I'll paint you mornings of gold

A great deal of inference comes into play in virtual world interaction, and even in games with 3D NPC figures. Because they do not often show facial expression, or, if they do, it's either Uncanny Valley turf or not...quite...synched up with what's being said...a lot of what we go on are things our minds are thinking--how we think they sound, or how we think they look, or what emotion we think they're portraying.

That being said...



...there's a certain deer-in-the-headlights look I'm developing, and I can't decide if that's me reading into...well, me, or--genuinely what's happening with the way I'm choosing my avatar to pose, dress, behave...



Anyway, /Vae Victis\ is participating in the next Madpea hunt, "Cupid Catastrophe". This is a grid-wide hunt with a specific time limit--fifteen days, from the first of February to the fifteenth, with an interesting angle. The more hunt objects a hunter finds, the more "MadPoints" and prizes that hunter gets at the end.

As with other recent Madpea hunts, it's HUD-based--the basic "Cupid Chaser" gets a hunter the hunt HUD, and a "Fool's Flyswatter"--the better to flatten Cupids and hearts with, I guess?--while the "Cupid Conqueror" package gets the HUD, the Flyswatter, whatever "The Dominator 2020" item is, the "Heart Mobile" (I'm assuming car, not hanging thing) and the "Cupid Catastrophe" outfits.



And this is the "Eros" Gemmed Crown Halo that Grim made for the event, and this thing is GORGEOUS. I know, I know, I say that about a lot of accessories, but...this one really is. I have this Valentine's picture idea in my head now, for a skin I haven't worn often--the Elemental Golden Dust Diamond for 2018's Fallen God and Goddess contest from Fallen Gods. That could be really stellar.



I may post another run in that skin, even, if it comes out well. As an entry or on the Flickr.

And I'm thinking the lost-deer effect may not be what I'm putting out, in SL, but what I'm bringing in. There are days that are more...mass confused flailing? Than others?



So, remember what I said about this piece being gorgeous? This is it from the back, and this is the first headgear I've seen from /Vae Victis\ that had this kind of backing. What I mean by that is, I'm used to the front patterning--in this case, the horn strata of antlers--matching to the back, and...not here. Here, it's backed with the smooth, slightly rounded look one gets when metal accessories are hand-poured. Complete with the stamp detail that makers often press into still-cooling metal pieces. I am sheerly amazed.



All in all, this is a lovely piece, elegant and sweeping, and while there will be a slight charge, it's the charge of the game HUD from Madpea, not a charge for the piece itself.

[[Insert from the Editrix before posting: this was shot in the photo studio warehouse in Whispers Families, and I completely forgot to show the HUD. So I had to take one last shot, below, to show that off!]]



[[And there you go! Simple selections, but as shown here, highly variable. Good luck in the finding!]]

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.

the sky's changing color and I must leave fast

On the Strange and Mysterious list, I found the Pyri Funfair and thought it sounded interesting enough to check out. For all that it doesn't seem to have a description.



There is definitely something...odd...here.



Maybe it's just how empty it seems.



Or the fact that some of the attractions are boarded up.



A ticket was needed to ride the Tunnel of Love, one of only two working attractions, so I got one from the booth and sat in the car. Rolled down the track towards the red curtain, and...fell through the floor into a deep, cavernous space.



Huh. So that was strange. So...what's down here?



Mostly boxes, as it turns out. Barrels. Some rickety bridges. I tried to figure out the rhyme and reason behind the place.

Then I walked into a side passage with a number of green, glowing mushrooms, and...

23:24] Poison Mushrooms: The posion mushrooms are realsing their spores! You start to feel very weak! AAAAAAAAAAHHH! You have died!

"Releasing", but...well. Okay, then. Guess that's that.

I think if you're interested in a fun conceit to get TO a place to explore, knock yourselves out. It's not really a haunt, but the caverns notecard says to click on everything clickable, because some will offer prizes (randomly; most are common, simple items, some are more rare), and to be wary of traps, because some will kill you. I didn't get very far, due to mushroom interference, but it could be a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

did you ever hear that coughin' sound? means another poor boy is underground

Fang Bangers apparently has a haunted house, though the land description--the sum total of which is "N/A/"--wouldn't tell anyone that. But they did place an ad, so...I guess let's check it out.

[22:22] Fang Bangers Haunted House Greeter: You are the visitor number 2.

Well, that fills me with confidence.



That tree...is...breathing.



