like puzzle pieces, and now we're here at a standstill

Additional Revenant explanation! Because why not?



First, someone's made art of my current state. Fantastic. And such a deal at two thousand Lindens.

Second, I really tried to make a pretty frame and turn these images out proper, and...the head is not having it at this point. I'm currently huddled around the jar of candied ginger eating rice cakes with cream cheese, because it has the best chance of staying down. Love this for me.



So, something I only noticed when I logged in today--as I mentioned in the previous entry, I changed zero settings, just captured it as is. It uses the standard ZHAO II framework, so you can edit the notecard inside and add in new poses, et cetera.



But this is the one I really wanted to track down. So, when I'm feeling better, I'm going to look at changing some of the times, but it's a very straightforward notecard. I would definitely make a copy if you're not used to working with interior scripting, but there is a handy help button on the HUD that will toss you a general ZHAO II help card.

Hope that clears up some things!

Have a shot of adorable Xiu blep:



And to tie this up, I can't even get the kids to behave when it's just trace shadows of their adult selves:



They are exceptionally stubborn. I blame the parents, really.

And that's all for this! Seeya!

The not-a-review of the 'Aza Emperia' Celestial Codex

[12:45] Azraiel DeZad (azraiel134): The impasse of undeath

Mood.

Got a notice from the event group today that Enchantment is still open--I'd forgotten they closed on June third. Gives me a bit of chance to figure out a reason to spend more than I really should on a few outfits.

How'ver, that's not why I bring it up.



I cannot, in good conscience, justify pulling this set to review. It's just too gorgeous, and I will not do it justice. What I will say is, interested netizens can find both the Celestial Codex, and the AO specially designed for it, at Enchantment until the event closes. The "Aza Emperia" Codex will run you L$500, and the "Aten Ka Celestial Animation Override" HUD will cost L$700. (Both from /Vae Victis\, naturally.) And those prices will only go up from here, so keep that in mind.

Still not why I bring it up. This is: I have pulled the "Revenant" Animation Override that just launched at the Warehouse event.



Yes, I know, it's not a smooth looping animation, it was just a short few-seconds capture. For smooth looping, you have to go to Grim's demonstration:



This is going to be a challenge to blog, but I think I can do it. It's far subtler than my zombie/haunt Frankencobble AO I've worked with for a while. I think I like it, though. A light air of dread...like the scent of dead roses in a graveyard. Pleasant, but unnerving.

Also, that thing behind the glass seen in the choppy gif? That's Xiu.



Yes, she is a chonk. (Me for size comparison, and yes, she outgrew me by day five.

Anyway, this one's an even better deal than the Celestial AO, at L$630. Find it at what I'm starting to think of as /Vae Victis\' permanent location at the Warehouse.

So I'll get to that in a couple days!

In the meantime, since I've managed to come down with something and I have reached the fever stage beyond the screen...I'm gonna go lie down for a bit.

they say you can't go home again, it's true, especially when your home burns down around you

I don't know why I'm not letting go of the holidays this year. My playlist is still carols and solstice favorites, and our wee frosted tree festooned with musical instruments is still up. Got me, why, it's just a comfort, and these days, I go with those.



Today I'm at the Temple of Sound in Riki, to show you another group gift from /Vae Victis\, this time the "Marbas" Beast Pelt boa.

Straight out of the box, no adjustments, no tinting, and it's a perfect fit. Which is honestly impressive, because Grim's nineteen feet tall. I figured at the least it would be ankle-length.



There are eleven shades total--as is tradition, there's a capture of the HUD later--and I don't know if I can do them justice. I do know I want that floating house behind me.



I had never gone downstairs at the Temple, so...I decided to find out what was there. There's a pool there! And a nice bench to rest upon. And just enough shadow to drape around the deep crimson fur.



Maybe I'm not the only one clinging to holiday feelings--Persephone Phoenix, the owner and operator of the Temple of Sound, and the ski slope behind it, has scattered several holiday trees around her property. Each of them have some cats, open to all. (She had them under request for two per person, but of late I think she just wants them carted off, so she's lifted that restriction!) Some are actual freebies, priced at L$0; some are slightly fancier breeds at L$200, which is still a deal; one or two are marked at L$1000 (usually those are the really BIG cats).

There are some that are not priced at all, and I see this partially as her just missing a few, because she had a LOT of cats out, as well as a minor contemplation moment on wanting the unattainable. Either way, you could probably drop her a line and ask about specific ones and see what she'd like them priced at.

I thought the brilliant emerald would go with the tree best.



And of course I'm not going to ignore the traditional pink shades! I actually considered leaving this one out, because it clips through the couch and I didn't feel like that much editing? But then I thought again, because clipping is a part of life in SL, and this was the only time I actually noticed it happening!



