and what am I now but your reaction, I'm all those memories you tried to steal

There is no one thing left, but that one thing, and that one thing, you cannot have. What now?

Gooood question.

So. I've been gone a month. Longer than, really, if you count the slipped story, and that, I'm not sure I can go back to--both the story and the story-tellers have changed in the intervening time. I'll try, but it won't be the story I would have told then, and it may not even be the one I'd tell now, all things considered true.

Am I being obscure? Probably.

So what's happened? Big changes, big transitions. New Alexandria has fallen without a mention, much as I'd meant to mention it; Port Fortune has (sort of) risen in its memory, though not its place. Krakenstorm my beloved, while still there, is not; it will soon be released by the land's owner back into the mists. New Alexandria's former territory will depart as well, around the same time, leaving Gearhaven no longer five, but three.

But in reality, we're mainly two, because Darkmere rises again in the Dark Sea. I've been enchanted watching it rise, and watching its scattered denizens return. They couldn't be happier. I think I couldn't either.

Soon the black sun and the darkened moon will shine their occult rays on the fens and marshes, and for once that is not hyperbole; Lucifer Baphomet is designing the sun and moon for his skies, and they are...distinct, and different. And very much him.

What else?

The Night Court has fallen; vestiges of it still remain in Silver City, and while I do not wish them well, at least I do not wish them harm, and that is about the best that can be hoped for. Once again, Gearhaven is home to refugees from elsewhere, and I'm doing all I can to make our strange, wild lands somewhat more...tame? Tame is not the word, but it's the only one coming to mind...for their stay with us. They're looking towards owning their own lands, so their sojourning within our borders is for a finite time, be that weeks, months, or years. And that's fine; all things change, whether we wish them to or not. Nothing stays the same.

I'm now an official blogger for Vae Victis; I suppose I should thank the nepotism of friendship for that, but honestly, I'm awed and amazed that I was approved. Because, as every reader of this blog knows, I don't take pictures in the best, most optimal light; I take them for what is seen, by most, on the grid as is. Very few fancified effects; for all my fancies, and many are innate at this point, I am a realist where the lens is concerned.

I will try to note where I was given product, versus just buying it on my own; the Dracul Regalia horns of last entry, for instance, were given graciously by Grimoire Hexem. The next entry, on the Hiraeth antlers, I bought those on my own. (Amusingly, they're one of the product offerings I could have had, gratis, for the blogging, but--I wanted them, I bought them, I made them mine. So there.)

And I'm putting the blog back together. Whatever haphazard glitch in the matrix disabled it in the first place, I can no longer find the originals to restore, so--going back to the template before the template I had before the last template. Annoying, but there we are. I will slowly add things back in as we go.

And...that's about one. Down one hand surgery, will have another hand go under the knife next month, but that's RL...in SL, things are...more or less good. Well. They're good, they're just...either I have way too much free time, and nothing to do with it, or no free time at all, and I'm scrambling to get everything done. Isn't it always the way?

But from here, I start to reweave the threads, and we'll see what happens from there.

Has to be better than a month of nothing at all...

let's dance in style, lets dance for a while (part three)

(Continued from part two.)

We continue with the third tale.

[14:44] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): For our last story of the show will be told by my lovely sister geisha Hiroko san
[14:44] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Please dear Hiroko san *smiles* tell us your tale
[14:45] Hiroko Yokosuka: Konnichiwa everyone! hope you are all have a wonderful evening. And indeed it is one.
[14:45] Hiroko Yokosuka: Tonight I bring you a story call "Coyote brings fire"

[14:46] Hiroko Yokosuka: Long ago, the Fire Beings were the only people who had fire.
[14:46] Hiroko Yokosuka: They guarded it closely and wouldn't share it with other tribes or animals.
[14:46] Hiroko Yokosuka: This didn't matter so much in spring and summer, but in winter many young children and old people died from the icy cold.
[14:46] Hiroko Yokosuka: Just before the next winter, some of the animals called a meeting.
[14:47] Hiroko Yokosuka: "We can't let our children and grandparents die from the cold this year," said Squirrel. "We have to get fire from the Fire Beings to keep warm."
[14:47] Hiroko Yokosuka: "How can we do that?" asked Chipmunk. "The Fire Beings won't share it with us".
[14:48] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Let's ask Coyote for help" said Frog. "He's crafty and cunning, and he'll know how to get fire".
[14:48] Hiroko Yokosuka: Coyote listened and thought about the problem. Then he smiled a cunning smile.
[14:48] Hiroko Yokosuka: "We'll take it!" answered Coyote slyly. "I have a plan. Follow me!"
[14:49] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas) looses myself in the music and dance, captivated with the tale
[14:49] Hiroko Yokosuka: Coyote lead the animals to the Fire Beings' camp on top of the mountain. The others hid in the bushes while Coyote walked into the camp.
[14:49] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Who's there?" screeched one of the Beings. "Someone's trying to steal our fire".