And there's something definitely odd going on in one of the outside crypts.



There's...something...coming through the floor. It looks like it could be...a tree root. From one of the breathing trees outside?



Upstairs, there are some game rips, but I think they can largely be ignored in favor of the uneasy dread the house inspires, and the actual original touches. Like the fact that many of the walls seem to shift, or wobble, like...they're less wood, and more gelatin...or flesh.



Definitely, something went very wrong here. (Also, as a fun added thing, there are pumpkins scattered throughout the haunt that will give you small gifts for free.)



And the top of the house is seething with released magic, unbound for harm.

I freely admit, I ended up spending longer in this haunt than I intended to, because along with how good it was, the soundtrack just added to it. Now, if you're not a fan of German-influenced heavy industrial, it likely won't affect you the same way. But if you are, then suddenly, all the fog, the blood, the bodies, and the enspelled furniture seem to make sense.

I highly recommend this one, whether you have music on or not. Do go.

creep up and suddenly I found myself

Mornings do not make us moral. This is good to know.

Americans like to drink bad coffee? I'm not entirely sure their conclusion is correct. I do think that Americans--and busy people, worldwide, who feel stressed by the pressures of work and getting everything necessary done in one day--deeply value convenience. One can have convenience without reducing quality; one just has to pay more to get it. When the Keurig machines launched, they were very expensive--but very convenient.

[12:26] dxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: random IM stats normal, hi, then like a whole rant about how women are players worse then men and a demand for an explanation of what would be the roll of women in the future... that is a new level of weird. I don't even know this guy. was just shopping x.x
[12:27] gxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: how about the "men's right's" groups?
[12:28] Emilly Orr: So seriously, just 'hi' and then 'women all suck'? That's a man with issues.
[12:29] dxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yeah and at some point when I answered that I don't represent the whole of women kind and not their leader, he said I'm lost... lol huh?

No clue. Some people really have issues. Though she still doesn't know why this random moment happened.

Something to be aware of, in these latter days of gaming on SL: where do you live? This is now an important question, because yes, at least one confirmed person was banned whose typist lived in Florida, for attending a concert that was in a club on a gaming sim. By law, the Lab WILL track IPs to remain in compliance with the strictures.

This shouldn't apply to the internationals, but if you're in the US, and you live in one of these states:

Arizona	♦	Arkansas
Delaware	♦	Florida
Kentucky	♦	Louisiana
Maryland	♦	South Carolina
South Dakota	♦	Tennessee

KNOW WHERE YOU'RE PORTING BEFORE YOU GO. It could mean your account.

Finally, the Twisted Spring hunt has been delayed. If you've been having a problem finding the cube, it may not only be that it's semi-transparent--it may be that it's just plain not there. Due to a variety of issues, the Spring hunt is starting on March 5th.

come inside, the show's about to start, guaranteed to blow your head apart

Keloid. Look into it. To say anything, I think, will take away from the impact of the short film, but I will say this: if you are unnerved by mannequins, you might not want to see it. (But if you like big faceless mechs, you definitely need to.)

Meanwhile, from before the last Twisted hunt ended...

[19:06] axxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: In store number three been looking for hours is there another hint?
[19:07] Axxxxx Bxxxxxxx: There is only one official hint. That cube and the hint that goes with it also changes frequently.
[19:09] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: tp me if you want help

So far, so good. Mr. axxxxxxx wanted more help; Ms. Rxxxxxx wanted to help him. Seems innocuous enough.

[19:12] Lokii Violet: Pro tip - escorting people directly to the box will make me move it really fucking fast.
[19:12] Lokii Violet: I suggest not doing it that way. Carry on.

Warnings for language from here on out; I'm leaving her name because it was her store, but also, Lokii Violet is the store owner of Malfean Visions, the two mentioned above were in Malfean Visions, and Lokii was watching them. These are important things to remember.

[19:12] Cxxxxxx Mxxx: o.O
[19:12] Emilly Orr: Plzplzplz don't make her move it, it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find the second time!!!

I mentioned that only because some store owners, as the hunt wore on, had the habit of adding new things to the box. I didn't know if Lokii had plans to do that, and I'd already picked the wrong box up once, thinking it was the only one I needed to find.

