just a few more weary days, and then I'll fly away

It's been...well, several not good days, an entire month of not good days, or even 181 days of not good days...but we'd gotten through the month of being in inarticulate pain, until Valentine's Day...and then a message came through Timeless Textures.

I'm leaving the business in, but anonymizing everyone but Wyvern Dryke, because...well, he's the point of contact.

On the 14th of February, he sent this message.

Xzavia's RL son sent me a message in Discord today.

I am so very sorry, everyone.

Xzavia Yifu passed away IRL on February 1, 2023

Understand, he wasn't trying to keep the news private, per se, he just wanted to make sure he heard from the family that it was okay to pass it on, first.

She became very ill over Christmas, due to Covid, and was not able to recover.

I do not know the future of Timeless Textures, or by extension USC / Eagle's textures.

Again, very sorry. *hangs his head low and curls up sadly with his tail over his muzzle*

Why is it always Wyv. My gods, too much loss going around.

Anyway, that came in around five, so I didn't hear about it until the day after, because...well, we had holiday plans. But when I logged in on the 15th...well, it was this, opening for me in mid-chat:

[2023/02/15 10:19] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): Yes, when Free Dove's Paloma passed, she asked that her store be closed.
[2023/02/15 10:19] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): Xzavia would probably not ask such a thing.
[2023/02/15 10:22] Kxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Nice..My friend [Axxxxx Rxxxxxxx] introduced me to timeless textures. :)
[2023/02/15 10:24] Cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: thats so sdd to hear I only poke to x in mid january
[2023/02/15 10:24] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): Yes
[2023/02/15 10:25] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): she last logged in, on Jan 31
[2023/02/15 10:27] Mxxx Wxxx: and sent the notice on 30
[2023/02/15 10:27] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): or perhaps the 30th.
[2023/02/15 10:27] Cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I was not able to of gotten that message
[2023/02/15 10:27] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: my condolences to her family, she was the best texture creator i knew of
[2023/02/15 10:27] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): the 30th. She last logged on the 30t, not the 31st
[2023/02/15 10:28] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): the 31st is when I got the message from her in Discord, that she was going into Hospital

I knew she'd gotten Covid, I knew it took a lot out of her, I didn't know she'd hit the hospital stage.

[2023/02/15 10:28] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): and then... static.
[2023/02/15 10:29] Vxxxxxx Pxxxx: My condolences to her family.
[2023/02/15 10:29] Kxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: :(
[2023/02/15 10:29] Rxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i got a notecard from the 30th
[2023/02/15 10:29] Mxxx Wxxx: so she went there for a day ;(
[2023/02/15 10:30] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, wow. I was so busy yesterday, out, I hadn't heard. She will--deeply--be missed.

It's always odd what strange things we think of when we hear the news. What crossed my mind at first seemed so absolutely trivia--"Guess she's not going to finish the brocade sets." Like that is in any way important.

[2023/02/15 10:30] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): nods
[2023/02/15 10:30] Rxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: there was a notecard sent out 30th january
[2023/02/15 10:30] Wyv the FloxMonster™ (wyvern.dryke): Yes, she sent a notecard through this group on the 30th, saying she wasn't feeling well
[2023/02/15 10:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): That, I got, yes.
[2023/02/15 11:11] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i cant believe this is happening
[2023/02/15 11:11] Sxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx offers hugs to all who want one.
[2023/02/15 11:12] JewelMermaid: was it covid?

I'd go so far as to say complications from Covid, to be clear. But in brief: yes. As so many noble souls before her.

[2023/02/15 11:12] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: what happened?
[2023/02/15 11:12] Sxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I believe so.
[2023/02/15 11:12] Leslea Aldrin: She had covid before Christmas.. and never really recovered.. got sicker in January

(Left also non-anonymous for reason which will become clear in entry two, which...probably will be tomorrow.)

[2023/02/15 11:12] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: omg
[2023/02/15 11:12] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: :(((
[2023/02/15 11:13] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: I didn't know
[2023/02/15 11:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She was my favorite texture designer. Well, probably still is--I own SO MANY brocade sets.
[2023/02/15 11:13] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: me too
[2023/02/15 11:13] Kxxx Cxxxxx: me too
[2023/02/15 11:14] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i have a ton of her stuff too
[2023/02/15 11:14] Kxxx Cxxxxx: Xavia is a great loss personally and to SL
[2023/02/15 11:14] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: yes
[2023/02/15 11:14] hhcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: so sorry about that
[2023/02/15 11:14] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: is it going to close?
[2023/02/15 11:15] Leslea Aldrin: At the moment- there are no details available if she had willed it to someone else or not.