[14:50] Hiroko Yokosuka: "It's all right," hissed another. "It's only an old moth eaten coyote".
[14:50] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Huummph! Moth eaten indeed," thought Coyote, but he didn't say anything. He lay down by the fire and pretended to go to sleep, keeping one eye half open.
[14:50] Hiroko Yokosuka: Three Fire Beings sat nearby. One was huge and ugly - with a small bald head and big rolls of fat around his stomach.
[14:51] Hiroko Yokosuka: Snot dripped in long slimy strands from his nose. The other two were old hags, with eyes like red stones and clawed hands like a vulture.
[14:51] Hiroko Yokosuka: After a few minutes, a banging noise started in the bushes. It was Coyote's friends.
[14:51] Hiroko Yokosuka: "What's that horrible noise?" cried the fat ugly Fire Being. "Who's there?" The three of them went to investigate.
[14:51] Hiroko Yokosuka: Seeing his chance, Coyote snatched up a glowing piece of fire and ran off down the mountain as fast as he could.
[14:52] Hiroko Yokosuka: Realising they had been tricked, the two hags screamed and chased after him.
[14:52] Hiroko Yokosuka: The big fat bald Fire Being just stood there, with more snot dripping from his nose.>
[14:52] Hiroko Yokosuka: The hags were old, but they could run like the wind. They nearly caught Coyote
[14:52] Hiroko Yokosuka: One of them stretched out her claws and touched the tip of his tail. The heat turned the hairs white.

[14:53] Hiroko Yokosuka: Coyote threw the fire into the air towards Squirrel.
[14:53] Hiroko Yokosuka: She caught it in her tail and scampered off over stumps and boulders.
[14:54] Hiroko Yokosuka: The fire scorched her so badly, that her tail curled up over her back. She was almost caught, until Chipmunk bounded up beside her.
[14:54] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Me! Me! Throw it to me!" Catching the fire, Chipmunk turned to run.
[14:54] Hiroko Yokosuka: One of the hags clawed her back leaving three stripes down it. Chipmunk threw the fire to Frog, but one of the Beings grabbed his tail.
[14:55] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Let me go!" yelled Frog. He squirmed and struggled so much that his eyeballs bulged and he thought his heart would burst.
[14:55] Hiroko Yokosuka: With one last mighty leap he tore himself free, leaving his beautiful long tail behind, still wriggling in the hag's claw.
[14:55] Hiroko Yokosuka: Frog threw the fire to Wood and Wood swallowed it.

[14:56] Hiroko Yokosuka: The Fire Beings hit Wood and kicked him and cut him with their knives, but still Wood didn't spit out the fire.
[14:56] Hiroko Yokosuka: At last the hags gave up and went home, mumbling to themselves:
[14:56] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Oh dear, I think I broke a nail". "Never mind. We'll have frog's tail soup tonight." "Mmm! That sounds nice".
[14:56] Hiroko Yokosuka: Coyote called all the animals together to teach them how to get the fire from Wood.
[14:57] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Fire is a gift for everyone.
[14:57] Hiroko Yokosuka: If you rub two dry sticks of Wood together very fast Wood will get itchy and give you some fire. From now on you will be warm in winter"
[14:57] Hiroko Yokosuka: "I told you Coyote was cunning" said Frog.
[14:57] Hiroko Yokosuka: "Yes, but I wonder what frog's tail soup tastes like?" asked Squirrel.

[14:58] Hiroko Yokosuka: And that is why today, Coyote's tail has a white tip, squirrel's tail curls around over her back, chipmunk's coat has white stripes and frog has no tail.
[14:58] Hiroko Yokosuka: But everyone is warm in winter.
[14:58] Hiroko Yokosuka: This is the end of my story, hope you all have enjoyed it.

[14:58] Ωღ Lιηᴀ ღΩ (shannon.warden): happy clapss
[14:58] Otterax Avalanche (otterax): That's a four-fer!
[14:58] Otterax Avalanche (otterax): Aρρlɑuѕɛ!
[14:59] Emilly Orr applauds, beaming.
[14:59] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas) bows respectfully
[14:59] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas) applauds and smiles gratefully
[14:59] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Domo arigato HIorko san for that lovely tale!ありがとうございます (Translated: "Thank you.")
[15:00] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): So sadly, dear guests the time has come for our show to end.
[15:01] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): I am glad you could all be here with us to share this special day with us
[15:01] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): If you are not already a member of our Little Yoshiwara group, I would like to invite you to join.
[15:01] Ωღ Lιηᴀ ღΩ (shannon.warden): yes oleses
[15:01] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): From this group, we send notices that will notifiy you of any other performances we may have.
[15:01] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): As your day continues, I hope that you may carry the feeling of peace and beauty that you felt here through out the rest of the day.

[15:02] reefer 無怨無悔 (reefer.shoreman): more Applause!
[15:02] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): And I hope to see you again very soon! ありがとうございます (Translated: "Thank you.")
[15:02] Otterax Avalanche (otterax): Arigato!
[15:02] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano) smiles
[15:02] Ωღ Lιηᴀ ღΩ (shannon.warden): my the light allways shine apone you and all your house
[15:02] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana) smiles in a friendly way
[15:02] reefer 無怨無悔 (reefer.shoreman): more Applause!
[15:04] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas) beams and claps more
[15:04] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): ookini everyone, arigatou gozaimasu (Translated: "ありがとうございます." )
[15:04] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas): Do have a blessed rest of day
[15:05] Ωღ Lιηᴀ ღΩ (shannon.warden): to all here thank you and i realy love this place i hope to be allowed to return till then my the light shine
[15:05] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas) bows respectfully
[15:05] Emilly Orr bows in respect and slips away.