[19:13] Pxxx Oxxxxxxx: What store is talking about moving things? xD
[19:13] Lokii Violet: #3.
[19:13] Wxxxx Sxxxxx: Oh yes please, give Lokii a reason to move the box. Please. I wanna see what she does next 'cause she's a freakin' genius at hiding it :D

There were a few changes this year from previous years. First, this was the tenth anniversary hunt, so folks tried to go all out. But second, this was the tenth anniversary hunt, and merchants this year were tired of babysitting anyone who'd been on previous hunts.

So in a few stores, people (and by "people", I mean "store owners") were armed. And they shot people being dumb in their store. And by "dumb", I generally mean really dumb--standing at the port-in point after being warned in local chat and IM; telling people where the boxes were in local chat; hassling other hunt participants--that level of dumb.

Very, very few people in the hunt group protested this, by the way. Except...the really dumb ones who got shot.

[19:13] Lokii Violet: (And yes I'm watching. I suggest not doing it.)
[19:13] Exxxxxx Dxxxxxxx: You grumpy yet, Lokii?
[19:13] Emilly Orr: And for the folks *IN* Malfean Visions, if you're the one she's talking to, please stop being dumb. Thank you, the rest of us.
[19:14] Cxxxxxx Mxxx: Lokii will you be kind enough to share the name with other store owners?
[19:14] jxxxx Wxxx: yes please Lokii please share
[19:14] Exxxxxx Dxxxxxxx: Sharing the names of stupid people?
[19:14] Lokii Violet: Too late.

And there it was. Around 19:10 Mr. axxxxxxx and Ms. Rxxxxxx were both in the shop; only four minutes later Lokii had had enough and picked up the box to hide it again.

Lokii is not a perfect being--which of us is? But to irritate someone enough to make her physically pick up a hunt item to hide it again...during a high-traffic hunt...that takes special, extra-stupid skills.

[19:14] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: I'm sure she'll share it with the merchants in the hunt.
[19:14] Lokii Violet: Warned you.
[19:14] Lokii Violet: It gets moved now.
[19:14] pxxx Oxxxxxxx: Does that mean it's been moved?
[19:15] Exxxxxxx Dxxxxxxx: Lokii, Are you yelling at them in chat too?
[19:15] Emilly Orr: DAMN it!
[19:15] Cxxxxxx Mxxx: means it is getting moved
[19:15] Emilly Orr: Stupid, stupid hunters, not playing by the rules...
[19:15] Lokii Violet: Nope. Taking my time relocating it.
[19:16] Pimm (pimm.olivieri): Does that mean it's not on the map anymore?

*facepalm*

[19:16] Lokii Violet: ...it means I'm moving the *box*
[19:16] Emilly Orr: Nope. "it is getting moved" means she picked it up and is wandering around looking for a better spot.
[19:16] Axxxxx Bxxxxxxx: Beginners Hunt tip: If you do anything that someone might consider cheating, do not announce doing so in local or in group chat.
[19:16] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: theres a shooter at gwen
[19:17] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: flagship store

Let me make note of this, again--Ms. Rxxxxxx was obviously following chat; had obviously picked up the part about Lokii moving the box; and then had the temerity to complain that Ms. Mxxxxx, a store employee who was armed by will and fiat of the store owner, was shooting infractors. This is getting pretty high up in the stupidsphere.

[19:17] Cxxxxxx Mxxx: Lokii when you have a moment please toss me the name of said person?
[19:17] Lokii Violet: I don't have the time. K? Busy.

Also, if Ms. Mxxx had been reading along in the chat as well, both participants in this ill-advised escapade were mentioned, several times.

[19:17] Rxxxx Ixxxxxx: uh oh who pissed Lokii off?
[19:17] Rxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: some idiot
[19:17] Emilly Orr: Also angry. Also understandably.
[19:17] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: Like I said, I'm sure she'll share it with MERCHANTS WHO ARE IN THE HUNT
[19:17] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: And [Exxxxxxx], I shot you just cause ♥

Also important to note: Mr. Dxxxxxxx, mentioned above, is a friend of both Ms. Mxxxxx and Lokii Violet. Moreover, he's used to getting shot in the store. However, this was also mentioned openly in chat, so again: Ms. Rxxxxxx was reading chat; she was in the store under discussion; and she now knew (if she didn't before) who was firing. Nothing's being hidden here.

[19:18] Nxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Alright you pissed Lokii the god of mischief off? Did we not watch The Avengers? LOL
[19:18] Axxxxx Bxxxxxxx: Beginners Hunt Hint # 2: Merchants reserve the right to eject, ban and shoot people they consider to be cheating or rude.

