The Singularity of Kumiko: Spotlight Vignettes

I've been circling Bryn Oh's Singularity of Kumiko for quite a while, starting with a very straightforward walkthrough and then some personal responses that rather went on it's own tangent, rather than staying focused on Kumiko and the art itself. This is at least in part because the heart and tenor of the art is so elusive, both due to Bryn Oh's signature tenuousness of storyline, which comes through even when she's leading you from place to place, as she did in Standby, where each scene of the story was in a different location and progression was linear. The use of black as both a backdrop into which we can immerse ourselves, and as a way of highlighting discrete flashes of story remains, however, and now the backdrop is not only built into the creation of these stories, but also extends so broadly that the little candle-glows of story can lurk like will-o-the-wisps in the darkness, and tucked around corners and behind walls. She also makes an entirely striking use of glow, which traditionally has a garish effect. Some of the walls at various points are set to white glow, which in any other windlight would be bright enough to blind, but in the darkness Oh has created, the stone comes off as just slightly brighter than the surrounding stones in a subtle manner. The physical details, the effects, even the near-automatic analysis of why and how it works, are relatively easy to describe. What I'm struggling with far more is my emotional response.

I found the Singularity of Kumiko more emotionally arresting than any of Oh's art so far. I have always enjoyed what she did, and felt like she was pushing the boundaries of virtual art, but something about the combination of seeing the images through the darkness and the way the story plays out - how it is about the basic value of human life, the relationship between authenticity and ends, and the dynamics of relationships, where out of love people can sometimes rush over the right of consent of the people they love. I found myself identifying very strongly with Kumiko, lost and confused in the dark and yet finding beauty in the detritus of her lost life. I knew the story of the bees, though it brought to mind another story I heard -a bout how the native bees in North America were singular bees which operate very differently from honey bees, and yet still served the purpose of pollination (and can pollinate the apparently very picky tomato plant). It's a reminder of how interwoven we and the world is - far beyond what we can easily see. Kumiko's very human concern about loving something which is made by humans, which is made specifically to mimic love, is such a striking and timely issue, and I feel like it has roots down into the core of what it is to be a person. I don't have any answers to this response, or even an easy way to describe the deep, melancholy disquiet I feel when I walk over the land and through the darkness.

( More pictures here. )

Linden Homes: Thoughts, Opinions, and Interior Design

The recent hiring of Ebbe Altberg as Linden's Lab's new CEO (and how he interacted with the enthusiastic and sometimes deafening crowd of Second Life evangelists and pundits) got me thinking about how I interact with Second Life, and in particular my rarely used but, I think, tastefully appointed Linden Home. There is a lot of critique for Linden Homes, and a lot of it I understand. They are usually empty. I'm on the edge of another Homes sim and I see maybe three houses occupied when I go to mine - one clearly a clearinghouse for alts, and several private homes for the sex trade. There are strict regulations on how you can use them; you can't use them as a store (using SL's classifieds) or build anything in the air over them. There are limitations and advantages to the house - it doesn't count against your building prims, which is good because prims are at a premium, but you don't own the house and can't directly edit it. There are other ways of editing it through a set of presets, but you can't add to them or individualize it in any manner. Or, at least - it's harder.

As you can see, in addition to the included mushroom in my house (purple and white in the back), I added a bunch of shinier, sparklier mushrooms from Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations around the side, right along where my property ends. I also built the rainbow "wall" along the front of my porch; the base style is that is open, so it was easy to fit in a giant prim and texture it with Fortunas Creations' gorgeous rainbow textures. You can't see it in the picture, but it moves. On top of the house I added a gorgeous, giant flower from Arctic Greenhouse that manages to be a single prim even though it's enormous. I took some effort to personalize the outside of my house, and I sometimes wonder what my neighbors thing if/when they log in and look. Do they like it? Hate it? Not even notice it? I'm endlessly curious about my neighbors, but I had no way of knowing who, if anyone, would be comfortable being contacted. There is no neighborhood board, or any sort of easy time-asymmetrical, opt-in communication options on Second Life, sadly enough.