And thus endeth the trio of tales.

let's dance in style, lets dance for a while (part two)

(Continued from part one)

We continue with the second tale.

[14:30] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Now the next story will be told by myself so enjoy.
[14:31] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Konnichiwa everyone
[14:31] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): My story today is

The Master Swordsman and The Tayu

[14:31] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Oooo
[14:31] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Before Miyamto Muashi wrote his book The Book of Five Rings.
[14:31] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Which classed as the bible for samuari in Japan.
[14:32] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): It is said he learned of his craft from a tayu by the name of Yoshino.
[14:32] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Yoshino was a well know tayu that worked in the Shimabara quarter in Kyoto.
[14:32] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Well know for her beauty and adored to this day by many as been the tayu that exemplified what is to be a tayu.
[14:32] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): But thats another story

[14:33] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): One night snowy Miyamto Muashi was with friends and came to visit Yoshino for the evening.
The evening was a well entertained one with laughter and sake.
[14:33] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Until Yoshino spotted Miyamto Muasahi quietly slipping out in response to a noise outside.
[14:33] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Luckily she was the only one to spot him leave.
[14:33] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): A few minutes later he returned and sported a bright splash of red on the white lining of his kimono.
[14:34] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Miyamto’s friends spotted this and asked,”What is that?”
[14:34] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Before he could tell them Yoshino retorted “Just a peony petal”.
[14:34] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): She wiped it off the white of his kimono quickly with napkin.
[14:34] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): The party continued until each of the guests retired for the night.
[14:35] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): But been the tayu she was, with her unerring instinct she had guessed he had engaged in a duel.
[14:35] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): So asked Miyamto to come to her private chambers.
[14:35] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Cause now the retainers of the other duellists were now waiting outside ready to ambush Miyamto, when he came out of the tea house.

[14:36] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Sitting in her chamber,
Miyamto was quiet tense and with a worried expression on his face,
[14:36] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): but trying to hide it from Yoshino.
He all could see a death for him in the morning or when ever he left the tea-house.

[14:37] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): This tense and quiet situation was getting to Yoshino.
[14:37] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): So picking up her Biwa,
a four or five stringed traditional Japanese lute played with a plectrum.
[14:37] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Suddenly took a knife to the Biwa and smashed it into pieces.
[14:37] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Reaching into the remains of the sound box picked out the cross piece,
a simple piece of wood and showed it to him.
[14:38] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): “Miyamto you see this small piece of wood,
[14:38] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): it is flexible and not ridged so to not to break so my Biwa can sound so.
[14:38] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): If was inflexible it would either break or make the Biwa sound flat.” She said.
[14:38] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Now placing it in his hands, he could see how flexible it was.
[14:39] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): “If it was taut and unyielding it would break at the time the Biwa was plucked.”

[14:39] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): These word gave comfort to Miyamto.
outside
[14:39] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): He needed to be flexible as that cross piece,
[14:40] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): So he could move and bend to the attacks.
This gave him the strength to realised the battle is winnable.
[14:40] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): He thanked Yoshino for her time and bound out into the snow.
[14:40] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): The retainers' men attacked as soon Miyamto came into the open
[14:41] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): A flash of blade was seen as many man jumped on Miyamto,
as each attacked they were brought down in a pool of blood reddening the snow on the ground.
[14:41] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Where in a few minutes dozen or so men laid on the ground all dead.
[14:42] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Thanks to the advice given by the tayu Yoshino.

Miymato won the day.
[14:42] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): With that advice Miyamto became the great swordsman that history remembers.
[14:42] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): But he never forgot what that tayu Yoshino taught him
that snowy night in Shimabara for the rest of his life.

[14:42] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): The end of my tale of the Master swordsman and The Tayu
[14:42] Otterax Avalanche (otterax): Suspenseful story!
[14:43] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Domo arigato for listening!ありがとうございます

(Translated: "Thank you.")

(Continued in part three.)

let's dance in style, lets dance for a while (part one)

Today I went to a Geisha performance in Little Yoshiwara.




Onstage were Suzuteru 寿々照 (Komayo Marabana) telling the story (on the left), Yoneyu 米愉 (Sorasu Romano) (center), and Hiroko Yokosuka on the right. Ms. Yokosuka is Yoshiwara's Okiya Musume Geshia Lian and an Administrator for Little Yoshiwara, as well as Second Life's first Chinese Geisha. Ms. Yoneyu is the Okasan for Little Yoshiwara Okiya, and Ms. Suzuteru, our storyteller, is a senior maiko (the highest ranking, I believe, for an apprentice Geisha).

[14:13] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Now for our first tale will be told by beautiful senior maiko Suzuteru chan with a nice story called A Spider's Thread story
[14:13] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Please dear Suzuteru chan *smiles* tell us your tale
[14:13] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Dear patrons, I will be telling a story called "The Spider's Thread."

