I'll spin you Valentine evenings though we're strangers 'til now

Things are happening in the background. I'm not willing to fully relax, yet, but--if all works out as it's been proposed, we may well not only keep Gearhaven, but I'll be working to redecorate at least part of it. But it's early stages yet, so...nothing, even the stones, are set in stone.



In the meantime, there's a new group gift at /Vae Victis\! A variant on the Fenrisulfr stole set, this time in Vaporwave tones, with a specific set of hues for the HUD.



So I'm in Heartsong Shores' Neo-Kowloon alleys to show it off.

So same thing as last time--the Female Unrigged for the stole, and the Male version for the skulls this time. Both texture and tint for the skulls are off the chart, frankly. So vibrant, all the wau factor. I never thought blacklight UV could be carried off in SL, but...this is close.



What's it like in all the Byxian pinks? Just as wild.



Silly as it may sound, I think the original version is far more customizeable, overall--this one I can't manage to figure out how to make the skulls smaller without making them non-functional with the chain addition--but I think I like this one better. This could be because it goes so well with the raver girl avatar, though.



I don't have pictures of this, mind, but I spent the next several hours in the stole set. It made me smile.



Anyway, you want this? You can't get it at any event. It's just available as a New Year's group gift at the main store. But it's a really fun group, if that matters!



And of course the amusement went off the charts when I ported to the main store for the link to give out, and ended up looking washed out by the SAVAGE pink tones of the ground. (Believe: this is just standard unrezzed mesh, it's just funny because I was in UV-radiant tones, the stole was in UV-radiant tones, and I went to the main store and it decided to join the madness. I laughed, the party laughed, the table laughed...then we killed the table.)

(Sorry--really old D and D joke.)

Come join the group if you want the Vaporwave edition of the Fenrisulfr stole for free. The water's fine. Also occasionally laden with piranha, bugs, and Kamen Rider-obsessed trapbots, but...that just comes with the territory, really. You'll be fiiiiiiine.

itamoo Steampunk would fit right in, if that tells you anything. (And no, not entirely sure whether that's a good thing, or terrifying. As with so many things in my life, it's likely both.)

Obligatory occasional run-down of everything else:

Eyes: Inheart's Hades - Toxic Green System+mesh set: discounted on MP due to age (but I still think they work)
Hair: Misty II, which I seem to recall was a group gift from Olive (but either way, it's at their mainstore)
Skin: The frustrating one, it's this year's holiday gift from Fallen Gods, so unless you're already in the group, I don't think this particular shade will be available (but for what it's worth, it's one of the Pure shades, Odyssey).
Jacket: 28LA's Pride Fur, black variant (I don't know if this one's available either).
Top: The Catharina halter from First Choice
Leggings/Leg Harness: Combat Leggings and Harness set from Demon Doll
Makeup: Old now, but the eyes are the FreeBees Glam Eyeshadow set in Berry (maybe on the MP store?), and the Metallic Lips in Mystic from StarGazer, originally, now might be carried at MACA?
Shoes: The Thick Block Heels from PIXEL BOX
Shape: My own, adulterated in seventeen different ways
Body: Maitreya.

it's almost over now, I think I know how this all ends

It's been a...not great handful of days. No huge pain spikes, yay, but no sign of retreat. I'm carrying the Eternal Headache into the new year, 123 days in. Whee.

But I wanted to blog *something* before the year ended. So today, it's the Fenrisulfr stole from Vae Victis, and...where am I?



Outland Christmas. Okay. So, out of the box it's pretty striking, but I noticed something interesting.



To wit: there are male and female rigged versions, but--sort of a mix? To further explain, it's rigged for the stole: eBody, eBody higher, Female Unrigged, Juicy Boobs, Jake, and Male Unrigged. For the sash, we have: eBody Closer, eBody over clothes, Jake Closer, Jake over clothes, and Juicy Boobs closer. Finally, for the Wolf Skulls add-on: Male, Male v2, and Female.