And that was that, and now it's time to reconsider what we're putting inside Steam towers, now that they're remaining for a while! Definitely the small bar I found, absolutely, but should the Cthulhu drinks go out again? Because the table goes very well with the place--it's a giant gear, with a friendly brass octopus topper--but that means the table will be out, and people will drink from the server...and we'll have people dropping dead all over again. Such a bother.

Oh--did I mention? You can't buy this at the mainstore, but you can get it at the main store for joining the group. It's glorious enough to go for L$500, but no, just the small bookkeeping fee for group joining (I think it's L$10 at present?). Do go see.

{{Brief comment one day after posting from the Editrix: yes, I did notice here and there the fur clipping through my bosom. But nearly everything I own clips through my bosom. It's a hazard I've accustomed m'self to.}}

I cannot move, I close my eyes

I usually don't make New Year's resolutions. For one, they're usually all aspirations beyond most peoples' ken. For two, they're far too easy to break.

I made one this year. Just the one.

And nearly broke it as we draw closer to midnight.

So--I have no strong guarantee this will work, but the resolution was: one entry every day of 2023. It probably won't work. But I am going to try.

In the meantime, while I sort that out, there is some reshuffling of estate things, while we reconfigure, which means the cats are tucked in wherever I can find room for them! So have this shot of Eratosthenes, the former library cat, sleeping in a large part of the new shop space. Well, he is a mega. He takes up a large amount of terrain. :D

last night I cried about you, tonight I find I'm crying too

give me a drink 'cause I'm starting to think that I'm broken
got no confession but still my reflection provokes it
I hold the gavel and judgements unravel for who I've been...

(This is going to be a hard one. Feel free to skip past it if you're not in an equable place.)

feeling the weight of the all
medicating the turbulence

Studious observers of the blog will remember that, while things from beyond this blog's specific focii creep in from time to time, I try not to let it?

This one's...all RL.

the mask in the mirror is not getting clearer to comprehend
where do I begin?

This is Norma. She was between six and eight years old when we got her, and...there's a whole strange story behind this cat I can tell you, if you want, but my main point is...this is...this...was...our cat.

I'm at the waters edge
in my anxiousness
what does it mean
to be seen
without the need to defend--

left to myself in both sickness and health
I can't do it
skin deep interactions
distraction's the way to get through it--

Everything we've done has been with the goal of making sure she knows she's loved, she knows she can declare boundaries, she knows she can have nightmares and not fear getting hit. (I'll say this--from a hoarder house, and apparently a bad one, so yes, she was a cat with trauma.) Everything, to give her the will and the confidence to stand up for herself.

everyone tells me that I should be happy for where I've been
but selling and sharing the shell that I'm wearing is wearing thin
hoping to find and in time recognize my own reflection
where do I begin?

This was one of her normal sleep modes. Cuddling, 'talking' to us, wandering around...plonk into a soft thing. We worried at first, but it wasn't a neurological issue, she'd move after a bit. She just liked that forward head drop into soft.

never let anyone know that
underneath the surface
what a vulnerable, nervous child I am but--

And...this was the second to last shot of her, in the oxygen kennel, because she was unable to breathe on her own. She had wanted to show us she was okay, really, and had actually pushed to her feet, the first time since heart surgery...and got in the litterbox, trying to go...and...couldn't, because she hadn't eaten or drunk anything, even though it was nearby, for twenty hours. And she collapsed there, head hanging on the edge.

I'll see it again
at the water's edge
with no answers left
what does it mean
is it me
or just a stranger again...

She was suffering. She was not recovering. So...we made the decision to let her go, and..they gave her a mild sedative so she would breathe more slowly, and be able to be removed from oxygen. She was arranged on one of my partner's laps, wrapped up warm, while the vet tech explained that it would be just like going to sleep. She wouldn't feel anything, just sleepy.

We've been here before. We've developed a tendency of adopting older shelter cats, the ones most people look over, and unsurprisingly, a lot of these end up with problems. Some we've had for years. Xena, our cat before Norma, we had for...twenty-four months, until a savage bone cancer ate away half her skull and blinded her in one eye. There was no saving us; she was in whatever counts in cats for stage four.

The vet told us, when we asked if it was our fault, that there was literally no way to tell without access to an X-ray machine. Because she literally went from fine to "why is her skull spongy oh god" in seventy-two hours.

The tech inserted the needle in the arm tap for our cat, which was still on from surgery. Norma looked up at Ms. Neome, meowed once, and before the tech could even depress the needle...she was gone.

It was like...she'd been waiting to see at least one of us before she could go.

