor at the base of this...thing...says "Creepy carousel with hanging mannequins". 1), mannequins don't bleed. 2), this is not a carousel. Try again.



Off to the right from the port-in point, there's a passable cemetery build, also for sale.



I don't understand why there's snow.



In all other respects it's just another market, not a haunt.



Nicely detailed tree.



A new interpretation of "dollhouse".



Annnnnd keep in mind it's on Adult land.

I mean, look, obviously a store. I get that, I'm trying to be clear on the differentiation between "store that sells creepy things" and "creepy haunted house". So if you're looking for haunts, steer clear. On t'other hand, if you're looking for that perfect piece to set off your haunted build, you might find it here, who knows?

but sometimes, sometimes you just have to walk away

"1920s Chicago Creepy Carnival", the title said. Okay, they snagged my interest. Then I read the description:

"Creepy Carnival .Its free and fun. wear your rlv and experaince it for yourself Biker, hangout. sex, [c**ck], [p***y], blow job, [c*m], sluts, orgy, fetish, dom,gang bang, lesbian, roleplay, public sex, [f**k], cmnf, swingers, voyeur, rape"

Nope. Bite me. Not going.

Yes, edited only insofar as to not publish words considered rude on the blog. Also, I feel most of my audience will know this, but for anyone who doesn't, "cmnf" translates to "Clothed Men Naked Females". That's not the part I'm objecting to, it's more the rape/non-consensual gang bang/RLV mentions. In my experience, again, "Adult", "haunted" and "RLV" together tells me there be traps and trolls, so just not going.

How about Fable's Haunted Market? Their description sounds better, at least:

Haunted Island, Halloween costumes, Hunt, Scary Circus, Creepy Carnival, Freakshow, Ghosts, Witches, Demons, Skeletons, Zombies, Pirates, Fairies, Clowns, Gifts, Freebies, Swamp, Voodoo, Gothic, Grunge, free horses, fantasy, Gachas, accessories, masks

It opened with an extremely repetitive screaming track which was unpleasant. Lasted about as long for things to start rezzing in and convince me I've been here last year.

So we're moving on. Let's visit the Dollhouse:

Here you can find a big creepy forests, a diner, a big dollhouse and more. Feel free to explore. The dolls will appreciate the chance to imitate how humans are supposed to act.

Hmm. On Adult land. Dubious. But we stagger on.



Why are the windows bleeding? Also, post-editing the images, I realized how dark all of these shots were. I had the choice of going back, taking all new shots (and getting more angry), or just doing what I could with after-image lightening, and you can see which one I went with. Sadly, that leaves this image in particular very, very grey.

On the other hand, you really don't need crisp color correction to see how random and pointless this is.



I ported from the Diner to the Doll House proper, and...seriously? What did I just say a few days back? This is why we can't have nice things.

So, game rips everywhere, got it.



This place has a point, right? I mean, it's on Adult land, so I get why there are adult-themed dolls, but they're interspersed with children and baby models, and...just...ugh. Stop.



At least it's an actual dollhouse build? I guess that's something. But, post-wandering through, I can definitely tell you that while the actual build concept is genius, what that dollhouse actually contains is...A lot of it edges seriously towards ageplay, and I don't mean Daddies and babygirls, I mean quasi-pedophilia. That is not right.



Done now. Dead from stupid.

Honestly, this was a sim that could have been great. Seriously great. There is a huge untapped market for adult doll theme parks, essentially, and I've only found one other sim dedicated to the concept. Instead, they piled on anything that said "doll" in Marketplace randomly, whether it fit or not, tossed in some SL kids' furniture, made the whole sim Adult, didn't care if things were rips or not...I'm done. Do not recommend. Do not go there. You will lose brain cells from the amount of sheer apathetic uncaring that went into this.

seven bars, one church, heaven is no match for hell

This is another odd one. Adult sim, defiantly so. The bio is a touch...disturbing:

"Down an old alley, between obscure old buildings you'll find an exclusive members only gentleman's club, for those who appreciate discretion and illicit pleasures

CMnf, sex, rape, kidnapping, MaleDom, dancers, BDSM, prostitution"

For those who don't know, "CMNF" means Clothed Men/Naked Females". But they have a haunted house?

Touch concerned, but let's go see.



So, the port dropped me off a few steps from the Hush Hush Club, which far as I can ascertain, is just a nightclub. But another sign told me to follow the kids...The concept of kids on an adult sim will FOREVER creep me right off the planet, but I'm gritting my teeth and following.



This seems to be the place.



This doesn't make me happier about the whole "kids on Adult sims" thing. Even if they're static little monster kid statues.



Unusual decor.



Someone has a doll collection...



...and a...mannequin arm collection?

Overall, it's not terrible, just in a really iffy neighborhood for some. If you're comfortable fending off the Capture/Prey assault types, go wander, though I saw no one on the sim when I was there.