[14:13] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): One day, the Lord Buddha was strolling alone on the shore of the lotus pond in Paradise.
[14:15] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas): Ohhh..
[14:15] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Since the depths of Hell lay directly below the lotus pond on Paradise, the scenery can be clearly seen through the crystal-clear water.
[14:15] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Then, the single figure of a man, Kandata by name, squirming there in the depths of Hell along with other sinners, comes into the Lord Buddha's gaze.
[14:15] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): This man Kandata is a murderer, an arsonist, and a master thief with numerous robberies in his reputation.
[14:16] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Yet, the Lord Buddha recalls that he had performed a single good deed...
[14:16] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas): Ok.. a start!

[14:16] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): That is to say, once when Kandata was traveling through the middle of a dense forest he came upon a spider crawling along the roadside.
[14:17] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Thereupon he immediately raised his foot and was about to trample it to death. But, he suddenly reconsidered, saying, "Nay, nay, small though this spider be, there is no doubt that it too is a living being."
[14:17] Tóng Tǐ 统体 (goswamitulsidas): Mmm.. good man
[14:17] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): "Somehow or other it seems a shame to take its life for no reason." In the end he spared the spider rather than killing it.

[14:17] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): While observing the situation in Hell, the Lord Buddha remembers that this Kandata had spared the spider.
[14:18] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): And he decides that in return for having done just that one good deed he would, if he could, try to rescue this man from Hell.
[14:18] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Luckily, he sees nearby a spider of Paradise spinning a beautiful silver web on a jade colored lotus petal.
[14:18] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Upon seeing it Kandata involuntarily claps his hands for joy. If he were to cling to this thread and climb it to its end, he would surely be able to escape from Hell.
[14:19] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): And, if all went well, he would even be able to enter Paradise.

[14:19] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Having thought thusly, Kandata quickly takes firm hold of that spider's thread with both hands and using all his might begins climbing up and up hand-over-hand.
[14:19] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): From long ago Kandata has been completely used to doing this sort of thing since he is a former master thief.
[14:20] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): But because the distance between Hell and Paradise is some tens of thousands of miles, try though he might, he is not able to ascend to the top easily.
[14:20] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): After climbing for a while, even Kandata finally tires; he is unable to continue for even one more pull on the thread.
[14:21] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Having no other choice, he intends first to take a short rest. While hanging onto the thread he looks down on the distance below.
[14:21] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Kandata sees that thanks to the efforts he spent climbing, where he had just recently been, is now already hidden at the bottom of the darkness.
[14:22] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): If he were to continue at this pace, the escape from Hell just might not be as difficult as he had expected. Wrapping his hand around the spider's thread, Kandata laughs in a voice unused during his years in Hell, "I'm saved! I'm saved at last!"

[14:22] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Then, he suddenly notices that below him on the spider's thread, just like a line of ants, a countless number of sinners are following him, climbing up and up for all they are worth!
[14:22] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): When Kandata sees this, he momentarily freezes from shock and fear, his mouth agape and his eyes rolling in his head.
[14:23] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): How could it be that this slender spider's thread, seemingly strained even under the weight of just him alone, is able to support the weight of that many?
[14:23] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): By some chance were the thread to break, he, the egotistical Kandata who at great pains had climbed this far, and everyone else would plummet headlong back into Hell.
[14:23] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): For that to happen would be a disaster.
[14:24] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): But, even as he thinks this, sinners, not by the hundreds, nor even by the thousands, but in swarms, continue to crawl up from the bottom of the pitch dark and climb up the thin luminous spider's thread in single file.
[14:24] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): If he doesn't do something right away, the thread will break in two at the center and he will surely fall.
[14:25] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): At this point, Kandata yells in a loud voice, "Hey, you sinners. This spider's thread is mine. Who the hell asked you to climb it? Get down! Get off it!"
[14:25] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Just as he screams at the other sinners the spider's thread, which till then had had nothing wrong with it, suddenly breaks with a snap right where Kandata is hanging.
[14:25] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Without even time to cry out, Kandata goes flying through the air spinning like a top and in the wink of an eye plunges headfirst into the dark depths of Hell.
[14:26] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Afterwards, only the shortened spider's thread from Paradise dangles there, glittering dimly in a sky void of both moon and stars.

[14:26] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): The Lord Buddha stands on the shore of the lotus pond in Paradise having taken in everything from start to finish.
[14:26] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): When Kandata finally sinks like a rock to the bottom he resumes strolling, his countenance seemingly creased with sadness.
[14:27] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Seen through divine eyes, the Lord Buddha thought it wretched that Kandata's compassionless heart led him to attempt to escape by himself and for such a heart falling back into Hell was just punishment.
[14:27] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): The lotus blossoms in the pond of Paradise, however, are not concerned in the least about what has happened.
[14:27] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Those blossoms of the whitest white wave their cups around the divine feet of the Lord Buddha and from the golden stamen in the center of each an indescribably pleasant fragrance issues forth abidingly over the adjacent area.
[14:28] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): Noon draws near in Paradise.
[14:28] Suzuteru 寿々照 (komayo.marabana): ~* The End *~
[14:29] Yoneyu 米愉 (sorasu.romano): Domo arigato Suzuteru chan for that lovely tale! ありがとうございます (Translated: "Thank you.")

(Continued in part two.)

I'll wait up till the morning light; to stay awake is to stay alive

There's a new Minecraft parody video out there, this time to Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger". It's amazing if you know the song, and know Minecraft; but it's still pretty awesome if you don't.