I recently transformed my front porch in response to the new mesh flowers which are one prim or less and yet insanely detailed. These are all from XED Designs, and my only regret is that there are no roses for me. Instead there is every flavor and color of shiny flowers, most of them half to one prim and a couple of the larger two prims. I bought a few of them with the bases, and since everything was modify-ok (THANK YOU) I was able to mix and match like a master, making a rainbow panoply of color curling around my relaxation area. The two oldest things I own are in the center of this circle - my gorgeous and amazing bench from Off Brand Designs. It's color changing by touch and menu command, seats two, and the accessories move around when the poses change. I simply adore it. The other is my fountain from Yoneya, with it's signature flow of water then bonk as the bamboo tube overflows. I had wanted one of these for years offline, and so when I found them online it was totally worth it - and worth the prims to keep it rezzed. Finally, my shiny, color changing thistle is from Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations, and was the closest to a rainbow rose I could find on the grid. I love my little virtual garden.

My "living room" is probably the least used room in my house, so it's pretty bare. The picture boxes I built myself, as part storage and part display of images I and my friends have taken across the grid, highlighted again by Fortunas Creations' fantastic textures. The "rug" on the floor in front of the fireplace (included in the Linden House) holds longer pictures taken, but the majority of my images are square or close enough. Long ago I put in a texture change script for each so that they gradually cycle through the whole collection; it's an easy way to revisit my past. The stump, complete with a grass texture that I thought faded well against the stone floor of my house, is also from Off Brand Designs, and is a single seater with a book which can show up in your hands in the right poses. Even inside the house, the sound from my fountain permeates, which I really appreciate. The harp is a very recent addition I simply couldn't resist from Dysfunctional Dolly Designs, and is - can you believe this? - a single prim. It was a total impulse purchase when I found it while looking for roses - it has roses on it yay - and it plays harp music as well as having a lovely animation of me playing. If anything will lure me to spend more time by the fire, it's my lovely rose harp.

My bedroom was recently completely transformed by a few new, mesh furniture and accessories releases. I'm a book fiend, so when Sway's released these wall hanging shelves for Fifty Linden Friday, I couldn't resist. I particularly like all of the small details on the shelves - in addition to books there are picture frames, plants, even some candles. The change in bookshelves inspired me to trade in my old bed for a four poster, even if the four poster didn't have rainbow sheets. The four poster in question, along with a twisty bent bookshelf I quite liked, are from Trompe L'oeil, and are lovely in their simplicity. I actually started with her bed-in-a-box for a roleplaying home I put together, but for my home I wanted something a little more open and yet still with the heavy feel of substantial furniture. Since everything is modify ok, there is a decent chance I'll play around with adding my own textures in the future, and thus getting the rainbow furniture I love, but for now I'm content with enjoying the lovely included textures. The doors I added are in much the same vein as the window on the front porch - Fortunas Creations' texture on a single prim, moving slowly through the entire spectrum. One downside to the Linden Homes is their dearth in doors, even when there are discrete rooms.

The final room had been my dressing room for ages until I relocated to my platform on a friends' land, at which point I moved one of my favorite things into that now empty room - this contemplation orb from WaterMoon Breeze. Another very old purchase, it offers a variety of different, moving, contemplation options, but my favorite is this one, which gently spirals through perfect rainbows before overlaying other patterns. The big theme of my home is calm and relaxation, and this adds to that by giving me something beautiful, ever-changing, and hypnotic to enjoy when the world becomes too much.