Also true. It's in the rules.

[19:18] Sxxxxx Zxxxxx: Why is it that this year is horrible for people and the hunt?
[19:18] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i was helping a man ..lol didnt say a word
[19:19] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: he asked for help in chat
[19:19] Lokii Violet: That doesn't mean walk right to the bloody box and into the wall where it was perched at.

It's a good point.

[19:19] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i was standing still is all
[19:19] Lokii Violet: ...directly under it.
[19:20] Sxxxxx Zxxxxx: Thats pretty much rude...
[19:20] Emilly Orr: Yeah, [dxxxx], that'd get you banned, blocked, or shot.
[19:20] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: yes so he could find he said he was ther for hours
[19:20] Rxxxx SMxxxxx: Look. Lemme be perfectly blunt. You're being a cunt and eliminating the need to HUNT FOR A FUCKING ITEM. Enjoy your bullet sammiches.
[19:20] Emilly Orr: That's what IMs are for, [dxxxx].
[19:20] Oxxxx Txxxxx: Also, it's a Bad Move to brag about derendering in local, in Twisted chat, and to Twisted Assistants in IM.
[19:20] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i was in im
[19:21] Cxxxxxx Mxxx: *facepalms*

Yeah, really. Ms. Rxxxxxx just didn't seem to get it, at all. It wasn't just misunderstanding of the basic problem; it was like she was deliberately denying she did anything wrong even with visual sightings of her and her actions to back the store owners (and employees) up.

[19:21] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i dont know i didnt do anything wrong i grabbed the box
[19:21] Wxxxx Sxxxxx just joins Cxxxxxx in facepalming
[19:21] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: stood there thats all
[19:21] Oxxxx Txxxxx: If you're going to park idle, don't do it in front of the target.
[19:21] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i was there for less then a min ..so sorry it bothered you
[19:21] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: ask the man
[19:21] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: [axxxxxxx]

Cue greater facepalming. So: not only was Ms. Rxxxxxx standing directly under the hunt item (presumedly, so Mr. axxxxxxx could manage to find it), but also, she was openly talking about how difficult it was and how she had to derender things to find it to a store employee in IM?!?

This isn't just stupidity, it might actually be organic damage.

[19:21] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: btw.. I'm the shooter. :3

Again: asked and identified. How Ms. Rxxxxxx continued not to know who banned her and shot her "friend" is beyond me.

Five minutes later...

[19:26] Lokii Violet: Relocated. Hidden. Hint updated. *throws fingers, goes back to her movie*
[19:26] Emilly Orr: That took less time to hide than the last time this happened. Should we be worried? [19:26] Lokii Violet: Yes. You should.

And as it turned out, we were right to be. (Though that has nothing to do with this escapade.)

[19:26] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx:

19:25] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i didnt do anything wrong rydia ..i had finished the hunt and was just helping a man who was there for hours...is your perogative to ban me ...i dont cheat..i dont have huds ...anyway goodluck to you
[19:25] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: You're an idiot. You took someone RIGHT TO THE BOX. That is cheating. But you go on with your delusional self!
[19:26] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: sighs whatever
[19:26] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: take a pill
[19:26] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: relax its sl
[19:26] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: And you're a douche 8D
[19:26] dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxx: i have purchased at your store you lost a costomer
[19:26] Rxxxx Mxxxxx: aww muffin

[19:27] Sxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: And now she breaks the TOS. Real piece of work, this one.
[19:27] Lokii-ikthya (lokii.violet): ...well, I wasn't going to ban, now I am.
[19:27] Lokii-ikthya (lokii.violet): Real smart there muffin.
[19:27] Emilly Orr: Y'know, every time someone says "Relax it's just SL", I lower them several points on the intelligence scale.
[19:27] Mal Martynov: good job daisy, posting ims within sl are against the ToS

Seriously, who doesn't know this by now?

[19:28] Oxxxx Txxxxx: Moo's guide to surviving MV:

1) Move away from the landing point.2) Actually hunt (or shop)3) do NOT tell locations here, or in local. (What you do in IM or on Skype is your business)4) Do not stare/idle at the right cube(s)5) Do not tp or walk folks right to it either6) Or simply: Don't be a stupid git.

Pretty much. And, for the record, those are good rules for any hunt, not just Twisted.

[19:28] Rxxxx Mxxxxx boops and nuzzles Moo
[19:28] Emilly Orr: Yeah, there's a lot of Wheaton's Law in Twisted hunting.
[[19:28] Oxxxx Txxxxx moos.

