but I realized big brown eyes can hypnotize

I can't imagine how hard it must be to be you
adopting all your history, it's hard being me too
are your secrets where you left them?
'cause now your ghosts are mine as well
I think it's time I met them and I think it's time you tell

Hit another patch of needing to be out of my skin. Thankfully, shapeshifting means I can do that. But it doesn't leave the problems behind, just that twitchy, friable anxiety. Takes a little longer for the skin hunger to build back up, too, because it's different skin, but...we'll get there, unfortunately.



and you should have told me when you met me
all these things I should know
and I should have asked,
we should have talked about this
so long ago

Mmhmm, that's far too familiar. Burnt trees on the horizon, flames on the ground, yep, I resemble this terrain.



it's not fair, it's not fair, help me come up for air
oh, how's this happening to me?
it feels so lonely here

Well, part of that is I'm still picking places that sound interesting enough to visit, but don't have a lot of dots on the map, because yet again I'm back to having no idea how I'll react to people. Which is slightly disconcerting for someone in my chosen field, but...hey, I'll deal or I won't, right?



we are in a mess, a danger zone
what will happen next? you never know
we are in a mess, a danger zone
what will happen next? you never know

Spaces to breathe are good. Spaces to concentrate, to settle, to ground, are better. I'm too tightly wound again, and there is such an air of censorious judgement at present--which, yes, I realize is far from healthy, but a large part of my mind is just disgusted with the excess of emotion. As if I should just be able to shrug this off.

Should I be able to shrug this off? Was that what was expected? Oh, okay, can't sleep with the boy anymore? Okay, tra-la-la, off I go.... I mean, was it? Seriously?



now we share the closet, now you've let me come inside
and now you're finally undressing and I feel like I might die
the damage is infectious, the confession is too late
and how can I accept this?

To be fair, I have not completely crumbled yet. I have not begged, abjectly, humbly, for the ban to be lifted. Not even the steadily intensifying dreams have brought me completely to my knees. But part of the why is not that my pride's so overweening and enhanced; it's that I agreed that the one who collared me can make decisions for me. Not all decisions, obviously--I'm not a 24/7 sort, I've never been one for the barcode on the back of the neck. But this was discussed, debated, questioned, looked at from all angles, for over a year before I agreed to the collar in the first place. And part of that was not only being as open as I could be on who I was, but in letting my RL loves see who he was.

Because I have an unfortunate history, it must be said, of picking the exact wrong men. And I can't even say the ones stating this are wrong, because it's happened too many times. There is a strange exception rule to this that I've never entirely understood--men I find are the ones that tend to be wrapped around nitroglycerine and nails; men who find me tend...well, they're not always firm on their own foundations, but they aren't as geared to explode into shrapnel.

I also have never believed in Velcro collars. Submission is not something I shrug off when it's uncomfortable. I do wish it was less uncomfortable, ideally, with this situation...but I wouldn't be me if it didn't affect me, and I doubt I'd be collared to this individual were I that carefree with emotions.



it's not fair, it's not fair, help me come up for air
oh, how's this happening to me? it feels so lonely here

Great, now the livestock is laughing at me.



all your secrets
all your lies
all of it

And nothing on the horizon is getting closer but that damned signpost. I see it, already. It's not like the road's going to change.



we are in a mess, a danger zone
what will happen next, you never know
we are in a mess, a danger zone
what will happen next, you never know

Jesus, another lighthouse. Okay, Sumie, I get it, what am I missing? Must be big to throw this many lamps on my path...

(Pictures taken at the Archipelago of Dreams, Seawolf Monsters, OMEN, The Dancing Cat Cafe, Wildwood Gardens and Endless at Haraiki Bay. Lyrics from Gwen Stefani's Danger Zone.)

walk away and head for the door

It's taken several months, but I finally have three fairly decent neko options for my current body (and system head, though I'm still testing out mesh heads that may work). First, I pulled every skin demo that Catseye had, and very little suited until I found the Snow Leopardess. Then I kept looking until I found the Shadow Cheetah (couldn't find that one on MP currently, might have tracked it down and bought it in her actual store). And finally, the Young Lioness from ND/MD, and I wish I could tell you the price on that last one, but I got it on discount at a fair last year. I don't even remember the fair--possibly FF? But who knows?

So I don't expect a sudden flurry of cat me most of the time, but now I have options if I don't want to climb into the Kemono. I feel better.

Also, a dear friend sent me the very best takedown of The Last Jedi, purely from a militaristic standpoint. He's correct on every point--logically, practically, militarily, he's right on everything. There are a lot of flaws in the film, firstly because George Lucas is a terrible writer (fight me, he is), but also because Rian Johnson, the director, did not have a lot of experience with military structure. Even Rebellion military structure, which would still exist. (And he's absolutely on the nose about Holdo's ridiculous outfit, which stands out painfully in every scene she's in.)



