new beginnings are the challenge, but you're not sure where to start (part I)

(Roleplay entry?? Maybe. Partially. But also pure sim bafflement.)



I'd been invited to a meditation class, but was told to arrive in fins. Which was odd, at first, because we were upstairs in Spirit House, in one of the teaching rooms, above the water.



And then we got to the water, and it was a lovely swim all in all, though I won't lie, I had more fun watching the two-legs trying to figure out tails.

That, and the fact that Justine decided to come as a lionfish mer. Kind of off brand, that's more me, really, but pretty nonetheless.

And then I went back to Gearhaven to check something, and...LAND SPIKE.



Seriously. Land spike. Through the floor of the music room. What?



So I switched to a form small enough to crawl under the foundation, if need be, and found...this. It wasn't just a land spike. Something had hollowed out the land around the spike, and that entire corner under the house was affected.



I'm dead serious, here. There are three people with rights to terraform on Gearhaven. Me, and I'm not doing it. Lady Justine, and she says she hasn't, and I still believe her. And the Duke.

And the Duke is missing.

So...what's going on?



I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. But, I did my best to level the land under the corner of the house...again...and then Lady Justine IMed, panicking. Something was wrong on the Gray Area.



So I shifted to a slightly larger form, and trooped off to the next disaster, because if it's not one thing, it's another...so, what on earth is it now?

(Answered in next entry.)

under the sea, under the sea

The artifacting is so bad on this at this point, but something brought Caledon: the Musical to mind again, and I went to see if it was still online, and it was. It's so strange, looking back at it now. Several of those faces are no longer with us. Most (though not all) of the relationships have dissolved, though some still remain friends. Des is still pretty much just Des, though.

I've never thought that I had any particular influence in Caledon as a whole. I still don't. But I have remained, for good or ill, a presence. I guess that counts for something?

In the meantime, I was actually free for one of the Aruba Deep mer dances!

[12:51] Jxxxxxx Cxxxx: mer dance starts in 9 minutes!
[12:53] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Group Notice Sent by: Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx
~~ Merdance Aruba to Start in a few Minutes ~~
Tala my Friends,

Dance with us in few minutes

Map Attached,
Jxxxx.
[12:53] Jxxxxxx Cxxxx: fine notice almost up to my standard

Now, I had given birth at this point, but I had bought an orca outfit--stylistically, a bodysuit with fins--to change into, since I felt I could make the connection in my mind between 'putting on fins' as opposed to 'shapeshifting into them'. (My mind is a strange place at times.)

[12:54] Mxxxxxx Sxxxx: hey pretty [Jxx] :)
[12:54] Mxxxxxx Sxxxx: I come after the mix there for animals:)
[12:54] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: my notices are simply excellent :)
[12:55] Jon (jonform.coeur): uh huh
[12:55] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: :))
[12:57] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *quick drink before the start*
[12:58] Jxxxxx Dxxxxxxx: my notice was still dripping wet
[12:58] Jon (jonform.coeur): soggy notices are a problem
[12:59] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: water proof LM
[12:59] Jon (jonform.coeur): laminate it
[13:00] Jon (jonform.coeur): we started you're late!
[13:01] Mxxxxxx Sxxxx: hmmm :)
[13:01] Mxxxxxx Sxxxx: [Mxxxx] tu es là ?
[13:01] Jon (jonform.coeur): nope shes late

DJ Crim was spinning tunes again, in a DJ deck grown from shells and coral. Happiest seahorse I have ever seen.

[13:02] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yes! I am here, I need to find my pieces lol
[13:02] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: lost my hair, my tail
[13:02] Jon (jonform.coeur): hmm
[13:03] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Please put slurl
[13:03] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: here
[13:04] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Aruba 1700 (91,80,7)
[13:10] Jon (jonform.coeur): taking [Rxxx] a while to find her bits
[13:10] rxxxxxxx Rdxxxxxxx: JUST NOW
[13:10] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: me too lol do i have to find my tail to participate lol?
[13:10] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: SL can be such pain ..
[13:11] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I feel it LOL
[13:11] Jon (jonform.coeur): well it would help but not essential
[13:11] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: just let me know if you want an TP :)
[13:11] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: will do just looking for my tail lol thank you [Jxxxx] and [Jxx]
[13:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Though I'm sure there's enough casters here, we could be sure you won't drown :D
[13:12] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: aww thank you :)

I'd never seen couples' dances for mers before. Kind of neat. Had a chance later to try one with a couple different people, and while there's far more swooping around each other than actually "dancing" together, it's still neat.

[13:12] Jon (jonform.coeur): we even have an Orca here this week we are honoured
[13:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) smiles
[13:13] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: they dont eat erm anyone right?
[13:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Noooo
[13:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Sharks, occasionally
[13:13] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: no only eat wrong *grins*
[13:13] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *so doesnt feel erm convinced *
[13:13] Jon (jonform.coeur): looks friendly enough
[13:13] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: smiling?
[13:14] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: showing teeth and such?
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, happy?
[13:14] Jon (jonform.coeur): yup
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): No. No teeth.
[13:14] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Just beauty there :)
[13:14] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *gulps*
[13:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She seems nervous.
[13:14] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ah no i feel reassured
[13:14] Kxxxx Hxxxxxxxx: only eat late people

Yeah, I know, I know, I thought bringing in the orca mer would be nicely inconspicious. And there were mers there with very showy tails, gorgeous things, but...yeah, my monochrome self did stand out a bit.