Upshot of all this is: don't be a jerk while hunting, because bad things can and will happen. Some of the Twisted shop owners go armed, and know how to fire. Others simply ban, either temporarily, or permanently. Mr. Demain from FallnAngel Designs, during his hunts, has been known not only to ban people who pull stupid things on hunts, but now puts out a detailed set of rules to follow--which, if not followed to the letter, can and has resulted in him moving all the hunt objects, which is beyond annoying for the rest of us.



I'll leave you with Wheaton himself explaining the origin's of Wheaton's Law. And as he said, as a legacy, it's not a bad one. And more people on SL need to follow it.

memory comes when memory's old

(Epilepsy warning?)

(from the loss album; reflections wandering the Twisted: Delirium hunt stops.)

I held onto you for as long as I could but today
you fell away
now all I hold are the memories we barely made


Is a year long enough to let go? Is a year with no questions answered something I just need to accept? I'm not good at accepting that I'll never know. I keep wanting to push.

I think the time to push is over, though.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

I stood on the edge of your bridge until I felt the rain
push me away
my confusion left me fast as the vertigo came

The problem is, I keep running into things--ideas, concepts, dreams, nightmares...The little gifts, the things that make my life work, old letters, old memories...Everything still hurts.

Maybe I need to accept that, too. It hurts less than it did. Give it another year, it will hurt even less.

All it's going to take is time.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

what I believed to be true, it was only a dream
that lived in me
I just projected it over your beautiful screen

Directions can be tricky. Especially when, at several points over the past year, I knew I was moving, but I lacked any sense of direction. Was I moving closer to the loss, walking away? Was I on the path or lost in the maze?

I still don't know.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

I self-medicated my way through this mess that we made
so I could stay
there was nothing, but I waited, I waited

I think it's all coming up now, hitting this hard again now, because the life is currently being pared down to what works, what doesn't, and what needs to change. That I never wanted anything to change is, again, something I'm just going to have to find a way to cope with.

There's a way to cope with it. Because otherwise, there's no point to any of it, no point to accepting what happened, no point to my attempts to understand, my failures to comprehend. I refuse to accept, absolutely refuse to accept, that there's no point to this long, strange spin into the coldness of the outer reaches.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made
so I will be traveling any place
'cos anywhere's better than here

I have to accept there's a reason why I'm here, and there's a reason why it's now. (Echo from the head, old Buffy episode quote: "Because now is the time my mom moved here." Maybe it really is that random. There's no purpose, there's just occurrence.)

(Do I really believe that?)

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

here we rest in peace
rubble beneath the feet
I shouldn't have followed you anywhere
'cos anywhere's better than here

And looking for fixed landmarks, when my entire system is in flux, in the grip of deep change and alteration...it was never going to work. But just because something won't work doesn't stop many of us from trying to make it work this time. Because doing a thing that has failed to work in the past, ever, doesn't mean it won't work now. Right?

(Or at least, that's how we think of it. And we're always wrong.)

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

where is the space I could move?
where could I rest my head?
there's nothing left for me here

And it's so easy, it's always been so easy, to identify the polarities and hold to them. Black, white, no shades of grey, no misinterpretions, no complications. Yes or no. Fail or win. Love or...don't.

The problem with such binary thinking is that it misses the very valid, very real states of the in-betweens. Black, white and grey after all, and most of life's decisions fall into the grey. It's never either/or, after all--it's always either/or/and.

(from the loss album, and the Twisted: Delirium hunt's end game.)

it's hard to leave behind
the one thing that made me feel alive
so I slide from paranoid to paralyzed

That's one of the real problems in all this. Over-analysis only goes so far, after all, and a one-sided debate still doesn't have all the answers. And it's so easy to pause, "just for a while", and realize only months later all we were doing was standing in place. Afraid to move forward, or back, or...at all.

(from the loss album, and the Twisted: Delirium hunt's end game.)

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made
so I will be traveling any place
'cos anywhere's better than here

Just keep moving. Just keep breathing, keep acting, don't stop, don't overthink. But I overthink; it's what I do, it's what I've always done. If there is any great truth to me, it's that I analyze everything to death, and maybe past it. I'm not good at letting things go.

Even things that hurt me.