In the meantime, went over to Haenim to check out the progress of their haunt. I don't know if the official one will expand on the set piece I rezzed within, but this piece is a good start.



It's a set piece from Two Moon Gardens, and along with the weather module they've put in place, it creates a very melancholy scene indeed.



There are only two things out of place, as I see it, and to be fair, I think it's just a case of not thinking things through. First: for the love of all things, hide the bright blue weather controller. They have an empty crypt, tuck it there. Even better, BEHIND the crypt, no one's going to look there. Get it out of sight either way, though.



And second, that 'tepee' structure. It's essentially a play tent, which 1) would never be out with lights in the rain, get real, and 2) doesn't match ANYTHING else in the set piece. Which is sort of the point with a haunt, isn't it?



I mean, look at this thing. It's not even rigged right--you can't sit in the 'tepee' structure, out of the rain; oh no, you sit on a stump near the fire. Which the rain is going to put out soon. Impossible.

I'll check back later on, see if it gets better, but...I have no great hopes here.

I turn my vehicle beneath the river, west from south

So what happens when you go from here:



to here:



Well, if you're me, you do a lot of adjusting. You do find you miss changing species on a whim, but the flip side of that is, it's easier to accessorize, dress, and behave solely behind one face. Some days you think you'll lose the knack of shifting, lose the behaviors that came instinctively under different skins. But you adapt.

So what happens, then, when you go from here:



back to here:



Me, I found myself shopping for furs.

I don't mean coats. I mean, I spent a few hours strolling through Marketplace, and tracking down potential options for Kemono mods. I'm still looking for a good Arctic Fox mod--I've found some potentials for red fox mods, but I'd have to buy a separate head for the look. I found some pretty interesting spotted cats--or at least, spotted Kemono mods, because the Kemono avatar is sort of a cat, sort of a rabbit, sort of an anime creation all its own-- and a possible for the Arctic I'm actually looking for, but it has dark legs. I'll have to decide if that scotches it or not. Happy Paw's fox mod would also necessitate buying a separate head, though it looks better. (This also would require buying yet another head, but that look is very, very tempting on its own.)

There's also a Somali cat mod, which almost works on its own.

I'd also like to replace my former white bunny and black bunny, but looking through the Kemono options, I may have to give up and look for a full anthropomorphic rabbit avatar. Which is a larger investment than I wanted to make, because I already have the Kemono.

I'm also not crazy with the Siberian tiger options.

The ultimate search, though, didn't start earlier. I've been searching for about two years now, for a decent, fully furred and spotted (or striped) Maitreya skin. There's the Nekotron Mi'qote skin, but...it's not convincing enough for me, plus I'd have to wear the M3 Venus head, which I have, but I only wear it with the Kemono avatar, because it's very anime-girly. There's also the Tigra skin and the Leoparda skin, both from Catseye, which might be more useable because they also sell matching system skins. But again, they're just...not enough. No real face stripes, very few stripes or spots overall.

There's also throwing caution to the wind and investing in the Roxy system, but there's two distinct problems with that option, too. It requires the Paws head as well, and it's only Omega appliers. For a full cat, it might be awesome, but what I want for the Maitreya is the ability to wear a system skin (for my system head) and an applied Maitreya (or Omega) layer for the body skin. Because with this, I'm not looking for a full cat--I'm looking for a fully furred neko, a la the old Boneflower skins.

It's a puzzlement. But I'll work it out. Still, it might be time to get back to shifting again.

how will this pan out? search and wish, so loud

Tuesdays are prime for wandering, because I'm a massive fan of the 25LT sales group. While the initial group of designers started out with a decided Gorean bent, they've since expanded to anything that can be considered roleplay or fantasy based, and now have several merchants that offer things suitable for medieval wear, Gorean RP, and rustic home decor. I've been very pleased with how they've grown.

How'ver, since it did start out as a more Gorean-themed sales event, there's a lot of kajira, Free Women and warlords who wander, as well. So--while I am liable at any point to pull profiles if I'm curious--I tend to emphasis it on Tuesdays, because I'm the curious sort and it's convenient.

Of course, I don't always get the answers I expect, and...frankly, that's part of the fun.

From a random profile:

Unseelie Code:
Change is good
Glamour is free
Honor is a lie
Passion before duty

Changelings are creatures of dream, a fae soul trapped in mortal flesh, easily able to shift between a mortal seeming and their fairy mien. Born of two worlds, they live in the mundane, but truly exist in a world of fantasy, mists, and dreams.