That was at...7:05 pm SLT, and...I think I need to wander off now. I don't know why I wrote this, and I'll probably regret it later, but...I just...I wanted to commemmorate, I suppose. Something of her strength. And how hard she fought not to give up.

We miss her so much.

(Song lyrics taken from The Classic Crime's The Water's Edge. Thank you, M, for sending it to me. And here's five things about grief no one really tells you, but that are true, nonetheless, for whatever help it gives.)

and the more I straighten out, the less it wants to try

Kittens...I know, you all feel better when you're sick if you stay together, but...



...this is ridiculous. There's FIVE of you on that dock. And I'm fairly sure two of those AREN'T sick! Can you please stop fusing with each other??

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.

told you not to worry, but maybe that's a lie

Decided to set out two new KittyCats on the space station, in my apartment. Found a MegaPuss I'd forgotten about, and figured him and a companion would be fun. It's a big enough apartment, right?

Well...



This is them when they're six days old. That little bit of something with the blanket in the upper left hand corner? That's a full-size sectional couch that sits four avatars.

So, you know, small that boy ain't.



Good thing it's a large pod?

the new cats are a bit odd

So, I decanted a cat bought some time back, because I wanted to see if I could get the incredible bicolor eyes in something without the high-shine fur:



See how pretty those are? But that's not the point of this. I want to talk about the Angel Wings sets that were a limited promotion from KittyCats:



Those are the parents, Alexei (in the Teal wings), a Tonkinese Blue Mink Tortoiseshell, and Moira (in the Pink wings), a Genesis Diamond fur.



And this is Laila, their kitten! For the special births of Angel cats, you get either a black rainbow set of wings and halo, or a white rainbow set of wings and halo.

She's also a Genesis Diamond fur, though she seems slightly paler than her mother? That could just be the lighting, though.



Of course, there are some glitches with the Angels...



And this is her while she's still young enough to be a shoulder rider. (That should last another couple of weeks.) And keep in mind, I'm only in there as a reference for size.

But still. Pleased overall. I may permapet Laila when she's old enough.

I love you, baby, can I have some more?

And this is exactly why people get irked with EA. And Bethesda. And so many other big game companies...

More on this year's shamrock offerings from the KittyCats store!



Quinn and Saoirse together, Quinn being the smaller of the two, even as kittens.



I missed this opportunity with the children, because of that 21-day neglect window--so new-born kittens have a number of days they can be shoulder pets! I was unaware!



He's so cute.



And finally Meabh! The LepreCat!



And Meabh in the foreground with Saoirse in the background.



And finally, all three of them together!

My only problem with having them? It's TWICE as much food to buy! Ack!

But here's the reason I had to decant them all, in addition to just losing my mind entirely in February--all THREE have Swanky tails! Which, okay, aren't the rarest tail, but they're also not common! I had to know if that trait would breed true. (And so far...it has!)

you've got to accentuate the positive

I want to say ISC chat's improved. I want to...I'm not entirely sure I can...but what's worse, I think Soup Jonson would have gotten along with Chairperson Effingham, more's the pity.

This worries me.

I kind of lost my mind a little when the LepreCats and the LuCkY sWiTcHeR cats hit the KittyCats store, and...bought one male/female sWiTcHeR set, and one female LepreCat.



This is Saoirse, who came out a Biggie cat, and even as a wee kitten was not so wee.



She's adorable, though.



The patterning kills me. Basically, the LuCkY sWiTcHeRs are patterned with 'costumes' (though they can't be removed) of every previous Feast of Padraig cat they've released to date? So they can get REALLY random.



And this is Quinn, the sWiTcHeR boy. Normal sized for a kitten, which is very small.



Saoirse pawing at my feet when Meabh was in the process of decanting. Attention-seeking already.



And little Saoirse demanding cuddles.

There'll be at least one more of these, with pics of Meabh, when I can find them!

because with that look I know so well I fall completely under your spell

The sim was called The Apartments. The blurb was just as strange:

"Hallways, endless rain and cats
lots and lots of cats."

Right. Let's go see.



Well, I see the cats. I also see the rain.



And apparently occasional catfights.



What the hell is that outside??



The cats don't like it either.



There's a lot of Blade Runner feel to this sim. Blade Runner, Fifth Element, techno-noir designs, some actual brand names used, some mock brand names. It definitely presents a defined look. Not just cyberpunk, but that specific, the-air-is-water, we-never-see-true-sunlight setting.



All in all, if anyone needs a vaguely futuristic urban setting for photographs or roleplay, this may be ideal? It's a mildly interesting wander, if nothing else, with the rain pouring steadily outside, the occasional meows heard, and the mazelike narrow warren of interconnecting hallways of a multiple-unit, multiple-floor, multiple-block apartment building.

Go see if you're curious. Bring catnip.