[13:15] Jon (jonform.coeur): dolphin here too
[13:15] Kxxxx Hxxxxxxxx giggles
[13:15] Jon (jonform.coeur): lol
[13:15] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh :(
[13:15] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and I guess I am late
[13:15] Jon (jonform.coeur): you have an excuse
[13:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You do!
[13:16] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok my tail is flying around without me
[13:16] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Ay I can bring the orca but it would take all the dance floor lol
[13:16] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, that's not good
[13:16] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): True. I am a very very small orca in comparison.
[13:16] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nope not a pretty site at all :(
[13:16] Jon (jonform.coeur): that tail has a mind of its own
[13:17] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *nods at [Jxx]* I tried to tame it
[13:26] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: this will hace to do LOL
[13:26] Jon (jonform.coeur): it will be fine

This tail, for instance. It shimmered. Depending on which light pool it traveled through, it spun with different colors, glittered, sparkled. Amazing.

[13:26] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you cant see what I see LOL
[13:27] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: erm can I please have a tp :)
[13:28] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: course!
[13:28] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: thank you :)
[13:29] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: *set meter OOC*
[13:29] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) needs a meter?
[13:30] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not here Emilly:)
[13:30] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: We still can breathe
[13:30] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Welp, [Sxxxx] just died, I guess she didn't get the memo
[13:30] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: argh

Yeah, my first mer dance in Aruba, and we had mers dying on the dance floor. Quite the dramatic experience.

[13:30] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it is [Cxxxxx]
[13:30] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: [Cxxxxx] had the PD one on still
[13:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So wait
[13:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): She drowned??
[13:31] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes
[13:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): 0.0
[13:31] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: she was wearing human meter

TIL that the Aruban mers have two separate RP meter systems, one for tails, one for two-legs. Huh. And if you're under the water--even if the sim owners say it's oxygen-rich enough for humans to breathe--the meters don't care. You're trying to breathe water, you die. End of discussion.

[13:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And [Cxxxxx] just dropped
[13:31] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Silly me, I just grew gills
[13:31] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: lol
[13:32] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: very practical :)
[13:32] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I didnt know
[13:32] Jon (jonform.coeur): just detach it
[13:33] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[13:33] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Such excitement below the waves
[13:33] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I cant the fonds in the water wont let me reach to detach it tho
[13:33] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: reset
[13:33] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: press the back of your head
[13:34] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I cant get there to press it, floating things get in the way
[13:34] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh dear
[13:34] Jxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yah that prolly the mesh mists
[13:35] Jon (jonform.coeur): tp home and detach it
[13:37] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok metor detached
[13:37] Jon (jonform.coeur): yay
[13:37] cxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: thank you I went home and detached it
[13:37] rxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: termimetor

All in all, it was quite the wonderful dance, even with the random deathing. I'm so happy I went.

And from another IM:

[13:09] Nxxx Fxxxxxxxx: orcas have no scales. very smooth skin : )
[13:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Strangely true
[13:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Though I did find a subtle scale pattern for makeup I thought went with
[13:11] Nxxx Fxxxxxxxx: scientists tryed to make an artificial dolpin skin for less friction for submarines. but they failed
[13:36] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) missed that you replied! But that is interesting. Wonder if that would actually work.
[13:37] Nxxx Fxxxxxxxx: they tried decades ago and gave up. but material science has improved since then
[13:38] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): That would be a fascinating experiment. Also to figure out if sound bouncing off synthetic skin is different than sound bouncing off a metal hull.
[13:38] Nxxx Fxxxxxxxx: LOL steath submarines for the win!
[13:39] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yes!

I mean...it's still a fascinating idea. I wonder if it's gone anywhere.

take my breath as your own, take my eyes to guide you home (part two)

(Continued from part one.)



Under Club Aruba is...a sea city.



Caustics are used to stunning effect here and there.



Oh, my gods, it is so beautiful down there...so many varieties of kelp and sea plants.



You can get to Aruba simply enough, but keep in mind, everything under the waves requires a tail or gills. Or a rebreather.

And above the waves? Dances for the legged, airship battles, and everyone's welcome--from steamlands denizens to humans to elves to furs to mers. It's a one-stop acceptance shop.

I like that. There are too few of those places these days.



A shot of the arcing red orbs from the particle machines.



Center floor's now rigged for rockets. Remind me never to dance in the center!

[14:32] Maria (rain0bow): foam
[14:32] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh no
[14:32] Jon (jonform.coeur): sprinklers kicked in
[14:32] Maria (rain0bow): love it
[14:32] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Welp, dry-cleaners for this, now
[14:32] Maria (rain0bow): fiesta de la espuma (foam party)
[14:32] Fleming Helfenstein (mountainhall): Good to have a lot of foam around when having fireworks :-)

Would cut down on the chance of fire!

take my breath as your own, take my eyes to guide you home (part one)

So, I've been involved with the Aruba people for a bit, now--I even turned in an entry on their marvelous ballroom a while back--but today was the grand opening of their new dance space, Club Aruba Deep.



Now, I don't know how it's going to operate from here--right now, it's a platform over the wide Aruban sea, and it's going to switch off between landlubber events (today's) and dances for the finned (so does that mean this platform drops? Who knows?)



It's a lovely build. I've never been the market for sun and sand and palm trees, but it's pretty.



The DJ today was Crim Mip--never heard him before, he's good, but the REALLY amazing thing? The suit he was wearing was ANIMATED:



It's a terrible gif, but it gives some idea of what it did in person. Awesome.



I didn't grab names for everyone, 'cos that's not usually the point these days? But Svetlana Salomon threw off her fins for the event, and I caught that because she came in with stunning silver scales.

(And that dress, I learned later? Changes COLORS. Also amazing.)



They went all out on particle effects, too. One setting spawned random words--I caught "PARTY" and "DANCE" before the effect shifted--while another tossed sprays of silver stars or red dots. And then there was this one, which spawned an entire planetary system to float overhead.