[2023/02/15 11:15] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: I see
[2023/02/15 11:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Wyv's still hoping to find out.
[2023/02/15 11:16] hcccccccc Rxxxxxxx: we will miss it
[2023/02/15 11:31] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: May she rest in peace. And he sent a notecard yesterday, which I'd missed at the time:

Hello friends, thank you for your patience during this solemn time.
Here are details for Xzavia's Memorial.

WHEN:
Saturday, 11 March at 1 pm SLT

WHERE:

Xzavia * Celebration of Life

HELP NEEDED: We need someone to VIDEO RECORD the service. If you know someone, please contact LESLEA ALDRIN

Okay, leaving Leslea's name in, too, so potential videographers can contact her.

NOTES:
* The Memorial's location belongs to Mxxxxxx Sxxxxx. (Thank you [Mxxxxxx].)
* All are welcome to visit and feel close to our beloved Xzavia. There is a picture near the benches.
* You are welcome to make a brief statement, if you wish to commemorate Xzavia's time with us (voice or text).

Thank you

~Wyvern Dryke a.k.a. the Flox

And that's all I know for now. A donation jar was set out; enough was raised to at least cover her parcel rental for one more month, until the family decides what to do. I'll tell you when I know more.

maybe tomorrow I'll find the answers I'm looking for

This is a fascinating dive into evolving chatbot ethics, or as Kevin Roose put it, large language model AIs. "There is something going on here that I don't think Microsoft intended to build into a search engine," he notes. "Something is not right."

It may not be precisely wrong, either, at least in the sense of world-ending Terminator apocolypses, but--it definitely bears watching.

And hi, hello, it's me again, who should have blogged this a week ago..It was a hard week. I missed a lot of things. I'm trying to catch up.

[Pre-publishing note from the Editrix: add on another five days to that figure...]

I'm walking into blogging this one while watching the latest Babymetal video, Metal Kingdom, so...that's the backdrop to this, I guess.



Let me introduce the "Pandora" Blood-Letting Dagger from /Vae Victis\. And for once I'm starting with the dual HUDS--one for tinting the various sections (and fourteen different shades for each section!), and the animation HUD, which I'm quite fond of.



So first, out of the box, and in an outfit I found on sale, oddly enough, from Le'La (sans the crown)--this is the dagger, untinted.



This can be resized, as with nearly all /Vae Victis\ products, but I'm showing it at the same size at which it unpacks.



Some great details, as expected, seen closer in the first image--and a great visual sense of weighting, if that makes sense.



And then I fell down. Why? Got me. I clicked the ground in the garden. That was all I did. Apparently that's bad.



It may or may not need adjusting on the hold pose--I found that in most of my AO poses, it was fine, but a couple threw the blade so it partially phased through my thumb (seen here).



And this is my favorite pose from the pose HUD--a dagger flip. Great for photos, great for being passively threatening at events, probably still great for a DIY AFK moment for when one must step away from the keys for any reason.

You can find this lovely lethal thing at Abnormality until the 28th! It'll set you back L$450, and I gotta tell you--for the flip animation alone that's a steal.

they never said that love is a twisted game and no one ever wins

So, I was working out details for covering the Pandora dagger from Vae Victis, when I suddenly realized it's the tenth, and that means Enchantment is open! Oh dear.

So, all those plans are thrown out the window. Yikes forever. But it's okay, my bedenimed self can do this. Day 165 and my head hasn't caved in, so that's also a plus!

Three days later...

Not so much a plus, and it's now the 13th. Ah, well. Day 166 of the headache was kind of crushing, Day 167 was far from ideal, and so far, Day 168 is wrecking all my plans for all the things. But I was able to put up a simple floating rock set on Gearhaven, and finish the little decorating I was planning for Valentine's, so I can do this too, damn it.

I ported to Mystery Hill, which I don't remember going to before, for pictures of the "Swansong" Bloodsworn Blade from /Vae Victis\.



I need to be taller. For a lot of my default poses, the tip of the blade's in the ground.



And now, standing on the very edge of a cliff to give an idea of the blade length. It's either as tall, or taller, than I am!

(I should add, while I changed the tints, I did not change the size. It does resize, and pretty efficiently, so it can go smaller--or larger.)