Changelings experience the world as a magical, mystical place filled with amazing and exciting things. They are travelers of the dream realm, masters of illusion, empaths and manipulators of emotions. They feed on the musings and emotions of others to inspire and power their magic.
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/changelinginfo/kithain.html

So, I went off to read the link, and...it strikes me as more White Wolf/Changeling: the Dreaming general roleplay, than anything, but I am intrigued that--without specifically knowing about this page of 'kith breakdowns'--I had initially set myself up in Lumindor as a changeling phouka.

From the page:

Pooka (POO-kuh):
The shapechanging tricksters. All pooka are tied to a specific type of animal, and in their fae miens will have aspects of that animal (whiskers, scales, feathers, ears, tails, etc.). They are able to shapechange into that animal, if unobserved. They are also great listeners, and can often persuade people in conversation to tell them some of their most protected secrets. They have a problem telling the truth though. The truth simply isn't interesting to a pooka, and they feel that they must always improve on it in some way.

Ah, improooovements. Well, I won't say I've ever been committed to portraying any one fixed "truth", and I do like to think--whether true or not--that my sense of honor and personal bent towards honesty are firmer than this description...I have in the past and likely will continue telling truths that don't necessarily mesh with the rest of the tellers out there, simply because I see things so differently at times.

What largely influenced me, setting up my little fae for Lumindor, was the Phouka from Emma Bull's War for the Oaks, as well as both Irish and Welsh mythologies concerning the concept. At the time, running around Lumindor, I had my standard, very short, pale fae for Court functions, a black-furred Tiny rabbit avatar, and a black anthropomorphic horse (and later, with some given relational controversy, a dappled grey four-legged horse). At the time I kept looking for a black four-legged goat avatar, as well--I would've settled for an anthropomorphic goat, even--but at the time, I never found one.

Still, me being me, other things crept in, and felt natural to express. Antlers, or other forms of horns; wings; and cat ears, tails and whiskers. These aren't precisely part of the phouka mythology, but...they felt right, so I didn't overthink it.

And by the time I joined Caledon, wearing these little extra details had become second nature. Even now, I feel more comfortable in a set of horns, or cat ears and tail, than I ever do in purely human guise.

I still refer to myself as fae when asked. I still think of myself as Unseelie. I don't think I precisely match other Unseelie on the grid--the Unseelie in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry books would say there's too much Seelie in my makeup--but I'm always amused to find someone else drawn to the Winter Court.

Something else from that same gentle's profile I fell in love with:

➊. If I like it, it's mine.
➋. If I saw it first, it's mine.
➌. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
➍. If it looks like mine, it's mine.
➎. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
➏. If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
➐. If there's more than one, ALL of them are mine.
➑. If you have something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
➒. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in any way.
➓. If I get bored with it or it breaks, it's yours.

Ah, cat rules. I recognize these.

My cats on the grid aren't quite this grabby, but on occasion, these behaviors have surfaced, for all I do my best to play the lady, and not the gutter-kitten.

Profile-pondering is fun.

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.

I'm resigned to simply live in your wake

This is a fun, easy tutorial on making new 'Polaroid'-style art for your home. All it needs is a simple wooden frame, some jute string or kitchen twine, several miniature clothespins, and artificially aged-and-cropped pictures (unless you want to use actual Polaroid images).

About the only thing I'd suggest is that you print out the images on a color printer capable of cardstock printing, or take it to a print shop and have them print it on cardstock. If you want to get really fancy, add a slight layer of Mod Podge over the tops of the pictures for gloss, and paint the backs black. And that's it! Hang it, you're done!

I also want to bring to your attention the best cosplay EVER. Don't believe me? Here's one of the original appearances from Sesame Street for detail comparison.

Why you should never give your cat fresh catnip. This has been a public service announcement from the Nip Council.

And do you want an iPhone 5? You may not after watching this.

Cracked.com came out with a review of the Slender Man phenomenon that's funny, filthy, and has links to other information--much of it down-the-rabbit-hole sites where people really seem to believe this stuph. (The only thing I don't get is why the writer seems so traumatized over the whole Meat Spin site--I'm not linking it here, either, but it's because it features actual penetrative sex, which is not something I'm going to bring onto this blog. The content itself--come on, it's just sex, people, you're not five. Grow up.)

I want to toss you a little exercise. Go in order.

• Step One: Go to the Marketplace, and search for "rusty".
• Step Two: Set 'Items per page' to 96, and set the 'Sort by' field to 'Price: Low to High'. (I'm also on seeing General/Mature/Adult, but that may or may not help.)
• Step Three: scroll through the first page and realize there's nothing buyable, it's all glitched.
• Step Four: scroll through the second page and realize there's nothing buyable, it's all glitched.
• Step Five: scroll through the third page and realize there's nothing buyable because it's all glitched.
• Step Six: repeat this for the next ten pages.
• Step Seven: give up.