[13:09] Jon (jonform.coeur): try it on midnight setting it looks cool

And...ooh. He's not wrong. (He also owns the Aruba Deep sim, or at least, the clubs over and undersea.)

Though wau, you can really tell who still believes in facelights...



[14:04] Svetlana Salomon: Is it like in the movie with Kevin Costner? When all the world is ocean, and when he dives down you see flooded cities heehee ㋡
[14:04] Jon (jonform.coeur): hmm kind of

So I cammed down to check.

And...that deserves its own entry, frankly. Onward!

oh, the weather outside is frightful

Hey, new Advent noted! It's over at the KittyCatS winter sim, and all previous gifts are still available!

Also, you should check out the FabFree list of holiday advents; and a tip o' the hat to Miss Deoridhe for letting me know. Thank you so much!

Meanwhile, over at haruxharu, there are three holiday boxes out for free--one containing a cute retro sweater dress, one containing the matching sweater boots in white with red covers, and one containing a headband in two options to go with everything. (The headband is a set of glowy, jeweled cat ears. It comes in two options, "White"--which is white with lots of glow--and "Grid"--which is, well, white with lots of glow, far as I can tell. They're both adorable, though.)

The Magic store has what they're calling an Advent Courtyard--basically, find the box for the day, click it, get the landmark, go to that store, and find the gift. Only question is, will the earlier boxes lead us to stores that still have gifts out? I don't know, I haven't checked (yet).

And if anyone out there has deep aspirations to be a...um...sardine-maid? I can help with that. And it's free on the Marketplace, so...yay?

stay wilder than the wind

First up, an occasionally NSFW Tumblr paying tribute to a lot of really, really bad art called Boobs Don't Work That Way. Taken mostly from game and anime sources, it's a hysterical defense of anatomy and female attributes, and the artists who get both wrong. Well worth the occasional perusal, if not actually choosing to follow them.

Also, if you have a pool, and you like coffins (this seems a very niche market, but hey), these people make pool floats with you in mind. You're welcome.

I've never been drawn to the EVE Online experience; I know people that are, but seriously, if I'm going to spend a long time playing a game about cargo deliveries between worlds, I'll set up Starfarers of Catan. Still, that being said, they seem to have one of the best character creators currently available.

There's a bit of good and bad in the next two bits. First the bad: for whatever reasons occur to Hollywood producers, a remake of the Killer Shrews movie has been made. I'm deeply scared by this.

Thankfully, a friend of mine found the Quintek Group's homage to Star Trek for me. Part typography, part stylized alternate credits sequence, all fantastic to watch.

Also, have some carnivorous cakes. You're welcome.

There's a new JIRA on scripted object permissions that I, personally, think sets a bad precedent--namely, and at least in my opinion, the Lindens have gone overboard on what a good "caution" against giving objects account permissions should be:

The text reads:

"The object ****** wants total access to your Linden Dollars account. If you allow access, it can remove funds from your account at any time, or empty your account completely, on an ongoing basis with no additional warnings. It is rare that such a request is legitimate. Do not allow access if you do not fully understand why it wants access".

Users are being frightened by this new message, and many percieve it as a "different thing" to the regular debit permissions dialog.

In addition, the text "It is rare that such a request is legitimate" is completely inaccurate - it's not at all rare, many of us deal with many objects every day which require this permission.

I completely understand the need for transparency regarding debit permissions - it's a dangerous point of access for malicious scripts. However, the dialog should be reworded so it is informative and accurate, rather than trying to frighten users into paying attention.

Now, to me, that particular language is just designed to scare people and make them fearful of rezzing out any object that requires account permissions to use. How'ver, as a friend pointed out, it is extremely difficult in the new official viewer to revoke account permissions once given.

For me personally, that's a) yet another reason not to use the official viewer, and b) perhaps something that the Lindens should also look into--making account permissions easier to revoke.

Finally, Soul Caliber V has released a new DLC, and--it's wedding outfits. Wait, what? An arena fighting game with a higher-than-average percentage of male players of the game in the first place, can now have...wedding attire.

To fight in.

What?

I've found some better-quality pictures, and overwhelmingly I think it's a severely odd design choice for the game, but keep in mind, this is what some of the characters look like normally, so weirdly, the new DLC will give them more clothes to wear. I...guess that's a good thing?

and the shadow singer will stand and linger in places no one ever goes

Goddamn it Steve--

"It looks like you're trying to play Minecraft..." Wau. A LOT of work went into that punchline.

Silk is the fiber of the future! (No, really. It is.)

Some cute little baby squids are going to die for the sake of humanity. That sounds melodramatic, and sure, it is, but be honest--the early research out of space labs is SCARY for anaerobic environments and micro-gravity conditions. For one, harmful bacteria become more lethal. (Look it up, I'm not kidding.) So what's the next experiment? Sending squidlings into space. What scientists are hoping is that, since squid have evolved cooperatively with beneficial bacteria, by sending up babies that have not yet bonded with these bacterial chains, then dosing them in space, we'll be able to see how good bacteria changes.

I'm hoping for good things, not the return of the Elder Gods. But hey, keep your fingers crossed.

As usual--Facebook being the source of all evil--a company has decided to use mathematic analysis of linguistic style to enter social media updates after the death of that account holder. I guess this is some persistence-of-life gimmick (which I also am hoping is a joke). Still, Envoy seems serious enough--if creepy beyond all reason.

Bet you just can't wait for the thrilling new game adventures of Hitman: Subtitle, can you? CAN YOU?!?

Sadly, I'm kind of with the commenter on that--I'd buy a copy. Just for the novelty factor.

Of course, you think that's bad, try the poster for the video game RUSE--which was actually published. Yeah.

"Yes, I'll take Things You Never Want to See in Minecraft for $500, Alex..."