My Linden Home started as a refuge - as some place in Second Life where I could go where it was owned by me, and thus nota party to the whims and tempers of the people paying for it. I can't afford a whole sim or even a partial one - the monthly payments would beggar me - but I can have this tiny spot of land with its tiny allotment of prims with which to build a retreat. Much as I adore my friends who let me use their land, there is a part of me that always feels a little like an interloper. I know they don't think of me that way - at least I hope they don't - but there's something about having a space of one's own which is powerful. Linden Homes, within narrow strictures, allows for that sort of thing for not-too-much a month - the price of a premium membership, which is renewed yearly.

I've always been reluctant to get more land, having read about endless billing snafus and nonsense which threatens accounts, and if I were to end up making a store it would be on an alt and likely through a Land Baron (the recent surcharges on cashing out, even if one is doing so to pay immediately back into Second Life, is troubling). I might be more inclined to deal with Linden Labs directly if their draconian reaction to various billing errors was cleared up, and if they came up with a way to pay for Linden Land using Lindens instead of having to cash out and use cash, but I'm unsure if Ebbe Altberg and the board running Linden Labs is even aware of these issues, much less whether they intend on changing things for the better. I'm not a major figure in Second Life, and in many ways I wouldn't want to be, but it's interesting to think of what one might say to someone with the power to act, for better or worse, to change Second Lifeand how we relate to land.

( All pictures here. )

Credits Outside: 

House: Linden House
Flowers & Flower Boxes: XED Designs
Bench: Off Brand Furniture
Shishiodoshi: Yoneya
Weird Flower: Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations
Mushrooms: Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations
Giant Flower: Arctic Greenhouse

Credits Inside: 

Stump: Off Brand Furniture
Harp: Dysfunctional Dolly Designs
Photoboxes: Deoridhe's Make
Rainbow Doorways: Deoridhe's Design
Heart and Star Bookselves: Sway's
Bent Bookshelf: Trompe L'oeil
Bed: Trompe L'oeil
Meditation Orb: WaterMoon Breeze

Tainted Love Hunt: Stops 41 to 61

The Tainted Love Hunt, hosted by Woeful Wednesday, is a hunt for the darker side of the Second Life Valentine Soul - not the hearts and flowers and chocolates, sort, but rather the bleeding hearts, headless flowers, and ...well, chocolates still apply for this sort. It has Sixty One stops, which makes it manageable, and there is a hint page with SLurls for the stores, so if you get stuck you can move on. There are also sometimes men's and women's prizes, and I'll be dragging along a long-suffering male alt for the purpose of showing off the guy stuff in style. You're looking for a three dimensional heart (pictured above) and I'm planning on showing the prizes in sets of twenty so that I don't completely overwhelm myself.

Stops 1 to 20 -- Stops 21 to 40  -- Stops 41 to 61

41. Post Mortum Designs

42. Soap Co.

Wearable/Rezzable stalker bush and binoculars, bloodshot eyes and bloody tears, broken heart emitter

43. ~*Souzou Eien*~
What a lovely day at the beach.

Removed heart

44. Rotten Inc. – Collectables & Oddities

Poison vials and a note

45. Venomous Rage Designs (4 hearts)
1) My eyes hurt…..The Sun…. Its too Bright….
2) I know thousands of languages, many more retorts, I am the source of your wit, and the king of your voice. But betray me in anyway and I’ll make sure you’ll never speak again. Who am I?
3) Red Light, Green Light, Stop & Go. Are they on or are they off, You’ll never know.

Cupid's Hammer; Love Chest Piercings; 

Women's: Cleanup on Aisle 4 Men's: Eternal; Women's: Blutigen Vixion

46. MiChiGaNs ShAcK

47. Violent Seduction

Bikini

48. Redux!
My heart hasn’t gone off the rails yet…

Little Whorehouse in Texas

49. Fallen Doll
Have a heart, there’s a jolly good chap!

Tired Eyes Cosmetics

50. Kabuki Creations
Sneaking up behind you and giving you a firm spank on your tush while you are cooking.

Couples Pose "Seduction"

51. Squeek!
Some things are sour, some things are sweet, some things are sticky, and you shouldn’t eat them if you are picky.