(By the way, if you've ever seen Daft Punk's original video for the song, this version won't make much sense. It only makes slightly more sense when you also factor in the two best-known fan tributes to the song, Daft Bodies and Daft Hands.)

And though the holiday season is over at this point, I wanted to link the Twelve Days of Minecraft for your perusal. He's not the strongest singer, but then, for this song, he doesn't need to be. It's cute without being cloying, though I am more amused that the "nine ladies dancing" all seem to be Link.

And and, there's finally a Gangnam Style parody out there for Minecraft--well, at this point, there's likely more than one. But this one features Endermen!

And last, "Don't Mine at Night" pretty much sums up my Minecraft experience. Also, monster choreography! It cannot be missed. Brad Knauber and Tyler Clark strike again. Beautifully done.

Also, Curio's back! There are both positive and negative things in this. While the major takedown of Hush Skins we hoped for won't happen (at least not at the best of Curio, League and Belleza could still file), they have reached a legal settlement and binding arbitration. To wit: neither side admits legal liability, but both have agreed that their stores--and their product lines--arose independently.

Interestingly, Hush Darkrose also announced that she never filed a Supreme Court action in the first place, which--after many of us pored over the inner workings of the Canadian Supreme Court system--we already knew, but...at least it's good that she finally came out with it.

I will also say that it makes her supporters--especially those who purported to have seen the "court documents in question"--look rather foolish, now that she's admitted she never did any such thing.

Unfortunately, neither side can discuss it at this point. There are still questions to be answered, but...really, the ultimate thing is that Gala Phoenix is no longer banned from SL, her store and sim have emerged from the chaos more or less intact, and she can legally sell her skins again. So...overall, yay?

And finally, random profile philosophy:

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

The other moral: Just learn to live with the pricks in your life!

Which just about sums up this post.

if I die young, bury me in satin

Scenes from a hunt.

(from the scavenging album)

The new Madpea hunt has several advantages to the last one; mainly, that it's separated into two parts. Find all the Missing Person posters of Alex's missing wife; punch in the numbers into Alex's phone; get links. You can use each link then, or wait; the links are stored in the address book portion of the phone. Ingenious programming, really. My recommendation: spend the time you need to spend in the town itself, first--both to get an idea of the story, but also, to ensure that you get all the posters, so you can just hit the locations later.

And I have a special place in my heart for jackalopes, so these little guys were cute to see.

(from the scavenging album)

There were a few places where I was pulled out of the immersion of the hunt. One started before we ever set foot on the hunt site; namely, the fact that Alex is fully clothed from the waist up, and barely at all from the waist down. I literally had to make leggings for him to wear under the scraps and tatters of his jeans, because there was no way, even if I was wearing a male avatar for the evening, that I was going to wander around a haunted town with my entire butt hanging out.

Besides, Alex would get cold.

How'ver, this was the other thing that pulled me out of the immersion. The phone numbers. Some were seven digits (standard numbers); some were ten digits (standard plus area code); but from there they went all over the place. The highest set of numbers we found had fifteen digits; the shortest, four. What the hell, people?

(from the scavenging album)

This one just amused me. He looked so happy. But he's missing his hands, and his feet. Why?
]

(from the scavenging album)

Really, I'm not the one to ask, math has never been my strong suit.

(from the scavenging album)

This one takes some explaining. I'd noticed the spinning off-kilter (more on that in a bit), but I hadn't noticed the difference in the blades. So, I present to you the blades from the top: wide, curving rusted metal, battered, showing definite signs of wear...

(from the scavenging album)

...and the fan blades from the bottom: thinner, tapered blades made of rattan and dark wood. Huh?

(from the scavenging album)

And what I noticed earlier: the fan spins off-kilter. Either it needs adjusting, or it was designed to be off-center, so avatars would dread walking under it. Not sure, either way.

Now, I'd say more about this hunt, but it runs until June. So I'm not going to show anything more than general landscape shots. I also have an idea how it's going to play out, based on some of the things Alex has "remembered", so far. But again, I want to hold off until I finish the hunt, and see if I'm right.

The sim that Sanity Falls currently sits on is a wonderfully landscaped thing. While some of the sounds get unnerving, and some of the happenings in the town are definitely on the dark side, there's very little that made me jump out of my skin--or Alex's, as it happens. But then, what disturbs me generally gives other people nightmares, and I don't say that lightly. Still, considering my familiarity with all things horrifying, MadPea Productions did a great job.

I'm not damning them with faint praise--the texturing is amazing in spots, though some of that is attributable to Noctis, who've always done impressive work. There are odd symbols that pop up and sounds that recur, and some of the things Alex completely freaks out over just makes the whole thing more surreal.

Ultimately, I'd recommend it. I know less than nothing about the swag available when we start hitting those links; I'm mainly just saying it's worth it for the experiences in Sanity Falls itself. It's L$100 for the HUD, and you can buy that at the game start point, above Sanity Falls (or, if you're not flush at present, click the Midnight Mania there for a chance at a free HUD). You can see the trailer if you want more information (though I think it gives some potential plot points away). And you can find out more about the entire hunt if you need that before getting involved, or see glimpses of the potential prizes up on off at MadPeas' new blog. You have until June 30th, so there's plenty of time before the hunt ends to get involved.

bonny mad boys, Bedlam boys are bonny

I'm not entirely sure what's going on, or who the bad guy is for this upcoming film, but I know one thing: we need more of Russian Pirate Santa. "Everyone loves the sleigh." Indeed.