I'm in Maitreya, so I'm sort of hoping for the best.



I'm wearing the Female Unrigged and the Sash for the Juicy Boobs. Seems to fit. Took a bit to figure out the tinting HUD, which is not Grim's fault at all--between not wanting to be upright and some blurred vision now and again, it's tricky. But to that end, it is a more complex hud. (But that just gives you more options!)



And with the skulls. Do note: they are *heavily* adjusted, because as is out of the box, they sort of disappeared into the fur. Not great, so I pulled them into edit and slid them a bit out, and a bit farther down, and--works!



And the HUD in question. Took a bit for me to separate the stole options, from the sash options, but once you figure out what goes to which piece, you're gold. Endlessly customizeable, is what I'm saying here. I mostly stayed to winter tones, because I was in winter tones, but there's a wide variety of potential shades.

They're currently going for L$500, which gets you the fur stole, the hanging sash, AND the wolf skulls, any of which could be used indepedently with a bit of adjusting. Find them here!



Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to end the night in typical Second Life fashion--by pouring New Year's champagne into my third eye. Cheers!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eldritch/140/174/1015

unraveling since I found you

I am three days from having this headache for two months solid. It's draining a lot of energy for...everything. But still, I had things to do today, and I did...some of them...and I'm still trying, perhaps in vain, to find one good, solid, scary haunt.

Tonight, before I leave for dinner, I'm taking in a haunt in Sleezywood...which already makes me think it's yet another disappointment. But let's go.

Game rip from go? No, we're moving on. I threw away the picture even.

Dear gods, what's left? What about the Haunt at the Admiral's Arms?



Took me a bit to find out how to get out of the rainy back alley to the haunt, but now we're here, and...wau, it's dark.



Okay, flashlight on, let's go, and...Okay. wait. One door leads to a games room stocked with adult furniture and erotic art. Another leads to a bedroom and a bar. Yet ANOTHER takes me to a shopping area downtown...Clicking on the door in the garage gets me to a Bloodlines storage area....What?

Finally I turned around to the ONLY door unchecked, the one that had the Circle of Avatar Moving off a land spot...save I didn't land there. Right, then, let's try that...and into a circular maze of demi-connected passages, leading finally to stairs down, spiraling towards...



...an occult library? Chest has some freebies. But...this seems to be about it.



Meanwhile, I can't believe I forgot to cover the "Bad Moon Rising" Bannered Horns from /Vae Victis\ when I covered the other ones. Where is my mind...Well. I know exactly where it is, in excruciating detail, and I'd rather I didn't.

But they're one of the hunt gifts at Hallow Manor, which I believe closes on the 31st? So there's a little time left, I hope!



So I went to 1313's redux of their "Curios and Spooky Things" haunt.

And why yes, I did tint the entire horns teal to match my hair. Doesn't really show up on the horns themselves, but look at how neat that shade picked up the runes on the banners!



I will likely drop the tent on these when I wear them again, because they truly are a perfect blood-moon red..but for now it's fun.



Haunting the radio station at the back of 1313's haunt is kind of fun.



Floating in the horns? Also fun. Oh, and just for the sake of mentioning it--for once, I wanted the heaviness. This headache is dire, and now on its 59th consecutive day, so horns that were just a solid, heavy presence actually worked for me.



I won't lie, I own a lot of horns. So many that they've been subdivided in the Fantasy horns folder, between 'antlers', 'demonic', and 'goat/ram' varieties, then further into 'bright', 'goth', 'seasonal', 'aged', 'natural' and 'construct' subsets. Some few also go directly into larger seasonal folders, under 'Autumn/Hallows' or 'Winter' usually. The beauty of doing this is not only that I adore covering really wonderful things, but that I can, without a doubt, say I have at least one set of /Vae Victis\ horns in the larger seasonal folders, and several have made their way into the Fantasy folder subfolder sets as well.