Poison Bottle Wearable / Rezzable

52. Belle’s Cabinet of Curiosities
These toxic beauties are heart stoppers.

Belle's Cabinet "All in His Head" and "Stolen Heart"

53. DAARK (Skip for now)

54. Dark Water Designs
E.A.P. hid his heart within the walls, we went him one better.

Men's and Women's Clothing

55. AD Creations Doll House
Be careful, you may fall down stairs

Mesh Collar / Mask

56. DramaZone
Be careful, a devil is near!

Amor Ava Male and Female

57. Corvus

Mini Dress and Eye Tattoo

58. ::Gehenna::

Women's: Home Wrecker T-Shirt and Mini Skirt; Men's: Heart Breaker

59. Entity

Chair

60. Adoness
You might want to check the second floor.

Eyes

61. **Myrai Style Fashion**
{Sweet Home}

Jumpsuit

Monday Meme: The Book Meme

I am a huge fan of books and have a library that is, lets just say, extensive. I have surprisingly few pictures with books given how many books I have in my house, but they've been ubiquitous since I was a child. Berry asks us a bunch of questions about books, and I had a ball answering them, even if it was a reminder of how rarely I remember book and author names.

1. Are you a bookworm? – Totally. In addition to a sizable internet reading schedule, I have about thirty free books on my phone and easily one or two hundred books in my house.


2. Which do you prefer: hardcover, paperback or electronic? – I use paperbacks the most, mostly because of cost and easy of reading them in bed. I have a few hardcovers for the series I was too impatient to wait for the paperback edition, but those are few and far between and I always pick up the paperback once I can. I keep my electronic to free until I can come up with a way to ensure I won't spend hundreds of bucks on books only to have them vanish for some TOS violation.


3. Which book is your favorite? – I'm also a huge fan of  Pride and Prejudice, and re-read it several times a year. I have most of Austen's books in miniature book form, which are adorable. In terms of books which I've reread and which have had a profound effect on me outside, I have to point to Beauty, by Robin McKinley, Fool's Run, by Patricia McKillip, and Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. I am a voracious re-reader, but these are the ones which have carried me through decades. Outside of that, the books I re-read the most are the Black Jewels Series by Anne Bishop, less the original series and more the extensive continuations. Sadly, some of the stuff I was hoping to see never showed, and it appears that the characters I'd hoped to become more central were forgotten, but I still adore the series for all of its flaws (and since I've read it so much, I know them all). These books are the only time I've bought the hardback because I wanted the book at home and was too impatient to wait for the softcover.


4. Which children’s book is your favorite? – I have two favorites - one from when I was a child, and one from when I was a teenager. I grew up loving A Little Princess, by Francis Hodgson Burnett, and wishing I could be a Sarah. I'm not - she has a gentle and refined soul that I never seem to be able to approach, but then she's also fictional. As a teenager, I ran across Apple Tree Cottage, by Virginia F. Voight, and simply adore it. It is a book I miss and read when I remember it, like the others I have enumerated above.


5. What’s the last book you’ve read? – I just finished Twilight's Dawn, by Anne Bishop, which wrapped up a lot of the threads form her Black Jewels Series. I'm about halfway through Home from the Sea, one of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Master's Series (highly recommended, along with her 500 Kingdoms series).


6. Name your top five favorite writers: – Jane Austen, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, Gail Carriger, and Seanan McGuire.


7. Name a book that had a strong impact on you: – Plato's Lysis, a dialog of Socrates. It was one of the first times I was ever pissed off by a dialogue, and introduced me to my own passion for solid thought.




8. Favorite & least favorite book genres? – I'm a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction, somewhat of romance and mystery, and hugely of classical literature. I'm trying to make my bookshelves less white, but it's slow going. I've never read a Western, which I suppose says something?