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made

I have to stop reaching for what could be. Given time, given understanding, given answered questions...none of which I'm going to receive, save for time...maybe things might change. "Maybe", in this usage, is soul-destroying poison. It doesn't keep hope alive; it embeds me in resinous denial, waiting to ossify.

I don't want to ossify. If I'm broken, I'm broken; so be it. But I don't want to freeze in place, hurting, untrusting, unwilling, afraid.

I have things to fear. I have things to make me suffer. I don't need more.

(from the loss album, and Twisted: Delirium's final room.)

here we rest in peace
rubble beneath our feet
I shouldn't have followed you anywhere
'cos anywhere's better than here

I've rested, I've tried to heal, I've pushed it all inside to remain trapped in the glue of my doubts and my deepest regrets. I tire of the taste of them. There is no part of me that doesn't want back what I had, but ultimately, I do not have this now, and wishing will never return it to my heart and my arms.

It's been a year. I've mourned a year. It's time to stop mourning and move on.

(Song is Anywhere But Here by the Sick Puppies.)

cringe like you're cursed with your wrecking ball-y necklace

More scenes from a hunt.

(from the scavenging album)

The bubbly tilted carousel from World's End Garden.

So I found out--on the last day of the RMK Gothic sim's Bunny hunt--that seven of the various tickets had wrong SLUrls in them. One of those was World's End Garden--the actual location to redeem tickets was on the RMK sim itself.

(from the scavenging album)

But at the time that I shot these, I still thought it was somewhere on the World's End sim itself. I wandered everywhere amidst the glowing flowers, and while I didn't discover the book, I did thoroughly fall in love with the sim.

(from the scavenging album)

There are two parts: these three pictures I'm showing are of the garden next to the beam-in point. Towards the center of the sim, there's one of Miss Wrigglesworth's Anywhere doors; find that and you get access to the seaside portion of the sim.

And somewhere up there, for at least a few more days, is a jar of stars that contains a special dress. (Plus, it then becomes a simple jar of stars that one can hold, so really, there are two gifts in one.) That, also, is worth the wander, but even if you don't find the jar, drinking in the sheer beauty of the sim may be enough on its own.

(from the scavenging album)

Intruder alert! Land of Nodd's T-Rex was not the only danger, apparently!

Thankfully, their Turret was not awake, or I'd have been in real trouble.

This is full of awesome and goodness. And zombies. It's filled with zombies. But it's well worth watching.

(At least if you like zombies.)

As part of the current Jack in the Box promotion involving bacon--the one with the most disturbing ending line ever--they've launched a "secret" menu item: the bacon milk shake. It comes in two sizes, the now-you've-eaten-enough-for-the-whole-day, 773-calorie, sixteen-ounce "medium", and the inducing-your-own-funeral, 1081-calorie, twenty-four ounce "large" size.

So, if you are still interested in risking fatal coronary disease, what does it taste like? Well, according to the Serious Eats blog...really disgusting, actually.

The trip point for the reviewer seems to lie in the Torani bacon syrup used as the flavor base. We don't know exactly what's in the bacon syrup, but we do know that it contains soy and wheat, but no natural bacon extract, and can be safely consumed by vegetarians. So whatever Torani ended up adding to this bottle to make it taste like bacon...it's not bacon.

And in Jack in the Box's latest novelty shake, that difference becomes staggeringly--and apparently unpleasantly--obvious.

And there is a sim named Psilocybin. That is all.

stood on the edge of your bridge until I felt the rain push me away

Some of this year's Twisted hunt.

(from the scavenging album)

I would like to assert I am not a Petite in this image.

(from the scavenging album)

I am actually standing 5'7", including the (admittedly low) heels, yet I cannot make it up the steps to AD Creations without flying.

(from the scavenging album)

Shame on you, AD Creations. Fix your stairs!

(from the scavenging album)

Seen at LoveCats: giant follower cubes. Cute and creepy. They don't actually go into the store, but they do come close.

(from the scavenging album)

Seen at CatniP underneath the Carnival. I'm fairly sure the Carnival goes away at the end of the month, though I could be wrong--either way, it's likely you should check it out now before it's gone! (Though a word of warning: if you don't like the sight of random dead bodies, don't go.)

(from the scavenging album)

Seen (briefly) in Steelhead Harborside. A stunning center build.

Found in the description of a random group along the way:

I am a cat; we dare to sit on the Thrones of Kings and in the laps of Gods. If you want to collar something get a Dog. Dogs have Masters. Cats have staff.