And even having said that, I think the Bannered horns are going to be heavily in rotation. Even when I smallenize them later, they fit my "occasional deer with sheep honns' aesthetic. :D

You can find them, remember, at the Hallows Manor hunt by searching for the hunt prizes in the back woods, orrr...this year I said the hell with it and bought six of the Silver hunt HUDs, and just going directly to the prize room. Several tasty things there, and I see no loss of honor in taking the easy route currently.

a monster in my heart, a ghost inside my chest

So, being behind on blogging as I am, I decided to take in a bit of Shop n' Hop, starting in Tinseled, because of course, that makes sense, right? But some of the decor in Lulu's booth just seemed appropriate.

So let me show you my new favorite floating thing while I'm there, the Gruesome Relic Soul Reliquary from /Vae Victis\.



As expected with designs from this brand, the detail's gorgeous, and it auto-defaults to hovering just below the left hand.



I believe it's a porcupine skull in the orb? At least, it looks like one.



The HUD for the Gruesome relic gives you a lot of options, as well, with three things to tint--the skull inside the orb, the orb, and the cross.



The orb around the skull is transparent. I knew that already, but I amused myself holding it in front of the jack o'lantern for far longer than I should have.



Now, the only down side I've found: since it's solely locked to the left hand descending, any pose you have that raises your left hand will raise the relic. Can't be helped. Sometimes it works, sometimes--like here--it raises at a 90-degree angle.

Someone needs to put out an AO solely for people holding floating things.

But that aside, if you just want a great picture, flip up a static pose and grab the best angle.

And remember, this is a prize for MadPea's Spooktacular Halloween hunt, which I'm curently debating picking up a HUD to run. The prizes are generally good, I'm not saying not, I'm just--do I really need a Spectral Blaster, and a Spectral backpack, and a teensy little retro ghost-hunting car? (The L$500 level HUD.) Or do I just need the basics, the ability TO hunt down everything? (The L$100 HUD.)

Either way, you'll find this hidden at the /Vae Victis\ main store, in the Dreaming God's fortress. Happy hunting!

boy, I'm gonna love you, I'm gonna tear into your soul (part LXV)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part LXIV.)



The odd readings had led her here. No new rifts, no new activity from the ones they knew about, but still, the Duchess stood on Darktow, sweeping the hand unit in slow half-circles. She wrinkled her nose. She might as well be dowsing for all the effect this was having--



Wait.

There.

Across the bay from Darktow.



She found herself on the end of the little pier, thinking she might just have to break down and lay out a set of walking piers around the sims, but carefully put the scanner away and sighed, jumping into the waves.



She dragged herself back onto solid land, squeezing water from her hair, and took out the scanner again. It was near the shore temple, she knew that...the little temple which had just appeared one day, as many things did on Gearhaven, and they'd had so much else to do they hadn't really investigated.

But it wasn't inside...

She walked around the structure, moving towards the dragon's skull they'd found somewhere, and stopped.

There it was again. And...then gone.



In frustration, she knelt at the cliff's edge, putting away the scanner again, and just concentrated. She was a by-gods magical being, and if technology wouldn't work, there was always--

Calliope music. Distant. Very distant. Faint. But...there.

But where was it coming from??

She craned over the edge of the cliff and--finally. Saw...it.



A...skull. A small one. Floating...over the water.

"I don't suppose you talk, or anything?"

She waited. She sighed.



"Probably too much to hope for..."

She went off to find Justine.

(Continued in part LXVI.)

Miss Slighted, high-minded, I’m stuck in the rain

Oh, excuse me, the title is actually Summit Nights and HALLOWEEN HAUNTED HOUSE! BOO! There you go. The description states:

Summit Nights: A unique "night garden" themed dance club playing great music from all genres.

Come and see our creepy haunted mansion, guaranteed to give you a good scare! Ghosts, ghouls, skeletons and zombies, oh my!