9. Favorite & least favorite book-to-movie adaptions? – I'm going to cheat a little. I adore, adore, adore, adore without words The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which as far as I'm concerned not only met the original Pride and Prejudice where it lived, but improved on it in ways Austen wouldn't have been able to due to the limitations of her era. My least favorite is the Hayao Miyazaki adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, which is weird since I adore Miyazaki. He took a complicated story about loving people for who they were and turned it into a main character who doesn't think she's pretty - a truly shallow reading of the source book - and I literally can't watch it.


10. Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? – Yesish, that's how I found Gail Carriger, actually - her cover was amusingly Steampunk - but I always read the backs, too, and she gave good blurb. She's sort of a Steampunk Jane Austen, though sometimes her Comedy of Manners becomes Mystery or Adventure Novel.


11. Where do you usually buy your books? – I was a Borders sycophant for years, but now I shop at local stores or at a yearly trip to Barnes and Noble.


12. Do you go to the library? – I used to, but my local libraries are kind of thin on the books in general, and ordering in costs a dollar a pop, so it isn't the gleeful weekly trip it was when I was a child. When I was a child I'd easily leave with a bag of ten books for two weeks rental, and have them back most of them read. Now my reading is a lot more sporadic in terms of books; I reread as a part of self-soothing, and so my reading of new and very challenging books suffers.


13. How many books do you own? – Easily one or two hundred in my home, and another hundred or two boxed up. I've been thinning the herd recently, but it's hard for me to give up books.


14. If you were to write a book about Second Life, which topic would you focus on? Probably issues of identity and self-awareness in virtual environments - or how we internalize and play out prejudices in virtual spaces. I'm fascinated by how we make the world around us, and virtual worlds are a particularly clear example of that, lacking almost entirely in basic needs that have to be filled. How we interact with each other, what we build, how we treat each other, etc... is all made much clearer due to this.

( More pictures here. )

How NOT to Make a Friend in Second Life

I got hit on again. Of course, I seemed to intimidate him before he got beyond "huging", but I don't have any more doubts about where he wanted to go, than I have doubts about the naked man who TPed in halfway through this conversation with the name, "Girls I Want To Fuck You".

[21:15:00] [Clueless in USA]: hi there
[21:15:18] [Clueless in USA]: i like your dance
[21:16:50] Deoridhe Quandry: Thank you.
[21:17:14] Deoridhe Quandry: You can get your own AO for not much on the marketplace, I think.
[21:18:00] [Clueless in USA]: im new in here and im try to see how it work
[21:18:21] Deoridhe Quandry: An AO is an animation overrider. It makes it so that you move, stand, and sit differently than the default.

Up until now, ok conversation. Dull, but he was new and didn't know the terms. He was standing uncomfortably close to me in avatar, though (hint: if we're touching, you're too close), and the next words out of his fingers cemented exactly why he was in my IMs.

[21:19:24] [Clueless in USA]: how about huging  lol
[21:19:49] Deoridhe Quandry: Ah, those are usually scripted objects.
[21:20:57] [Clueless in USA]: hahahahaahh come in close
[21:21:04] Deoridhe Quandry: Why?
[21:21:38] [Clueless in USA]: we can talk
[21:21:48] Deoridhe Quandry: We are talking right now.
[21:24:26] [Clueless in USA]: i love to see you close so i can feel you
[21:24:53] Deoridhe Quandry: Dude, I don't want a stranger "feeling" me. Thanks anyway.

See, this is why I get so annoyed. Less than five minutes in my IMs and he's trying to pick me up. Second Life is not a bar. We were in a hair store, for Fuck's Sake.