I'm not sure if any of these are right--can there be "right" where mythology is involved?--but some of these mermaid anatomy drawings look amazing.

"Did you remember to have your man-servant crank the mill of the Analytical Engine?" I'm sure we've all been asked that question.

Based on a casual mention near the beginning of Mark Z. Danielewski's work, House of Leaves, I've been trying to track down more information on Ted Serios. I still don't know if I fully buy "thoughtography"--especially since he seems to be the only known "thoughtographer"--but some of the images are interesting. More to the point, no one seems to have been able, since then, to reproduce the work. How odd.

Finally, to end this meandering link-fest, there's a Flickr group exploring early spirit photography. It's worth a perusal or two if you're intrigued by Victorian paranormal activity.

lights go out, stars come down, like a swarm of bees

First, pictures could be edited. But that was okay, filmed evidence could not be faked.

Then we could edit film. But that was still okay, because we had video evidence.

Now videotape can be edited digitally as it happens to remove objects the camera sees. We're pretty much down to fingerprints (which get iffy on occasion) and DNA work for evidence, right?

I'm just waiting for evidence of DNA editing now...

[10:17] Darlingmonster Ember: M Orr, my regards. I wanted to follow up with you about the Carni Outfit and ask if it was intended that it be only textures? And full perm? Was there an outfit box with prims?

And with a profound and sincere *facepalm* I traipsed back to the tree. The store blog explains the details, but I am quite chagrined over this. That thing's been in the Midnight Mania since I popped the tree up, in...August? September?

And okay, now I'm glad the Mania never capped--save for last night--but yaaagh. Such a rookie mistake. I am too long on the grid for this.

Remember the party at Fallen Gods I mentioned last night? Apparently it ran for twelve hours. There are pictures.



I had heard reports that the sightings of the ghost ship were in Caledon Sound. I went there, and saw nothing, but I'm fairly sure it may not surface during the day. I listened, but I heard no unearthly voices, and saw nothing untoward but the sea monster, rolling his eyes at the dock. I am wary that he seems so...placid, and...harmless.



So I stepped off the dock, shapeshifting on the way down. I swam slowly away from a shark, found an odd, glowing spike that gave off no heat, conversed briefly with a turtle, and pondered ancient shards on the sea floor.



I found a statue of a cat-headed goddess, holding a crescent moon, and the ruins of a temple beyond her. I swam to Lionsgate and back, and saw many wondrous things, but...no haunted ship.



Still, I am not disappointed. I saw many amazing things, both man- and nature-made, and had a chance to breathe good saltwater through new-formed gills. I'd forgotten how much I liked swimming. And I am sufficiently intrigued to return.



Still and all, whatever's there...is not there always. The sea retains her secrets.

these are hard times to fall in love

The CEO of Blizzard Entertainment backed down; and a large part of why was covered over on Atomic PC and What You Did There: I See It. RealID will still be implemented in-game, and as many players have said, they're not at all averse to one forum identity tied to one particular avatar name.

And I get that, believe me--whenever I post in the Runes of Magic forums, I post under the overarching name of the account, not as my individual character names. And I'm fine with that.

I just don't want it to be my real name. And neither do most of Blizzard's paying users.

Auto-translators amuse me greatly some days:

[18:11] cesar Korpov: bien
[18:11] cesar Korpov: "well well",[["noun","good","sake","welfare","benefit"],["adjective","well","nice"],["adverb","well","good","right","properly","alright","nicely","rightly","true","amply","decently","prettily","tidily","thank you"]]

Good to know, I'm sure, but I'd go out on that metaphoric limb and claim with reasonable accuracy he meant "good".

Winterfell is having to close some sims--these days, isn't everyone?--but it's always refreshing to hear people enthused about new plans, rather than griping and complaining about potential moves and sim losses.

Did you know owls transform? Or at least that one does--it's a South African beastie, called the Southern White-Faced Scops Owl. They're not endangered by any means, but they're very hard to see--even with their white-feathered stomachs (the stomach feathers cannot be used in camouflage techniques) and their intense orange eyes, they can change their shape to be viewed as a younger bird, a larger bird, a thinner predator bird, or even a tree branch!

Club Mermaid is offering free mermaid AOs plus some simple tails at their NARITA location--but while I was there I found something I just couldn't stand to live without:



This is called the Goby Mer, which apparently is based on an actual fish, the Court Jester Goby.



The only thing I don't like on this mer is the fin, or, more precisely, the elongated oval sphere that attaches to the fin. It can be modified, but I'm nearly tempted to hire someone to make a fin-tail sculpted attachment that can then be sent to this creator with the instructions that I get one, textured to match the rest of the mer!



In the end, though, for L$300, it can't be beat. It's ideal with the scaled, attached top; the top blends perfectly with the rest of the fins, and many mer retreats and oceans on the grid are still PG, so that works out. Very little of the prim attachments need adjusting; some will, but it's dead easy to do. And it's kind of an all-in one--go to Club Mer, and even if you don't want to buy the Goby Mer, you've got a shot at a free mer AO, plus three or four free mer tails! Astounding.

All pictures were taken in my favorite sea, Rua, which is back to being multi-sim, decorated, and dreamy. They even have a mer dance club now! (Just remember, with the slow-fin dances and the cuddly sits, it is a PG environment. Proper behavior--and modest tops--rule in Rua.)

I mean cold, cold blood, running around inside our veins

[Late insert from the Editrix: one of the quoted participants in the Haven of Rogues/Haven of Mermaids discussion below has asked that her name be removed on the excerpted chat in this post; I have done so in compliance with her request.

[How'ver, I can't remove her name from Alexia Lennie's reply without killing her reply entirely, so at least that much of her identity must remain in this blog. That's not the frustrating bit, though.