Honestly, I think Marketplace has gotten worse over the last two weeks.

we can remember swimming in December

If you are one of those people who need special instructions, then here's how to pet a kitty. You're welcome.

Meanwhile, Gaetano Pesce has found a way to bring water features indoors--as end tables. It's a really intriguing idea--reproduce waterfalls, puddles, islands and bays as miniaturized objects that can then be used--to hold anything from coffee-table books to containers that might hold water as well. It's genius, in a sense.

Here, I found the world's smallest violin. It plays just for you.

Also, this is deeply impressive--a mix of mesh and plain system layers, with more traditionally designed pieces, all of which make up a stunning Marie Antoinette costume.

Oh, did I mention she's headless?

Happy Halloween.

Speaking of creepy things...more from compileTRUTH:

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

Acherontia, noun (animal): A distinct species of European hawkmoth, also called the "Death's head moth". Notable for the distinctive (and variable) markings on its thorax that resemble a skull. Used significantly in the Silence of the Lambs film, both on the movie's poster, and by the serial killer, who kept and bred the moths in his basement.

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

Set aside the notion that the Slender Man isn't real, for the moment. This, by itself, is a fascinating idea. The tiger moth does, indeed, seem to have a way to jam bat sonar with a series of loud repetitive clicks. This seems to confuse the bat into missing them when in a hunting dive, or in being unable to find them.

Where this theory falls apart, as fascinating as it is, is that the variable ways Slender Man has been shown to affect electronic equipment is just that--affecting electronics. Cameras, recording devices, video recorders--none of these are particularly 'effected' by things in their immediate surroundings.

Of course, the internet has documented a wide range of ways Slender Man effects the living bodies of its victims, as well, so...maybe it's like the EVP recordings from several different, purportedly haunted locations?

EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena, are supposedly communications from the deceased using frequencies humans cannot hear unaided. Perhaps Slender, as he is so often depicted, communicates visually (and perhaps audibly) in frequencies that distort recording devices?

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

This is also a fascinating concept to me. The movie Mimic (and, to an unfortunate degree, Mimic 2) took on this concept as a major plot point: that other lifeforms evolve to imitate dangerous things, or innocuous things. For example, most poisonous tree frogs evolved brightly colored skins because of the toxic compounds their bodies naturally produce. Over millenia, similar, non-toxic species evolved with simulacra coloration, because this meant predators would leave them alone, thinking they were their more toxic cousins.

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

On the surface, this sounds plausible as well, but...seriously? This:

(from the Slender album; All Rights Reserved to original artist, whomever they are.)

is meant to be an inviting pose?!?

And if so...what's wrong with the minds of the children who respond to that "invitation"?

I can't do well when I think you're gonna leave, but I know I try

[Zone #1] Nevalith@reaperxi: *brofists his homie*..WOOOOO
[Zone #1] Glaive@MrHurin: Ey,bro! Whatcha doin',bro? How are ya,bro? Okay,bro! Bye,bro!
[Zone #1] Nevalith@reaperxi: BTdub
[Zone #1] Glaive@MrHurin: a conversation of modern people.
[Zone #1] Glaive@MrHurin: a.k.a idiots.

To be fair...

[Zone #1] Nevalith@reaperxi: In my my culture they replace bro with the N word..
[Zone #1] Nevalith@reaperxi: *sigh*
[Zone #5] Knightly Grave@Grave-Family: Noob? D=
[Zone #1] Glaive@MrHurin: Not not nothing?
[Zone #2] Skyfire@JonSills: Neville? Neighbor? Nitwit?

But the idiot factor dropped for this part, so okay, people are not completely without redeeming merit.

I'm not in the best space right now, I'll openly admit. I'll take my points of humor where I find them.

The giant hand avatar from 2010 is up again on Marketplace. If you want it, get it now, because it vanishes when October ends.

Here's a list of catgirls in various media from a wide variety of nations. You're welcome?

Fans of Dr. Steel have been dealing with a strange, sidewise loss--I was never a fan, but a friend passed this on to me, which sounds strangely conspiratorial and bizarre. If anyone knows more, leave a comment in, well, the comments, and I'll update. I'll also do my best to run down what actually happened in the meantime.

Here's Sheldon the Tiny Dinosaur in Minecraft, some hysterical Wor'ds Best Father pictures, the 'Ecce Homo' restorer now wants royalties (the hell??), and for anyone interested in quilting, this is the best tutorial I've found so far on the new "quilt as you go" method.

And I found this completely randomly--it's a stupidly charming paean to the joys of the Nether in Minecraft. Well worth the watching.

Also, if you have recently experienced anything with the new "BUG" reporting system (over the actual JIRA system)--good or bad--consider going here and telling the Lindens why.