In the meantime, more Kickstarter fun news--Shadowrun is coming back! For those who may not know, Shadowrun was pretty much the originator for every "urban elves" game--and not a few books, including the SERRAted Edge series and the Elves on the Road series, with their own resultant books, games and movies that held to the "urban fantasy" theme. In a sidewise sense, even authors like Laurell K. Hamilton, Seanan McGuire and Kim Harrison--among others--work around this shared mythpool. But Shadowrun started it all.

This is quite possibly the loveliest remix of Legend of Zelda music I've heard. It's well worth a listen. Composed by Koji Kondo, it's an instrumental piano take on the Lost Woods/Dancing Leaves theme from the game.

Do you really like the ocean? Do you want to reflect that in your surroundings? Are you tired of the typical lighthouse-fish net-ship's wheel motifs you run into everywhere else? Then why not redesign your plates to reflect a seaside theme?

I adore all versions of Alexander, but this article is just about the single best transition story I've found for anyone. Heather Alexander steps back into the fae lands; Alexander James, the Heir to the Heatherlands and the Stolen Child, steps out. It doesn't deny Heather's womanhood or Alexander's masculinity; instead, it embraces them both.

And to be fair to Heather's fans, while this threw some of them, an overwhelming number of us (yes, me included) embraced Alexander as strongly and staunchly as we had embraced Heather. Even Heather's husband parted amicably--he loved Heather, and he's a fair bit in love with Alexander, and I suspect always will be--but, he's straight, he can't breach that gap. It happens.

And not that we were discussing Cinderella stories, but Marc Jacob has finally created Cinderella's slipper--well, sort of. They're acrylic, not glass, and they're not slippers, they're pumps. Still, fun.

With a little warning for language, I'd like to present this small collection of dog texts. Yes, you heard me. Just go with it, they're funny.

Finally, someone's developed a Rubik's Cube for readers of Braille. Needless to say it's not brightly colored--why bother?--but each side is 'coded' with the same symbol set. I'd suspect, sighted or not, that version would be just as hard to solve...

and what does a mirror show you, can you see the gray?

I want to state this clearly and distinctly: I have been very mean to very many Lindens over the years, but Soft Linden is now one of my personal technological deities for this. Dragging this particular JIRA issue into the archives was both masterful and completely worthwhile; the conversation is, by and large, applicable as both a historical record of a Second Life era, and a discussion of the technological issues involved. But leaving it open to the now endless backbiting and petty arguments involved between the participants who had hijacked the thread for their own devices...Well. As I said, Soft Linden is, at least for the next small while, a hero to me. Thank you, Soft. You did a very, very good thing.

Tonight, we visit Bentham Hollow, another stop on the Peaster's Hunt.

(from the scavenging album)

There's a path designed to draw you deeper into the mists, so that you can discover what you seek, the key held by the lost child. But along the way there are whispers in the woods and chanting in the underbrush. What happened here? What went wrong?

(from the scavenging album)

The eye in the water watches as you come in, appearing from mist, walking into mist. The palette is muted, greys and blacks and white of moonlight and fog, which forces into sharp clarity the oranges and yellows of fire-lit hollow trees, and the glowing fungus that rises from the damp ground.

(from the scavenging album)

A tumbledown shack at the end of a path, with a very unfortunate traveler tied to a cross. He appeared to be burned; I didn't move closer to check.

(from the scavenging album)

Little lost child, counting to ten, adrift in the cold and the damp. And the whispers surrounding each blade of black grass, each timber slowly rotting to the core, each skeletal branch reaching for the dead sky.

(from the scavenging album)

Nearly everything has eyes, red eyes, orange eyes, glowing eyes, floating in the mist, animating trees that should be still, lurking in shadows and in hollows. And the whispering, the chanting, the occasional howls and scuffling of large beasts that cannot be seen...

(from the scavenging album)

Some of the lost children are lost entirely, being face-down in various pools of water. (A side note; the same sculpt was used for all the children, made by Lauren Bentham, yet how each child was placed tells us different things. It's the same image, so to speak--but placing it face down, or against a tree, or simply standing, tells our pattern-seeking brains that different situations are happening with that child. Interesting.)

(from the scavenging album)

How many reaching hands out of the darkness? How much rustling in the underbrush? Can we move fast enough, can we escape soon enough, can we stop what we hear and what we sense?

Are we finding the children, or losing our way out?

(from the scavenging album)

And they are everywhere; counting or standing, crying or weeping, dying or already dead, they are small dreaded yellow figures that never seem to be where we would expect.

(from the scavenging album)

Following the path is no better than walking through the underbrush; while the path is lit, the lights match the eyes, match the glowing mushroom spectres made out dimly on the horizon. The lights do not lead us to safety.

(from the scavenging album)

And even where there is fire, and spaces clear of monsters in the dark, we do not feel as if the children are safe, and warm, and free.