[The reason this person asked me to remove her name is because Alexia Lennie was harassing her in SL. This is getting beyond ridiculous.]

===

This just in from Horrid Twine:

To My Lovely Friends, Colleagues, & Fellow Whales!

I have decided to pull entirely out of Second Life and instead move to InWorldz.
Every once in a while I leave and come back.
This time, unless something seriously changes at "The Lab", I will not be back.
Recent events have made me rethink being here.

And I find that InWorldz, though still small, is a medium that I can stand behind and be proud to do so.

So that is where Horribaubles and Pretty Squeezles will now be.

For those of you whom supported Zombiefest and the other assorted charities, I thank you.

In light of this, I am having a "closing" sale.

The closing sale is at her Starlust store--I think she's closed the others. Everything in her shop is L$100 until Saturday, at 8 am (she didn't mention her time zone, so I'd just think Saturday in general).

This leaves me asking a few questions that likely won't be answered:

1. Is Putrid Gloom leaving also? (That one, I think I'm asking Miss Putrid about, because I need to know if Show Me on the Doll is also leaving!)

2. InWorldz, near as I can tell, is using OpenSim architecture. Why go to Second Life Jr. if you're upset with Second Life? Sure, the management might be better, but seriously--the same damned coding issues we hate here? Are likely over there!

>3. What happens to the ZombiePopCarnival after Saturday?

If any of you need to contact me, you can find me @ horridtwine@gmail.com or on http://www.inworldz.com as Horrid Twine.

She will be missed, but if anyone wants to go over to inWorldz to say hi, feel free; she'll appreciate the support. Me, I adore her stuph, I do, but...I just can't register for a company who decided to end their corporate name in "Z". I just can't.

Other news: in the "Weekly Tempest", an in-world magazine for lovers of mer culture and fashion came this little tidbit:

HAVEN OF ROGUES/MERMAIDS RULE UPDATE

Griefers using child avatars have been creating problems for both 'Rouge' sims. These sims are adult, and thus, no child avatars are allowed.

They included a notecard listing--I thought--the exhaustive and heavy-handed covenant Matisse Vendetta developed on his land--which, again, is never mentioned to anyone on arrival, so the casual shopper or interested finned denizen has no clue they expect certain insane behaviors from the moment anyone enters either sim.

This was met with some startlement in the group of us that visited earlier this week:

[17:01] ******* ******: those assholes at haven of rogues
[17:01] Drakon Lameth: ?
[17:01] Jennifer Corbeau: ohhhh nuu
[17:01] ******* ******: have sent out info that we were griefing them
[17:01] Drakon Lameth: o.o
[17:01] ******* ******: to the mermaid weekly magazine

The Weekly Tempest mag, btw? Is not an in-house Haven of Rogues/Haven of Mermaids publications. It goes out to everyone who's bid in with a mermaid sim, or a mer fashion house, furnishings, or undersea plant life. In short, anyone who feels they have a tie to mer life, or wants to read more on it.

[17:01] Drakon Lameth shakes head
[17:01] ******* ******: HAVEN OF ROGUES/MERMAIDS RULE UPDATE

Griefers using child avatars have been creating problems for both 'Rouge' sims. These sims are adult, and thus, no child avatars are allowed.
[17:02] Emilly Orr: 0.0
[17:02] xvxRUBYxvx Praga: *blinks*
[17:02] xvxRUBYxvx Praga: Serenity is NOT a child avi
[17:02] ******* ******: and included a stupid notecard stating the rules
[17:02] Emilly Orr: THE HELL I AM A GRIEFER
[17:02] ******* ******: none of us were kid avies or griefers

Now, as I pointed out, Jakkar Carlos is heavily bish; so he looked young, but not CHILD young. And Saori wore a doll skin over her mer tail, so at best, she looked like a porcelain fantasy doll--again, not a child. I came as a small bunny, yes, but that bunny was short, not a babyfur, and Serenity was--Serenity! How does a six-foot white cat with tiny wings rate as a CHILD?!?

Apparently, on a mermaid sim, showing up in fur automatically labels one underage. The hell, people!

[17:02] Midori Yatsenko: where is this Mermaid Weekly Magazine?
[17:02] xvxRUBYxvx Praga: dear lord
[17:02] ******* ******: it doesnt name us but its talking about us
[17:04] xvxRUBYxvx Praga: if the sim is an adult sim...then they would be age verified to get on it
[17:04] ******* ******: after we were there
[17:04] xvxRUBYxvx Praga: *shakes head*
[17:04] ******* ******: and its not even adult, its just mature, so they are [lying]

So I gritted my teeth and pulled out the notecard they'd sent along. This is it:

NO CHILD AVATARS
Sunday, 13 Jun 2010 23:07:18 GMT
*******************************************
NEITHER OF THE HAVEN OF ROGUES REGIONS (that means
"Haven of Rogues" or "Haven of Mermaids) WILL ALLOW
CHILD AVATARS. None, period. There are bored folks
going around looking to create hate and discontent
by taking "child avatars" into mature and adult sims &
trying to start "crap." So! This fixes that potential for
"crap:" NO CHILD AVATARS. Get it? Got it? Good.
******************************************* M.V.


From Matisse Vendetta

....I am really starting to loathe that man.

1. We weren't bored, we were called there by friends

2. Our friends weren't bored, they were following advertisements that mentioned Lucky Chairs, groups they were in that mentioned changes in chair status, sales notices likely from your sim, Matisse--there could have been any number of legitimate reasons any one of us could have found your goddamned sim on our own! And this is what you tell people. This is what you think of potential customers in your sim, potential renters of your land. That we're griefers.