Then the Emilly forgot which way she was facing, and walked into the ocean. At least there was a boat there. Did I also mention this thing comes with nifty poses?



And a close-up of the detail work. There are several parts that can be individually tinted, you'll see that in the next image.



I heard chanting, so crawled out of the briny deep, and found myself near three cackling witches and a cottage. They seemed busy, so I went inside to look around. And this? This is just an appalling misuse of an oven.

You have to part the person into more easily sized bits for roasting, people. She will take FOREVER to cook with her legs sticking out! Not to mention the amount of heat that's going to escape that oven...

However, for the sword, there are sixteen different color/tint options until you get to the animated energy channels in the blade, and the inset gems. But even in those two areas, it's still fifteen different tones.



Anyway, it's been something of a tiring week, so I'm just going to sleep for a bit. Check out how many different poses you'll get with this one, though, while I'm getting my less-than-forty-winks.

This sword will run you L$550, and it's worth every Linden if you like pretty stabby things. Also slightly of the stabby: the booth's L$75 offering, which is the "Baphomet" Lapel Chain and Ring set, so if you don't have that, you can pick up those pointy details there. (Or, just hit the landing circle at Enchantment and wander two booths to the left.)

there's such a fooled heart beatin' so fast

We finally have an answer for what happened February 1st. Does explain several things--and why so many systems seemed to break at once.

So far, February has been...difficult. It has also been, additionally, not the best week. This may be taken as fantastical hyperbole, but there have been times when I have made my way to that far table, and sat across from death...and I have always, always walked away again. The last serious time was December; this week's bidding fair to be another. But I endure still. If nothing else, I am stubborn.

Changing topics a tad, today I went to CHAOTIC to get one of their newest releases--a casual cropped sweater-and-long-trousers set named Brynlee running for L$99 a color (but not black, you'd think black would be a natural, but...apparently not). After that I remembered there was a group gift from /Vae Victis\ I wanted to cover.



Out of the box it's so pretty--amazing anatomical detail, acanthus leaves as scarified scrollwork across the surface, and a small shattered place within storing...something else.



A little hue change, and what I thought was going to be the black and blue, but--apparently I forgot to hit 'Save' when I was moving through locations on the sim. Bother. So it's now showing off the black and red. Also demonstrated: one can, it appears, sit down whilst holding the heart--most of the heart's animations don't interfere with the body's animation.



It occurs to me I haven't mentioned the thing's name. It does have one, namely the "Eternal Vow" Broken Heart, which is the 2000 group members gift (thus, only available if you join the group), from /Vae Victis\. Did any of us ever think /Vae Victis\ would come so far? Probably not--even I hoped, but braced for disappointment. This is far from a disappointment.

(Though I should also mention it was not doubt in the designer at all--just the world's cruelty to artists in general.)

Either way, this is it in the brass/gold metal, with an amber-yellow cracked section--which I think is picking up the sky tones to look closer to rose, from yellow?

(And if you can't tell from the different poses, the heart has a floating pattern, long enough that it can seem somewhat random as an accessory. It never completely touches the hand, or at least it never completely touched mine, but it does come close!)



And in the traditional pink, with aetherium purple heart window. I also picked up some hot cider, because it's still snowy here!



And the heart in gleaming silver with a glittering white center, and the HUD.

There are seven colors for the heart itself, and seven slightly different tones for the broken section, and it's a lovely tribute to growth, and endurance. (As well as, I suspect, going well with the earlier released set of the 'Tell-Tale Heart' Relic, which was part of the Love Bites hunt in 2022, and is now possibly in the main store?)

And, as an aside, Arkivet's 'Anesidora' Keybound Halo that I covered earlier is now available for purchase at the Abnormality event, which just opened today, so--it may be a while before you can drop by to grab it. But when you can, here's the direct link to Arkivet's booth. It's going for L$300, which is a steal for that level of detail.

(And if you're after the Pandora Blood-Letting dagger from /Vae Victis\, I'll be showing that off tomorrow! That is also at Abnormality, here on the lower level, and I forgot to grab the price so I'll do that tomorrow as well!

[Bit of a late insert from the Editrix: thought I should toss in some credits since I am wearing some new things:

"Eternal Vow" broken heart from /Vae Victis\ (remember, ONLY available by joining the group!)
"Brynlee" top/pants combo in Light Red from Chaotic
"Sienna" long hair from Magika
Shot in Ethereal City

Sky: "outdoor city weirdlights" from [AnaLu] (I think the business itself is gone, but it should be standard in the Settings folder)