I wonder where you are tonight; no answer on the telephone

(from the loss album)

I cannot see me parting from you
I see no place on the road ahead
where I would willingly part from you
where I would choose to leave
the safety of your shadow...

Still not walking away, but that no longer seems to matter. After all, I'm the only one here. It's not like there's anyone else to walk away from...

Is this the giving up point? At least briefly, I think it might be.

Also, this is really disturbing. It's like exposing the vile underbelly of the net we know and love to sharp, reflecting light...and then giving those malformed and mutated creatures the ability to speak.

History of that link: basically, Mountain Dew is having a contest: name the new flavor. They're still taking votes, and they have said (as ridiculous as this now seems to be) that they will choose a winner from the top ten list. Based on the number of riffs on "apple" as a flavor component, I'm going to go out on this limb and say the new flavor will be apple-based. In some sense. Maybe.

But it's been appalling to watch. Reload the page, you'll see what new aberrations appeared in the top ten leaderboard. So far, our selections seem to be hovering around diseases, strange internet memes, My Little Pony characters, feeble racism, and several worse concepts that I don't even want to mention involving various body fluids. If that's the mind of the internet at present, we are in terrible, terrible shape.

[Update--prior to publishing, even: they seem to have taken the site down entirely. I can't help but think that's a good thing, frankly.]

In other pop-related news...sort of...this surfaced on the intarwebs tonight. Apparently the bottle of Orange Crush is there for comparison with the pygmy goat.

Okay, then.

And more strangeness from tonight on City of Heroes:

[Help] Pseudo Shock: So this is the Famous RP server, that's awesome.
[Help] Arkon Prime: I smell a troll.
[Help] Pseudo Shock: No, I'm serious. That really is awesome
[Help] Pseudo Shock: I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just not used to it

This is not the first time this has come up. It always confuses me slightly, because in one sense, it's just another game server, no big deal. But in the other sense, yeah, it's the main RP server--but why is that a big deal?

[Help] Crathos: this is a rp server? my friend just told me he plays on this one
[Help] Crathos: and I'm not being sarcastic
[Help] toxic mouth: i think it's a bit of both at this point
[Help] Fortunata Sin: Unofficial RP server.

Well, yes, it's never been officially named as the RP server, mainly because that would mean NCSoft is validating all forms of RP on Virtue, and well...I'm quite sure there's some RP that goes on they want a lot of distance on, just in case.

[Help] Crathos: ah. I just knew it was a heck of a lot busier than guardian
Well...yes. Virtue and Freedom (Freedom being the "unofficial" main NON-RP server) are also the two busiest, most populated servers in the game.

[Help] Pseudo Shock: Ahhh, that's still really cool though.
[Help] Satsuma: so is that an incarnate RP level or what?

What, Guardian? No, Incarnate-level play happens anywhere. There's a specific Incarnate-level zone called Dark Astoria, but that's a recent addition. Prior to that, running strike forces/task forces weekly, or Ouroboros flashback missions, would gain Incarnate shards, threads, and Incarnate salvage drops--all of which are necessary to "level up" characters past 50. (Seeing as how there's still--and there may be always--that cap of level 50 for actually earning experience and leveling.)

Unless Satsuma meant VIP content, in which case Exalted is the server locked to only subscribing players. (I have one character on Exalted; sadly, I never play her. I likely should try, because I'm starting to become elitist enough to want a world without spammers, or free-to-players 4channing in Help and Looking for Group because they can't do anything else.

[Help] Pseudo Shock: A little of Role-playing and a little of your self?
[Help] Crathos: like a guy I saw yesterday posting asking for someone to RP his brother? that other lvl?
[Help] Fortunata Sin: Yes, that level.

I'd say "bwuh" over this, but just the other day, someone approached a friend of mine in Second Life, and asked her to be his wife because he wanted a baby now. He then asked her how he could have a baby (what, sweetness, you never took a high school health class?), and how he got married.

He was about a week old.

[Help] Slaughtron: There will be bouts of RP all over the place. Seems that a lot of the "good" RP takes place within SG's...
[Help] Fortunata Sin: I'm the same Slaughtron. I tend to RP only in my SG. And for the non-RP communities sake i don't RP in PUGs.

For the unintiated, "PuGs" translates to "pick-up groups"--as in, groups of people who don't know each other, running for the sake of the mission at hand, versus folks who run because they're in the same SuperGroup, or because they're friends in or out of the game.

The big reason behind not RPing (as a generally unspoken rule) around random folks is that they may not understand. While just about anyone can RP in Pocket D, say (or just stand around and listen), it's a bit harder for random RP to really take off properly with a random mix of people. Not impossible, just more difficult.