3. WE DID NOT SPREAD HATE. Honestly, where do you get this nonsense?

4. We did not "start crap". Some of us got there, ported by friends, and were immediately sent to the corner--and by that, I mean LITERALLY, sent to the CORNER COORDINATES of the sim into a SMALL CUBE OF STONE. This is not ejecting. This is not banning. If I were of less even temperment? I could AR your EMs for that!

But you are more than happy to live out the rest of your lives never seeing me again. TRUST me, I'm gone. Not one foot into anything you own; not one DIME spent on anything you've had a hand in making. I am DONE WITH THIS.

And I do believe that goes for Indigo Jashan and Alexia Lennie, as well. If that leaves me porting to mer places and having to check who made things, the full covenant of the land I'm on, who made the wall prims...so be it.

My gods, you're an idiot. Why on earth do you even have a shopping mall, open to the public, if you despise the public, Matisse?

I realize some questions have no answer, and less point, but it just galls me so. While I realize there is prejudice against non-humans (and in this case, non-mers), usually it's not so vibrantly painted, swollen with enraged revulsion, as this. We did nothing but come to investigate, to see if we wanted to come back later and shop.

Well, that answer's there at least--We don't want to. We never will.

and like a fool I kept on thinkin' of a train I could not miss

SL and IMVU are still locked, nose to nose, in the Pandering Battle; IMVU, after this:



is slightly ahead on points.

No slouch themselves on Stupid Ideas That Miss Their Target Market Completely, I would like to present Photobucket's entry:

because everyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about finding unicorns, finding glitter, and finding "stuff"; and also, because everyone knows how much Last Comic Standing cares about unicorns and glitter. Also, apparently, "stuff".

*coughs*

[A brief insert from the Editrix: Unbeknownst to me, there are services that cull the net for any mention of a word, or a particular name, and send that off to the person requesting. Apparently this has been something of a bother for the sim owner now semi-anonymized below. I trust I have picked an equivalent name that will not result in endless emails on the same topic filling his inbox.]

And finally, sim oddity. For a while this evening, I was hanging out in Haven of Rogues, watching the chairs. I'd heard about a new (read: "new to me") mer place, and it turned out to be something of a mer mall, with a lot of vendors for a lot of different styles of mer. This works for me, because I have some free mermaid tails, some paid mermaid avatars, and a bit of things off and on in between. I want to weed down what I have and concentrate on just a few 'looks', plus I'm always on the lookout for new animations.

Today, there was a gathering from one of my groups around their Lucky Chairs; several vendors had put in new items, and we're on something of an aquatic kick of late, which means I'm really going to have to find time soon and go for a serious finned swim. But I digress.

I arrived in my small bunny avatar--not the Tiny bunny, this is DP YumYum's grey rabbit avatar, about three feet tall, and I generally let her wear my posh Draconic Kiss Juliet Lolita dress, 'cos it goes with her hair. Within two minutes, I got kicked to the corner of the sim, trapped in a small little box. Why? Near as I can figure, because I was wearing a three-foot bunny avatar, and they said it looked like a child.

[23:20] Alexia Lennie: Please change to an adult avitar
[23:20] Emilly Orr: I beg your pardon?
[23:20] Emilly Orr: This is an adult avatar, this avatar is just short.

Okay, in all fairness, I don't assign designations of "adult" or "child" to my small bunny--I normally use her when building, and I observe three strong informal rules when clad in her skin:

1) She's not a child. She's short.
2) She's not "adult", either, because I don't plan to have sex in her skin.
3) The mind in the rabbit av is generally always of a mature disposition, therefore, unless the avatar is specifically shaped as a child, the avatar shares that mature dispensation, as well.

[23:20] Alexia Lennie: is this emily the model here?
[23:21] Emilly Orr: This is Emilly Orr. You don't know who you're talking to?

I realize, the stress of having bounced an utter stranger without cause may have affected her thinking, but really--doesn't the second L give it away?

Well, that, and not being in their shop group?

[23:22] Emilly Orr: But let me understand this properly: you wish me to change avatars to browse your establishment?
[23:22] Emilly Orr: I don't model for you, if you own Haven of Rogues.
[23:22] Alexia Lennie: it looks like a child ai, and right now we are having problems
[23:22] Alexia Lennie: just for now would you please change to a bigger adult one
[23:23] Emilly Orr sighs. Yes, I'll be back in a bit, then.
[23:23] Alexia Lennie: thank you hun
[23:23] Alexia Lennie: im throwing kid avis off atm see

I...see. Yes, that makes everything...clear? Though I still didn't get it--in the group I was in, mixed about half and half residents I knew and residents I'd never seen before, while most were finned, I didn't see a single avatar I would point to and think "that's a kid over there". And I usually have pretty keen kid radar. So that still perplexes me.

But, okay, I am a mostly polite person; I go off and crawl into my orca maid--I'm not feeling particularly mer today, but it was a mer place, I can hang and watch the chairs, right? The orca maid I have has a "top" layer that fades into the tail, to mimic the distinctive black and white skin pattern of the orca whale; it would lose much of its impact if it didn't have that top section. (This becomes relevant later; bear with me.)

Then this broke out in main chat:

[23:35] Jakkar Carlos: Okay, people. Indigo keep pressuring me that I am a kid avatar which is impossible because I am not so I am going to be banned. Just to let you know.
[23:35] Alexia Lennie: I did warn you Jakkar
[23:35] Alexia Lennie: you have lots of avis and you inssit on that one when you where warned

Okay, so, I know, it's just me being overly picky, but really--give ban powers to someone who spells this badly? Is that wise?