Indeed. Amusingly, the avatar who put this in her profile was in human skin for her SL pic, and as actually encountered in the store. This, of course, does not mean she doesn't sprout cat ears and a fluffy tail at other times; just that she, as seen, wasn't feline.

(from the scavenging album)

Seen at Post: the very practical 'house rules' list. Also, do check out the store in general--the texturing and shading work is breathtakingly good, from the store itself to the products on offer. And for that excellence of texturing, the prices are eminently reasonable.

(from the scavenging album)

Finally, seen at REDRUM: Preservation, and again, impressively detailed. I have no way of knowing most days if something is actually mesh, or not, because I have a mesh-enabled viewer. But I'd suspect it is, because that many tiny prims assembled together would be ruinous on sim performance. But it's well worth a visit for the macabre set.

from paranoid to paralyzed

God still surprises me sometimes.

yog soggoth's a cutie: So for an online dating thing, it asked what is the first thing people notice about you? I guess first, there's normally the screaming of children, as though from a distance. Birds suddenly drop dead en masse. The sky turns red, raining blood. I appear, covered in a thick black oily substance. My tentacles spread and multiply all over the ground, attaching to any surface strong enough to withstand the pressure from the writhing miasma of flesh. Seven of my nine mouths open in unison and send forth the klaxon that ends the coming of days and summons the dead.
Emilly: .....
Emilly: Y'know, normally, that would just be odd, but since I've spent the last three hours watching Slender vlogs, that's certifiably creepy. 
yog soggoth's a cutie: Thanks
Emilly: You're welcome!
yog soggoth's a cutie: its on my okcupid profile now
Emilly: HEE
yog soggoth's a cutie: Get at me ladies
Emilly: Well, anyone who gets that is either going to be someone you run from, or someone who really gets who you are. Either way, it'll be interesting.

Indeed so. I'll have to ask him how a hook holding such bait fares in the wide online dating sea. Cthulhu fhtagn.

Seen at the House of ACCentaury:

(from the scavenging album)

I don't know what it does beyond this.

(from the scavenging album)

What I do know is that it took me so many individual pictures to snap, to catch the entire movement cycle, that I had to make two gifs, not one.

Seen at the pub in Naseby Field: their...bar wench?

(from the scavenging album)

Now, I get it. Most roleplay sims are barely funded, if they're funded at all. They all have to cut corners where they can, and in the pre-pathfinding days, there weren't any NPC figures people could rez out to walk around and interact with roleplayers in the sim. Hells, even in the post-pathfinding days, a lot of folks haven't figured that out. It's challenging, to say the least.

And I also understand that not everyone crawls out of the rez box knowing all the ins and outs of texturing in SL. It's a mix of factors, but I don't automatically turn up my nose when someone's flipped out a single-prim textured object--even if that alpha texture has that bright white rim around it.

(from the scavenging album)

No, what made me port out of the sim without even bothering to find the Steam 8 hunt prize was the attire and the color text over this particular bartender's head. It started with "hey baby", and went downhill from there. And keep in mind--Naseby Field is supposed to be a medieval roleplay sim. Since when did "medieval roleplay" mean "fake boobs worn with a spandex mini"?

I realize this is SL, yes, but really, people. Have some standards. Ugh.

I was a mess before you came

[23:33] cxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx:
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`.¸.ＪＥＳＵＳ
[23:33] Emilly Orr: Good for you?

Y'know, barring Caledon--where religious discussion comes and goes, depending on age of resident and amount of alcohol consumed--I'm fairly careful with my groups. By and large, no one bashes my head in with their intense religious devotion to whomever, and I don't have to hurt them. It works both ways.

And I am letting this one go, beyond saying she's fifty-seven days old, three of her picks are for the same damn club (down to the coordinates; she just bookmarked the same place three times), and three out of her four groups have to do with music (and two are related to that one club), so...I'll grant that she's impaired in some fashion, and move on with my life.

Miss Quandry's put up an excellent post on Madpeas' Room 326 hunt, which is counting down its last days. I have a couple of shots I'm planning on posting of the hunt, itself, but I'm waiting until the hunt is over, just in case there are issues with revealing locations. I will say, this was one of the more difficult of the Madpea hunts--not Twisted difficult, mind you, but fairly challenging. That, paired with the jump from L$10 HUDs to L$50 HUDs, has made several people somewhat irate.