(from the scavenging album)

The rising and falling mist obscures our feet, and can also obscure the key we seek, regardless of how well we follow the rules--if we follow the rules at all. If we are diligent, if we are not led astray by whispers, or spooked by howling in the dark, we can find the key. We simply must keep looking...and not be led out into the dark.

(from the scavenging album)

For if we are...Well. If we get lost in the dark, we can be reasonably sure what will find us. Eyes first...teeth later.

All in all, Bentham is a wonderful sim to visit, if you're like me and semi-embrace being creeped out. It's well done, and the sounds are nine-tenths of why--don't mistake me, the decorations are well-chosen and appropriate, but the sounds are what made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. And even walking through to take these pictures, I kept glancing fearfully over my shoulder, wondering if something was moving...that shouldn't be.

And I'd say it, like the Epic Toy Factory before it, deserves a visit whether or not you're on the Peaster's hunt.

and if I rise up in smoke around your eyes, you'll know that it's me

I realize comments, once deleted, really shouldn't be preserved, but also, once a comment is made on the JIRA, that comment is sent to everyone signed up for that issue. Plus, things changed based on this deleted comment, so let's follow it out.

First, Dan Linden comments on Aki Shichiroji's build menu change JIRA:

You can enable the Build button by right-clicking the bottom toolbar and checking "Build button".

Then Alexa Linden, based on that comment, changes the JIRA category from "Bug" to "New feature".

But what Dan--and Alexa--fail to understand is that this JIRA is not about behavior in the lower toolbar. This issue has zero to do with that. It's about how this particular build mode is unavailable once the build menu is open, and whether or not the "Build" button is visible on the task bar or not doesn't matter.

Moon Metty commented afterwards--before Dan's comment was deleted--that this was quite similar to her reported JIRA bug, which was subsequently closed. Why? Moon Metty explains it thusly:

Cassandra closed this Jira without comment, so we can only speculate as to why this change was made.
"Not enough room" is not a good reason for this incorrect and clumsy behaviour, it now takes more room.

Soft, we understand if you don't want to reopen this Jira, you being a Linden and all.
However, us residents just want SL to be fast, easy and fun ... and this bug is slow, tedious and annoying.

So, apparently Cassandra Linden feels that it's expected behavior from the new v2 client, and as such, is not a bug, so everything's just peachy. Case closed--literally.

(Amusing side note--in the time spent writing this, Dan Linden has apparently re-enabled his comment, with added brackets:

[ You can enable the Build button by right-clicking the bottom toolbar and checking "Build button". ]

I don't know why the brackets are important, but there you go. So now I'm talking about a published comment that hasn't been deleted--and is still wrong.)

So, let's talk about stores that get it right for hunts. Let's talk about the Epic Toy Factory.

(from the scavenging album)

Part of the Peaster's Hunt is that you have to do it all, if you want the end Vault prize--because you have to come back to the castle at MadPea with all fifty keys. So Fawkes and I made the decision that we were going to stop at each stop on the hunt.

This was stop 2--a magical, amazing place where our first hint was found right at the landing circle. Once we'd talked to that NPC (hee!) we were sent off to find a dragon. The dragon seats two, and off we went, on a slow, lazy circle around the sim.

This particular sim is amazing from the ground, but from the air, it was breathtaking. I've gone on a lot of rides on various things in five years on SL, but this was wonderful.

(from the scavenging album)

Something that made this night a touch more surreal--I've developed this occasional inability to get clothes to rez, which is a) making me freak out as to how other people are seeing me, and b), results in things like this--I left my prims on and wore a full-body alpha cover.

Fawkes, of course, wears LuciA, the newest member of the Autogenica family. I've been very happy that it's selling so well, but really, it's such a fun concept, how could it not?

(from the scavenging album)

The dragon dropped us off, neat as you please, by the docks, where we spoke to an old and amusing pirate, and were given our next paired destination--two golden seahorses waiting in the waters below. Remember to click scrolls, or objects near the NPCs you talk to on your journey--they'll give you prizes! (If you have the Peaster's HUD on and activated, that is.)

(from the scavenging album)

There's a mermaid to see, a wonderful shipwreck, jellyfish--all while you're leisurely gliding past on the glowing golden backs of seahorses. (Hold your breath, you're under for about two minutes!)

(from the scavenging album)

Proving that it's not just their size that makes them magical, they floated from the water to the land, and deposited us in a strand of heart's grass, before swimming back to the sea and the docks, so off we went to talk to the "herb hag". (She's not actually green; she's just green until she fully rezzes in.)

(from the scavenging album)

Her conveyance of choice was a sparrowhawk carrying a gilded swing--and yes, it seats two. Off we went to the heights of the sim, floating airborne once more.

(from the scavenging album)

Did I mention the sim is incredible? There's fun goofy touches (like the cake, or the mad tea party in the treehouse), there's a little bit of steampunk (seen here in the zeppelin and the steam towers), and I fervently lust after their ground texture, an amazing dark-woven patchwork concoction that I'd adore using myself. I will definitely be back.

All in all, all of the stores on this hunt seem to have put in a genuine effort to participate in the sense of fun and play--a far cry from most grid-wide hunts these days! And several of them have been stores I'm looking forward to visiting again, to spend my time--and Lindens--wandering around looking at things.