But more importantly, for folks who don't know the participants involved, Jakkar generally depicts his avatar as a bish, or bishounen. The word translates as "beautiful youth", or sometimes, just "pretty boy". Bish are a staple of yaoi fiction and anime, and--while the style is adopted widely by all sexes and a wide spectrum of ages in Japan, at least in SL it's primarily the province of young gay men--or people who desire young gay men.

And while at times Jakkar looks like a teen, at best we're talking willowy eighteen, not twelve. But to be fair to the management of Haven of Rogues, there were a lot of people there, people they didn't know, and the place has some fairly firm (and bizarre) rules. (We'll get to those in a bit.)

[23:36] Saori Nakamura: Stop being such a cow
[23:36] Indigo Jashan: LISTEN: i have made a subjective judgement call that to my eyes Jakkar looks underage

It's worth it to note at this point that Indigo seems to own much of the mall, or at least, seems to operate the group that runs it. It's also worth it to note that Saori was kicked from the sim earlier for, near as we can figure out, having too "cute" a face on her particular avatar skin. She was somewhat upset--and by that I mean Saori, not Indigo. Though Indigo could've been upset at this point, too.

[23:36] Drakon Lameth: s'ok, if some of what the covenant says in its ruleings is true, this sim could be slapped adult or be made to not have it happen... there's parts about public sexings
[23:36] Indigo Jashan: i'm sorry if Jakkar and others disagree but it it not open to discussion

I believe what Indigo said was in reference to Jakkar's appearance, not Drakon's words; however...again, we'll go into that later.

[23:37] Indigo Jashan: i'm the one gets my ass kicked here, so i make the call
[23:37] Indigo Jashan: Jakkar - butch it up 'til you look grown up or go away
[23:37] Saori Nakamura: Racists!
[23:38] Indigo Jashan: no, not racists, ageist

I have to give it to the management at Haven of Rogues; at least they're honest. They're judgemental as hell, irritating, and they don't explain nearly as much as they should, but at least they're direct.

[23:38] Gothique Graves: So technicaly I could be in a 8 foot tall avi
[23:38] Gothique Graves: Wearing diapers
[23:38] Gothique Graves: And i'd be ok?
[23:38] Indigo Jashan: and i personally don't give a shit what people do in their own space
[23:38] Saori Nakamura: I just told you im not a bloody child and you still kick me
[23:38] Indigo Jashan: but this isn't your own space
[23:39] Indigo Jashan: and if you were wearing diapers i'd kick you out for being gross

Again--irritating in execution, but direct.

[23:59] Darlana Greene: Someone just said "This is my sim and I can kick you out for the color of your shoes"
[23:59] Darlana Greene: "And it's not up for discussion"

I guess that about says it all.

Here's what gets me, though. Through trial and error we discovered that most of these "rules" are covered in the covenant for the Haven of Rogues sim. But seriously, who puts behavior rules in their covenant and not makes one single mention of it to people who come into the shopping area--which is most residents' first experience of any sim?

Automatic notecard giver. A drop-down saying "Please read the covenant rules". Standing unit--click it and get the landmark and the list of rules.

I know they know how to utilize the drop-down menu, because I was handed a landmark when I hit the mall, so...it can't be that.

Maybe they just like getting bitchy with people? Who haven't read the rules because seriously, who reads the covenant to find out rules of behavior if we're not thinking of living there?!? I will honestly tell you, I have never gone into a shop for a frock or a pose or a piece of furniture and had it cross my mind even once that maybe, I should read the land covenant before shopping there.

It's mental.

So is the covenant in question:

Welcome to the "Haven of Rogues" estate. The estate consists of 2 regions: "Haven of Rogues" (HoR) and "Haven of Mermaids" (HoMer) due east of HoR.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE IN THIS COVENANT, READ THE ONE MAIN RULE (But I'd read the whole thing if I were u):

1. The entire estate is a "No Meters" zone and "No Tops" are authorized on mers anywhere but in the commercial area (Rogue Tower).

That means "remove your meter" (now's a good time) & mermaids: "take off your top."

If you don't know what a "meter" is, don't ask.

Why just "mermaids" and not "mermen" take off their tops, too? Umm, think about it. But if you should find a merman in HoR or HoMer wearing his top while swimming about ... please take a photo and send it to me so I can put it up somewhere.

Why? Simple: My sim, my rules. Don't like 'em? Great.

Keep reading (or go away). :o)

I guess that's one way to look at it: the prototypical "My way or the highway" of sim dictatorship. Which is fair, by its own rules: he owns the sim, he sets the rules; don't like 'em, you don't have to be there. Fine, as far as it goes; but some of this is in direct contraindication to the established guidelines of Linden Labs as to what "PG", "Mature", and "Adult" actually mean.

Think of it as equal opportunity!

A merman would look goofy wearing a shirt, right? So does a mermaid, for the exact same reason.

Again, in the odd case that you missed the point here:

With the exception of the commercial (store) areas located in "Rogue Tower," unless there are mermen in either region who prefer to wear a top, you may not. And meters are not to be worn ANYWHERE in the HoR estate. So, please remove them immediately, return from whence you came, or, by default in that you are choosing to remain in HoR and NOT follow the law(s) as set forth in this covenant, you are indicating that you are makin' yourself "a target."

That's a good thing, I like targets; I like to shoot at things every now and then when I get "in a mood" and something that moves every so often makes a better target.

The management of HoR is well aware that there are some (usually women ... or 'men' who have been called to defend one) who believe mermaids should be allowed to wear tops but this is not up for debate and/or negotiation. If *you* would like to be "clothed and unnatural," have at it --- elsewhere. :o)

Feel free to explore Haven of Rogues as a clothed human ... or a "naked" fish or other animal ... but, unless you are shopping -- not as "Ariel with a top."

Get it?

Got it?

Good.