So...dance club, but also haunt? Or haunted dance club? I have no idea.



Well, it has rules.



And they've definitely worked to set a particular mood.



Because of course they have game rips, why wouldn't they? Cue massive facepalming.



This was a neat effect. Two of the four paintings moved up and down on the wall. Simple, but effective. This was the second wall with the effect--the first one seemed to be in more shadow--but there didn't seem to be repetition, which is my other bane--the earlier four paintings were different.



The game rips are getting on my nerves...



Really? Okay, it's possible this is not a direct game rip, even though Ju-On had a video game released for the Wii. (And yes, the little meowing boy? He is in that game.) But one way or another, this was my "I'm done here" note.

Haunts are an odd thing--they rely on two key principles, and they are opposing: originality and creativity on the one side, and tradition and established settings on the other. But it is far from impossible to play to both things, and make a haunt work, without involving game properties or established media properties.

That is, if the designer cares at all.

And...that's it. I'll make one more correction to the list of all the haunts, and then I'll start working on old pictures for the haunts, but this is my last haunted house for the year. Blessings of the season to you all!

inside my mind, shades of visions, fading photographs of you, of me

Evolving Images apparently has a haunt this year. Their description states:

Visit the dining room for Halloween treats, and the kitchen for beanie and snake stew. Most Halloween décor is set for sale, but explore the grounds for some hidden free Halloween décor. Be careful going upstairs, it is called a haunted house! mwahaha

Okay. Let's check it out.



Who puts a haunt on a bright sunny beach? I'm at least setting the day cycle to midnight.



The ripped clown does not fill me with confidence. But I will say, the rest of the downstairs being decorated for a party doesn't hurt--Halloween house-party nostalgia is strong this year.



That's clever, and it's apparently made by Evolving Images.



I'm not sure which disturbs me more: that the presence of toys suggests this is a child's bedroom; that it's the only bedroom in the house; that this bedroom seems to be doing double duty as body storage; or that the storm seems to be coming from inside the house.

Overall, this isn't terrible. I found it laggy, but that could be me right now--Windows updated on my comp and everything has been as slow as molasses since. I will add, though, that everything in the house seems to be purchasable, so...there's that.

and I don't know where I've been, and I don't know what I'm into (part two)

Picking up where we left off, there is a track section with spiderwebs. I didn't see any actual spiders, but there are webs.



I swear I've been here before. But I don't recognize the sim, or the house around the track. It's so odd.





This was also a neat effect. This was after the ride ended, and I went upstairs to explore the second level of the house. The kitchen had this, three slowly rotating chairs, with a ghost fading in and out.



Okay, but these twop rips I can't ignore. Time to go.

The ride part is fun? Even though it basically laps the lower house twice, it's still fun. The upstairs is sort of find-the-effect wandering, and that's about it. Plus game rips, so, y'know...either this haunt is another three-skull extravaganza or you may like it, who knows? All I know is copyright infringement when I see it.

and I don't know where I've been, and I don't know what I'm into (part one)

So I found a rock club that seems to have a haunt?

WHERE ROCK RULES!
Halloween,Haunted House,Costumes,Pumpkins,Ghosts,
Graveyard,Music,Shop,Date,Rock,Club,Biker,DJ,Host,Adult,
Amusement,Park,Rides,nude Beach,Dance,Friends,Romance,Forest,Derby,Party,Games,

Okay, "Haunted House" is in there, but there's so much else going on, I admit to some doubt.



I guess this is the haunt?



OH! It's a ride!



That is a very neat fence effect.



Game rip, the clown, but I'll allow it...for now. But this layout feels awfully familiar.



The car runs on a figure-eight track, I think? It's a straight chain ride, no water, no backing up and rotating. This was also a neat effect--as the car zips by, the skull spits blood particles.

I'll pick up the rest in the https://razorblade-cookies.blogspot.com/2019/10/doggers-den-rock-club-part-two.html.