[21:25:37] [Clueless in USA]: im [Clueless in USA] and you
[21:26:22] Deoridhe Quandry: I'm Deoridhe. Introductions don't make you less of a stranger, especially given how focused you are on talking about what you want.
[21:27:20] [Clueless in USA]: hahahahahahaaha we are not stanger any more
[21:27:34] Deoridhe Quandry: No, we're still strangers. You're just a stranger being creepy now.
[21:28:47] [Clueless in USA]: im sorry im just  playig with you

This is one of the interactions that drive me nuts - ignore everything I say, focus on what gets you what you want, and do what you think you can to get what you want while ignoring what I want completely. This is so disrespectful. I'm making my boundaries clear, and he's tyring to get around them on a technicality, which only makes him more creepy.

[21:29:12] Deoridhe Quandry: Apology accepted.
[21:29:25] [Clueless in USA]: thanks
[21:29:46] [Clueless in USA]: for real im [Clueless in USA] usa and u
[21:30:08] Deoridhe Quandry: I'm Deoridhe. For real.
[21:30:28] [Clueless in USA]: from

See again: ignoring the boundaries of another person because you want to. See also: fucking creepy.

[21:30:37] Deoridhe Quandry: Why does it matter?
[21:31:11] [Clueless in USA]: maybe we can be frind
[21:31:32] Deoridhe Quandry: So far you've shown no interest in me besides wanting to hug me and "feel" me. Why would I want to try to be a friend to you?
[21:32:54] [Clueless in USA]: your right
[21:33:24] Deoridhe Quandry: I asked a question. I didn't make a statement.

He never answered the question, but I continue to wonder it. These guys IM me wanting to be "friends" (read: get cybersex); they never, ever, ever, ever give me a reason why I might want to be friends with them. Ever. Ever ever. This one was no different, and I mocked him for it below, but he still never answered the question.

[21:33:57] [Clueless in USA]: like  i  say im new so i dont know what all about
[21:35:03] [Clueless in USA]: you dont have to be friend
[21:35:20] Deoridhe Quandry: So you were born this morning and have never formed a relationship with another human? That's gotta be really tough.

See: diverting attention from  difficult question. See also: Deoridhe getting even more bored and annoyed and beginning to lose her vague semblance of politeness.

[21:36:52] [Clueless in USA]: hahahahahahansorry
[21:37:27] Deoridhe Quandry: Sorry for what?
[21:37:51] [Clueless in USA]: if i bother
[21:38:18] [Clueless in USA]: but realy i like your danc
[21:39:08] Deoridhe Quandry: Why do all of the guys like you say that? One) You can never answer why my physical location matters. Two) You answer questions with assertions I'm right, as if what I'm interested in is someone too brainless to answer a question. Three) you apologize for being a bother without actually doing anything more interesting. Is it a script you get, or something?
[21:39:42] Deoridhe Quandry: Yeah. You said. It's an AO. You can get one of your own if you want.

This is the second time he complements my AO. Overall, the animations I purchased three or four years ago were what he apparently liked the most about me. Also, watch below as he deflects my entire rant by trying to make it about my feeling an emotion I'm not feeling. See: not respecting my boundaries again. See also: fucking creepy.

[21:42:20] [Clueless in USA]: your words  and how you talk says you are nerves thats whay im said sorry
[21:42:42] Deoridhe Quandry: am not "nerves" or nervous. I'm irritated and you are dull.
[21:43:34] Deoridhe Quandry: I've had this conversation multiple times before with other people. It's like you're incapable of seeing me as a person, which is both pathetic and boring.
[21:45:42] [Clueless in USA]: how to start frindship without known any thing like name or where about some one you never see
[21:47:33] Deoridhe Quandry: You know my name - it's Deoridhe. You know where I am, it's Second Life. You see my avatar. I have a bunch of information in my profile.  If none of that is good enough for you, then give up on meeting people in SL and go meet people offline, because you've missed the point.

I simply do not get why someone would come online and want offline information. I never got it on ISCABBS. I never got it on Gaia Online. I don't get it on Second Life. As a lead in move it is useless and gives you absolutely no useful information, and in a world with profiles you have so much more to work with. And I taught him how to find a profile, even if he never actually made use of any of the information in it or, indeed, became anything more than dull.