I'll be covering some of the ones that really stand out later on, because I didn't snap pics of them at the time--I was too busy being amazed! But I definitely believe they should be brought to wider attention.

Apart from Grumble.

Because I'm still banned from her sim.

Also, one last amusing note:

(from the scavenging album)

Cheesecake poses on top of dressing tables really, really don't work when I'm invisible.

ancient in one long, incidental month

The fans of Red Dwarf just won't let the series go...which is okay with Craig Charles, who's announced that the show's coming back, with--as near as I can figure--the original cast.

Me, I'm deeply tickled by this, because many of the actors involved have gone on to minor celebrity notes in other things, but...I'm also a fan of Red Dwarf. And these are people who keep meeting up every few years anyway, in various and sundry, professionally or personally, because they have fun together. There are worse concepts for a comeback than that the show was fun and the actors are friends.

Meanwhile, Rodvik Linden, the new CEO of Linden Labs, announced what he's been doing on his first official post on the Second Life blog. I am extremely chary of this, but...I am feeling a small, guttering flame of hope about this.

It sounds so dramatic, but Linden Labs hired a CEO whose first few weeks were spent outside Linden land. He walked the grid. He looked at the seasons. He built a house, a raft, he scripted a mailbox. Simple projects, sure, but this means he's trying to learn.

In all seriousness, this, more than anything else, is what Linden Labs and Second Life has desperately needed. We need less management from the ivory tower and more people who understand, even if in small, personal ways, what the grid is like for those of us who reside within it.

At least, if he makes unpopular decisions, I have this tentative feeling that he will be doing it knowing what Second Life is. Isn't that...a good thing?

04:38 PM] Vasha Martinek: A friend phoned me today. He's a technician for some very specific types of factory equipment, so his job often involves traveling, sometimes to some surprisingly small towns. He is one such town today, which is so small that they only have open court once every two weeks, and they hear every case that doesn't involve minors on that day. (Minors are a different day.) The judge, who also owns the local bait shop, doesn't sort his docket - so if you get brought in for speeding (like my friend), you may find your case heard between the guy who brought the booze into the dry county, [and] the guy being charged with statutory rape (who, apparently, can get out of the charge by marrying the girl, according to her father's lawyer).
[04:38 PM] Melangel Thespian: O.O
[04:38 PM] Vasha Martinek: But that's not the best part.
[04:39 PM] Akasha26 Resident: umm.....ok then
[04:39 PM] Nataiu Wildcat: lol
[04:39 PM] Nataiu Wildcat: Oh my.. I want to live there lol
[04:39 PM] Maxie Claveau: geez
[04:39 PM] Inferno Blackadder: nice
[04:39 PM] Honni Clip: Was the name of the town Mayberry???
[04:39 PM] Trinity Allegiere: ...wow. o_O
[04:39 PM] Feanor Ishelwood: wow
[04:40 PM] Pandora Edwyn: i think i do live there
[04:40 PM] Elyri Winterwolf: this sounds a little like some of the counties adjacent to mine =/
[04:40 PM] Vasha Martinek: The BEST part... is that while he was waiting for his case to be heard... one of the local farmers went up under the charge of animal abuse — because apparently he's been buggering his sheep. And with a straight face, his lawyer said he was willing to enter a plea of guilty IF they would amend the record to show that it was only his female sheep he had interacted with as such, because he wanted it known that he was not a homosexual.
[04:41 PM] Elyri Winterwolf: LOL
[04:41 PM] Inferno Blackadder: LMFAO
[04:41 PM] Akasha26 Resident: lmao
[04:41 PM] Trinity Allegiere: .................she's still a sheep.

This is how the DV8 store group opened today, when I logged in after the crash. As one member put it, So it's okay if the town knows about the bestiality, as long as they don't think you're gay. Yeah, because really, a man has his reputation to protect.

*snickers*

[04:44 PM] Vasha Martinek: I have been laughing about this on and off for about 3 hours
[04:44 PM] Feanor Ishelwood: where was this? Wyoming?
[04:45 PM] Synoa Fallen: rofl
[04:45 PM] Vasha Martinek: No, Kansas
[04:45 PM] Trinity Allegiere: Ooookay then.xD

So, there you go, your daily dose of reality surreality

And for your daily dost of Second Life stupidity...caught this while I was searching through options for a potential tenant.

From Blogger Pictures

(Insert from the Editrix: I should have known better than to upload such 'questionable' images to the easily horrified Photobucket. I'll endeavor to track down the original and upload it somewhere less...decent...in a few hours.)

Skyler Baguier was in the penile av; Lyric Lerintzo was on the pink pony. Cyndyrella Jennings was in the hotpants, and Conrad Pedalo was in the white t-shirt, looking on. Gad, I hope they're just hanging out on empty parcel and aren't Solace residents.

From Blogger Pictures

Then they ported in two more people, and everyone died. I left; first, because they were insanely annoying with the gesturespamming, and their gesturespamming could be heard sim-wide. (I know, because I was in the far corner.) Second, because mass deathing from being in proximity to a shiny pink pony is just never my idea of a good time.



This outfit looks so familiar...it's currently on sale for L$10 upstairs at Crayon, and I know a lot of us tend to do the tattered circus/bloody Loli look off and on. But I could swear I've seen something like this before.

I'll see if I can hunt it down.