[Help] Slaughtron: I try and be IC on PuGs, mainly cos sometimes people get a kick out of it. I like that. But If someone has cat ears, or a name that sounds like a porn star, RUN AWAY!

Cue hysterical laughter on the part of me, considering the prevalence of catgirls everywhere.

To be absolutely fair to City of Heroes, there aren't as many catgirls as there used to be, but considering there are official supercatgirls in the game's mythology, catgirls are an acceptable heroic (or even villainous) alternative.

and you need her and she needs you

Next hunt update bit:

First post	Second post
Third post	Fourth post
Fifth post	Sixth post
Seventh post	Eighth post
Ninth post	Tenth post
Eleventh post	Twelfth post
Thirteenth post	Fourteenth post
Fifteenth post	Sixteenth post
Seventeenth post	Eighteenth post
Nineteenth post

The Necomimi ears are available on the open market!

What?

And apparently Panic! At the Disco has discovered steampunk. We'll see how long it lasts.

(from the scavenging album)

So on to the hunt again. Now, granted, part of my head-shaking over this one is that all the harem pants I've ever made (or bought) have been closer to wide-leg, billowing harems than the dropped-crotch yoga pants you see around. I'm not saying both styles don't have their place--they do. I'm just raising the point that when I saw "harem pants" listed in the box, seeing yoga pants diminished some of my joy.

(from the scavenging album)

That having been said, I think Factorie Couture did a good job. These are well textured, they move well, and they sit acceptably high on the hips for me. I'm wearing size M, which clips just a little bit around my navel; a couple points lower on "belly" for the slider settings would fix that, or I could just give in and wear the L.

(from the scavenging album)

This is the mens' "Slim Mesh T-shirt" from NiNight Creations (as ever, the tap pants and the stockings aren't included). Because it's a mesh shirt, the template controls the silhouette, and I do understand that. How'ver, I'm also going to go on record that it's still really weird to me to change from one shirt to another, and lose my breasts.

(from the scavenging album)

This is also a case where I'm fairly sure having a larger--and male--body would reduce or even eliminate the alpha flash at the sleeves. That being said, it's a good, casual t-shirt that could become a staple go-to item for guys on the grid.

(from the scavenging album)

Because they're the same template and the same pattern, I just took a front-and-back set of shots for both tube tops. This is the "Mesh ILoveDots" tube top from the front. (If I had to name a color, it would be "Baby Blue", but it's only listed as "Top 5" in the box.)

(from the scavenging album)

And this is the back of the second "Mesh ILoveDots" tube top, with the cute dragonfly detail. Actually, this top has a lot of cute little details. I like it. (And again, if I had to name a color, I'd say "Aqua", but it's only listed as "Top 6".)

(from the scavenging album)

It was about this time that I realized I wasn't able to get to stop #57, Amour Fashions, when I started this. So I went back and found it--this stop's a bit trickier than others, and they don't have a hunt sign out, but it is there--and their gift is the "Laura" two-piece.

(from the scavenging album)

It's not bad--the flair on the bottom of the shirt section is a little odd (I'm in size M in that), but the mini-skirt is an actual mini, not a micro (and I'm in size 3 in the skirt). I love the pattern--summer frocks need more monochromatica, frankly--and it moves pretty well, if one ignores the fact that the flair on the shirt base is designed to never come down. Plus, there's some clipping on the shoulder straps, depending on pose, but overall, it's pretty.

And more to come.

I got a place where all my dreams are dead

Punxatawney Phil apparently saw his shadow. So six more weeks of winter, at least off the grid. (On the grid, well, when I left Caledon and Winterfell, both were saying winter was soon to end. Since I haven't been back to either place yet, I truly don't know.)

In other news off the grid, mutant chickens are growing toothlike nubs. But mostly, I like this story for the very first line of it:

Working late in the developmental biology lab one night, Matthew Harris of the University of Wisconsin noticed that the beak of a mutant chicken embryo he was examining had fallen off.

Errrr. What does a thinking being say to that?

The rest of the story goes a little bit into why this mutant chicken began growing teeth, but the first three questions that popped into my mind were

• Wait. You're mutating chickens for educational reasons now?
• The beak fell off? The hell? How do beaks just fall off??
• So chickens can't grow teeth normally, but you've managed to reinvent the chicken so successfully they can grow teeth on their own? What's next, the pocket shark?

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the grid...

[19:57] [Fxxxxx Axxxx]: There are two MLP ponies inside the elevator at Doomed.
[19:57] [Fxxxxx Axxxx]: One's titler is "My dad just died in RL let me be PLX"

Man, that would be a hard call. On the one hand, you want to support people...ponies...people in ponies...wau, that sounded bad...in their hour of whatever.

On the other hand, My Little Pony avatars DO NOT BELONG ON DOOMED, so...yeah. There's that fine line, painted in bright, sparkly neon, and likely glowing in the dark.