Oh, I got it--I'm fairly sure the next time I'm in world, I delete the landmark and never trouble them again with my presence--but also, it seems somewhat odd to insist on toplessness in a Mature-rated sim; especially since, as far as I know, the question of plain SL nudity being "Adult" or "Mature" was never properly resolved. Just for showing breasts, should they be rated "Adult"? I really don't know, I'm not the one to ask.

But back to the covenant:

SO! To review ...
If you are wearing a meter, take it off. Mermaids: wearing a top? Take it off ... this is an equal opportunity Mer area, if Mermen swim around topless, so too must Mermaids.

1 more thing: NO BREEDING PETS (like those dumbass BUNNIES!) ... ... 'nuff said.

On to the important stuff:

And now they get to the "important stuff"? So what was all the nonsense about women being naked on their sim, just...filler?!?

Onward (I admit, I'm skipping a bit because the covenant does blather on for some time):

LET IT BE KNOWN:
After more than four billion years of operating with a Covenant that has NEVER changed, the planet Earth still exists -- that's a pretty good Covenant.
AS SUCH: "Haven of Rogues" and "Haven of Mermaids" operate in conjunction with Earth's 6 basic rules (TOS?):

Connectedness: Every occurrence in nature affects something else; nothing happens in isolation.

Rhythm: Cycles are an integral part of nature: birth and death, dearth and abundance, ebb and flow. Nature doesn't attempt to fight off this natural rhythm in the name of control.

Balance: Nature thrives on both order and chaos. Constant change creates constant balance. Balance cannot come from "either/or," but only from "both."

Acceptance: Nature "just is." It has no agenda to control. Everything has both value and beauty. Water changes the shape of all it touches - without competing with it.

Openness: There are no boundaries in nature, no walls. Nothing is inaccessible to anything else. There are borders, such as between sea and land, but even here we find constant change and a rich variety of life.

Simplicity: No energy is wasted in nature; it always takes the "least energy" path. The result is elegant simplicity.

Here is where I started to get an inkling about the "sexual acts in public" comments in main chat from earlier. But I still had a long way to read to get to this section:

IF YOU DO CONDUCT BUSINESS HERE, a portion of your GP will be arranged btwn you & management, before opening day, to be passed along to management. IF YOU CONDUCT UNAUTHORIZED BUSINESS HERE (such as hanging out and hitting on visitors (ie., you're an unauthorized hooker), utilizing the "sex areas" for profit or taking your clients aboard one of the boats for a "sail of pleasure," you owe [Derain] money.

ADDITIONALLY: The peformance of sexual acts - ANYwhere, ANYtime, under ANY circumstances or conditions that are conducted ANYwhere on the island (other than in or on rented property) *IS* considered "Commercial Business" (see previous para. re: "you owe [Derain] money"). Figure out a deal and propose it to [Derain] before he proposes one FOR you - you'd probably like yours better than his. If you rent land or a home from [Derain], then what you do and who you do it with or to is your own business as long as it's within the confines of your own parcel.

So...unless I'm misinterpreting things...sex is a business transaction; [Derain Revanche] is in control of all business transactions; sex can happen anywhere if one works out an agreement with [Derain] in advance...

...so it really should be an "Adult" rated sim. I get it now.

And finally we come to two last rules I'd like to mention:

Rogue Rule #8: No annoying behavior of any kind will be tolerated my Matisse at anytime, anywhere. This goes beyond "No Griefing of any kind," because it is [Derain] who will decide what is "annoying." If anyone has a question about the definition of the word "annoying" at any time, see RR's 1&2. This should suggest to most that the practicing of normally accepted good manners, basic politeness, speaking when spoken to and other fundamental social etiquette features you SHOULD have picked up at some point when you were young should be all that that is required for a pleasant stay in the Haven of Rogues estate.

and

Rogue Rule #10: Public nudity is acceptable, public sex is not. Mermaids are required to be so. Wanna be naked? Have at it. Knock yourself out. Wanna have sex in Ikatere? I don't blame ya! Rent some land, build a hooch, use someone else's land or hooch ... or open a club where EVERYONE can have sex. [Derain] has always wanted to have one of those on his land, but since he knows nothing about sex and never gets horny so he hasn't gotten around to that.

So, okay, public sex is out--according to him, or at least, as far as he knows--but public nudity is in, plus mention of escorting in the covenant...that treads awfully close to the line on the sim being rated "Adult", if not dances right over that line and sets it on fire. Additionally, the bit about politeness and etiquette guiding our behavior on his sim...does that also include his sim managers?

Because personally, it does not want to make me look for anything in their shopping area if, for no discernable reason I could be ported off to a small square box with no exit without being informed what the infraction is; if, because I look twee that day, I'm declared to be a kid; if, without a word to me, I could be deemed socially inacceptable because my mermaid deigns to keep her breasts covered.

Let me tell you, sunshine, the reason I have modesty scales, shell tops, and other ephemera for the upper half of my collection of mers? Is because at least half the seas I swim in are P-friggin'-G and they aren't likely to change.

So, after these moments of evaluation, I think I can safely say: no, thank you, Mr. [Revanche]; your "gracious" and "polite" staff have thoroughly impressed me that I want nothing from you, your waters, or your mall; that, in fact, I'll probably keep you clearly in mind as a place to avoid. I want to risk no potential Linden-level bans on the off chance your waters are declared Adult due to the presence of observable sexual behavior, and/or public nudity, and there are those in your seas who don't happen to be age-verified when that change occurs. No thank you, happy to not take the risk, and truly, I am grateful you made it clear I am not welcome at any time.

[Sadly, I can do nothing about the names on the comments without deleting the entry; if it continues to be a problem, I will rewrite this with as much as I can of the original comments preserved--names changed in [Derain Revanche]'s case--and we can all go about our days.]