My view is, though, we're still getting fifteen really good prizes, plus the chance to wander through a story and see how it evolves as we go. For only fifty Linden. That's less than half the price of a Bare Rose outfit, or one-eighth the price of a FallnAngels kimono, so seriously, pony up the funds and move on; it's a trifle.

Beyond that, if people really object that much to paying forty Linden more for a scavenger hunt...well, seriously, they need to reevaluate their values, or something. You'd pay more for a pack of gum. Honestly.

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, you won this time

Do you know the history of the .mp3? NPR wasn't sure we did, so went to Karlheinz Brandenberg to get the real story. It's fascinating, uneasy-making stuph.

And you will never see me on this hunt. Talk about missing the point...in all directions!

Looking for a terrifying avatar? I can help you with that.

The FTC has finally stepped in and forced Linden Lab to change their "Become your avatar!" campaign, on the charge of false advertising. You can see the revised before and after pictures on Miss Questi's blog.

(Yes, yes, it's a parody...but seriously, that would be cool if they did it that way.)

And this is one of the most impressive images I've seen from a Second Life photographer. My eyes keep telling me it's real; that the combination between the exquisitely textured sign, and the veiling of approaching night, manage to remove the computerized component entirely. Would it still feel "real", to me, at any other time of day? Likely not, but as it is, it's stunning.

Meanwhile...in a texture group far, far away...

[20:57] Bxxxxxxxx Sxxxxx: sprinkles the otter with pink glitter...
[20:58] Dxxxxx Kxxxx: dear santa thane, id like a martini the otter hasn't stirred with her paws... that is all
[20:58] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx: NO!
[20:59] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx dabbles her paws in ALL THE MARTINIS
[21:00] Bxxxxxxxx Sxxxxx: --==crate=--
[21:01] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx: AAAAGH NOT THE CRATE!!
[21:00] Dxxxxx Kxxxx: hehehehe
[21:01] Emilly Orr: So first we had an otter covered in pink glitter. Then we had otter retaliation by stirring all the martinis. Does that mean we now have martinis with pink glitter in them?
[21:01] Emilly Orr: Is it edible glitter, at least?
[21:01] Bxxxxxxxx Sxxxxx: it is! like kid proofing the house, we have otter proofed this group
[21:02] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx: havent!
[21:02] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx: well - maybe for a while - gotta go to beta grid
[21:02] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx: but Ill be back!
[21:02] Emilly Orr: You forgot the MUAHAHAHAHA.
[21:03] Sxx Wxxxxxxxx prances off giggling darkly to herself
[21:03] Emilly Orr: Close enough.

Seen at Patron, spinny people:

(from the random album)

Sculpted by Miss Eliza Wierwight (she also owns the Patron sim), the entire installation slowly rotates under a giant red balloon, and it's far more impressive in person. Do go look.

And there's a certifiably angry bird at La Boucherie:

(from the random album)

See? Angry. Really angry.

Seen at The Cube, the sculpture "Womanflower":

(from the random album)

This one was worth going back through to check again, because I wanted to name the artist. (She's Yaiza Galicia, by the way. She's also got a Marketplace store where you can purchase her sculptures at insanely reasonable prices.) The Cube gallery is a linked set of installation spaces, with artists that rotate in and out taking each of the cubes, or only some. If you go, they're happy to send you an invite to their group to keep up to date on the artists in residence.

If you're wondering how J.J. Abrams will do directing the Star Wars reboot, other fans are wondering the same thing. Ross Thompson did a trailer mash-up of both films, just to find out what it might be like.

Do you like zombies? Do you like teddy bears? Ever wonder what you'd get if you mixed the two? I can now answer that, also.

And there's a lot of Kickstarter project videos that start with the fairly artificial "surprise" angle--"Oh hey, I didn't see you there!" Kickstarter's finally made a video montage of projects that have used this angle.

Finally, there's a movement afoot against lives of indulgence and overspending. People are finding smaller spaces, and learning how to live in them; sometimes by building them, sometimes by buying or renting them. Felice Cohen is one of these people, who started out living in a tiny, tiny space, but--due to publicity and sub-leasing restrictions--now lives in a much larger one.

The bit about that which I think is important: she misses her old space. She misses feeling like everything she loved was nearby. I think making the sacrifice to live in smaller spaces means we find out what's truly important to us, and we work on making that feel like home (or reflect the home we have). Instead of what we think we 'should' have, or 'should' be working towards, we work on what we need.

More of us need less than we think we do, to be happy.