Lofty Pursuits' long-sought-after goal of acquisition and restoration of Victorian-era candy-making equipment will be funded! That's just amazing. Do read the whole story, it's inspirational, and yes, feel free to fund if you can--they set a low fund limit, because they're doing most of the restoration work in-house, but absolutely anything would help. (Oh, and this just in--there's a Girl Genius link, in more than one way. So yes, anyone steampunk-inclined or Girl Genius fan, give to the project! Or spread the word! And remember that website--bookmark it so in six months to a year, when the Victorian equipment is fully restored and in use, you can order authentic Victorian candy! Woot!)

Unfortunately, Mother Henriot's Absinthe Elixir is not doing so well. I and eighteen other individuals are backers, but that's only raised $980 of their stated $10,000 goal. It ould be a shame for that one to fail.

Meanwhile, there's a new form of visual "muting" on the grid. It's not an actual mute, as all it does is count the number of attachments, or the surface area on which those attachments are used, and then render anyone above your chosen figures as a grey ghost in the world.

Of course, my mind immediately leaps to two places: furs, and the catgirls with the big stompy feet and the fluffy tails with the prim-everything wrapped around the base. I can see either category easily falling off the radar with either debug setting.

But we'll see how it goes. I still have trouble seeing this as actual discrimination because you're still able to see their name, interact with them, have them interact with you--there's no actual "muting", per se. But, if they're wearing too many attachments, or there are more attachments covering their avatar than system layers...these settings would remove them from rezzing in for you.

Ever.

This is going to make crowd photography problematic, I think...

reign in your power, over all my dreams

I have no idea how much these will retail for, and essentially, they're still a headband with cat ears, but--Neurowear is claiming their new Necomimi ears respond to the user's levels of concentration (ears raise), relaxation (ears flop), and happiness (ears twitch). Might be fun, but I'd want to see more than one girl in a short promo.

It's an amusing blend of tabletop and LARPing, but it's a stupidly catchy song, too--Connor Anderson and Zac Smith's parody of Far East Moment's "Like a G6", called--appropriately enough--"Roll a D6". If you've ever played D&D or LARPed in anything, you'll want to see it at least once.

Some announcements that bespeak good and ill from the Lindens...first, Rodvik remains pretty clued in, overall, to who's in SL and who's willing to support the game, so yay for that. And some of the recent changes--including the much-despised 'Basic' mode--seem to have helped to put SL on the map again, with a 33% raise in new resident registrations, and a comparable lift in premium account generation. Go them.

But there are a few things that leapt out at me. Starting with:

The Refreshed and Fun Registration Experience
On the registration front, we’re knocking down the barriers that can sometimes prevent interested users from joining Second Life. If you haven’t checked out the Join experience lately, then you definitely should. New users start by picking an avatar in a dynamic, animated interface that immediately draws them in. We’ve also removed much of the non-essential information, that we used to require in the registration flow, to make it a quicker and more delightful on-boarding experience.

Okay, let's break this down. "Refreshed" in corporatespeak, to me, means "dumbed down for the dim set". Never a good sign when a game does that. "Fun" in corporatespeak, to me, means "dumbed down for the knuckledraggers to whom dim seems really really smart".

I grant you, I may be wrong in these interpretations.

Another passage:

When we first launched Basic mode, we started with a basic set of human avatars that helped get new Residents immersed in Second Life without having to worry about configuring their avatar to socialize and find cool things to do, in the integrated Destination Guide. But, we know that the beauty of Second Life is the diversity and richness of how we choose to represent ourselves inworld. So, we’re adding 12 animal and 12 Robots and soon we’ll have Vehicles too.

So, I don't think anyone reading this doesn't already know, or hasn't figured out, how much I loathe the Basic system. It's essentially the viewer version of crippleware, and it's crippleware deliberately designed by the company providing it, with few provisions (beyond downloading the Advanced viewer, or giving up entirely and going to a third-party viewer) for ditching the crippleware features. That seems very shoddy design to me.

I guess it's not paying them anything to turn out new residents who have all the bells and whistles, and still do nothing with them, but...it bugs me.

Another sentence I want to revisit:

So, we’re adding 12 animal and 12 Robots and soon we’ll have Vehicles too.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong in this, but...we're going to turn into cars? Y'know, instead of humanoids, fish, furs and clockwork? Seriously?

Who thought this was a good idea? (Please. PLEASE let me be wrong in this.)

Also, in unrelated perusing on the Marketplace, I found...the Tome Raider avatar! Nope. Not kidding. Also, this listing is NSFW. And...I don't think it's worth the asking price.

Of a Linden.

We move on! While I was still struggling to ditch the Inventory advisory, I discovered there was a 3D mode to the game.

(from the Minecrafting album)

I...do not recommend it.

(from the Minecrafting album)

And then, the thing that Notch had promised happened: it rained in Minecraft. I emerged from the third level of the pit and just wandered around, astounded at the look and sound of it.

(from the Minecrafting album)

Rain seen looking towards the mini-cavern to the north. Handy tip--if you ever want to know which way you're facing in Minecraft, as least from an internal game perspective: look up. Whichever way the clouds are moving--that'll be north.

(from the Minecrafting album)

Rain on the glass top of the pit build. At this point, rain was still going through glass as if it didn't exist.

(from the Minecrafting album)

Another view on the rain and the glass.

(from the Minecrafting album)

I was also somewhat taken aback that--at least in this texture pack--the rain was so much lighter in color than the rest of the water sources.

everyone wants to change the world, but no one, no one wants to die

Miss Hera Aviatik has noticed a lack on the grid, at present, and is doing her utmost to fill it:

"Save the Nekos" Promotion....................
I am the Owner and Creator of Katia Soma- Neko Wear,
I have notice a sudden drop in nekos around the grid and it makes me quite sad :(
lol
So I am running the "Save the Nekos" event. Which may sound crazy to most but hell thats me.
From Dec 1st till Dec 15th i would like this notecard to be passed around. You have my permission to pass to anyone you know, send in ANY groups you are in and participate if you see fit.
I will be giving a FREE neko outfit of YOUR CHOICE from my Katia Soma store.
No strings, i dont want nothing from ya!!!!
All you have to do is take the LM below, pick out an outfit on first floor (adult section only). Write in a notecard you name and outfit choice and drop in my mailbox at entrance wall of adult store.
PLEASE name your nc Free Outfit- with your name.
DO NOT send directly to me, i will not redeem if you do!!!
And i will be keepin names of people i hand outfits out to, so make sure its only ONE.
Again this is FREE and there are no limits to how many people.
I will be checkin mailbox at night and send outfits out as soon as i have the chance :P
Pass this to as many as you can :P
Any questions IM Hera Aviatik

Most of her work runs to miniskirts and those huge legwarmer-slash-stomper paw boots called "boomers", but here and there are some potentially useful items. In this corner, in fact, she has a few items sold with 'paw boots'--what seems to be essentially high-heeled granny-styled boots--with claws on the boot toes. It's interesting, if nothing else.

As a neko myself (at least half the time), I say Miss Aviatik has a generous heart and a giving soul, and I say anyone who feels moved should go down to her store, wander it while things rez in, and, if you favor such, pick out an outfit by the 15th to request. At best, you get a new outfit out of it. At worst, you're upping her traffic, which may increase her store's popularity in search just a wee bit. There's no wrong outcome here.

drag you around and lead you back to where you were

Short, quick and very succinct: Discord Designs has been having a hair sale.

I am mentioning this--and offering up a SLUrl directly to one specific section--because on this massive hair sale are also the Tomcat tails and ears:



For once, clicking for the larger image on the above won't help you see a larger one--but it will take you to the Discord Designs blog, wherein you can see examples of other styles.

If you haven't run across her before, let me tell you, she makes GREAT hair. Absolutely GREAT hair. And she makes wonderful sculpted hair.

But, I'm slow on some announcements, which is why I'm doing this now--the sale ends tomorrow! And all these styles on sale will be gone.

Which, I now realize, includes the Tomcat.

So let me briefly tell you why, if you have a neko form at all, you should RUN RIGHT NOW to go get them:

• They come in six color packs for L$30 each, or L$90 for all of the colors; each color pack has ten individual variations.
• They are scripted to twitch in lifelike fashion, but they don't spew green spam when anyone else touches them--so lifelike, yes, but they don't jabber at everyone that someone's pulling your tail or caressing your ears.
• They remap EXTREMELY easily from pelvis (the default) to stomach (so you can wear prim skirts or prim jacket tails and the tail at the same time) with hardly any fuss, muss or frustration.
• They are NOT created around the by-now-standard "tail bondage" design--it's just a tail. The bases are not covered with nineteen prim cupcakes spewing particle hearts; they're not wrapped in spiked black leather and barbed wire with hanging ankhs and blood-smeared bandages. They're just tails.

I'm serious. For L$90 you will not find better tails on the grid. And I bought them back when she had a 50% off sale, so I got them for far more than the L$90 for everything you'd be charged now, plus I was indecisive, so bought two of the color packs to test, before I bought the everything-pack; I think all in all I spent something like L$350 or so on the Tomcat line, in all.

And I still think that's a steal. They're still my default tail/ear sets.

So GO! RUN! The sale ends August 31st and TIME IS RUNNING OUT!