[21:50:43] [Clueless in USA]: ok how i go to your profil can you show me pleas
[21:51:07] Deoridhe Quandry: Right click on me. Click on "profile" when the menu opens.
[21:51:22] Deoridhe Quandry: Clicking on my name in this chat should open up a menu as well which lets you see my profile.
[21:52:17] [Clueless in USA]: thanks
[21:52:51] Deoridhe Quandry: You're welcome.
[21:53:11] Deoridhe Quandry: There are some other helpful tips here: http://primdolls.blogspot.com/p/newbie-resources.html
[21:53:24] Deoridhe Quandry: At the bottom are some Sims you can go to which teach you how to navigate around SL.
[21:56:54] [Clueless in USA]: good thanks ageen
[21:57:02] Deoridhe Quandry: You're welcome.
[22:02:59] [Clueless in USA]: cool good info
[22:03:31] Deoridhe Quandry: Thank you. It might be a little dated; it takes a lot of time to stay on top of it.
[22:04:08] [Clueless in USA]: yyes
[22:04:39] Deoridhe Quandry: ^.^

He was showing some interest in learning, so I was nice.

[22:07:18] [Clueless in USA]: you playing awesome
[22:09:49] Deoridhe Quandry: Huh?
[22:10:38] Deoridhe Quandry: What do you mean?
[22:10:57] [Clueless in USA]: danceing
[22:11:13] [Clueless in USA]: i cant move
[22:11:20] Deoridhe Quandry: I don't control it. It's an animation I purchased from a store.

This would be the third time I gave him this information, though it's possible he didn't understand the other two times and just... was incapable of asking a question for some reason.

[22:12:08] [Clueless in USA]: oh real mony or just point
[22:12:18] Deoridhe Quandry: Like I said, you need an animation overrider. You can get some for free on the Second Life Marketplace. The only in world place that gave one for free closed a year ago, so far as I know.
[22:12:24] Deoridhe Quandry: Real money, not a freebie.
[22:12:32] Deoridhe Quandry: That's how I have the dress and the hair, too.
[22:13:22] [Clueless in USA]: cool styl
[22:13:47] Deoridhe Quandry: I'm a big fan of fashion.
[22:14:31] [Clueless in USA]: i see

At this point I just gave up and stopped responding. 

[22:16:51] [Clueless in USA]: ok thanks for chat i m  going  sleep
[22:17:03] Deoridhe Quandry: Ok, bye.
[22:17:14] [Clueless in USA]: bye

What chat, I ask you? Aside from my pointing him to some newbie resources, which he apparently barely read at all, we talked about a whole lot of nothing with him dodging most of the questions I asked and he tested my boundaries to see if he could push me around. My strong temptation is to just ignore the next one - but I keep hoping one of them will do something different, will show some level of thought and comprehension beyond, "Buh huh touch u rite?"

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: D!va, Ange
Flower: OrsiniSun, Enchanted Poppy
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Metallic Red
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Mock, Fruitillicious Gloss
Wings: Una, Steampunk Wing Down
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Purplemoon, Lazuri Regal Desire
Nails: MakeUp Addiction, Pois
Dress: katat0nik, Choco Dress (Limited Edition)
Shoes: G Field, Lady Rose

Poses: Don't Freak Out

Location: Cerridwen's Cauldron
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAy Precision Blue
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Tainted Love Hunt: Stops 21 to 40

The Tainted Love Hunt, hosted by Woeful Wednesday, is a hunt for the darker side of the Second Life Valentine Soul - not the hearts and flowers and chocolates, sort, but rather the bleeding hearts, headless flowers, and ...well, chocolates still apply for this sort. It has Sixty One stops, which makes it manageable, and there is a hint page with SLurls for the stores, so if you get stuck you can move on. There are also sometimes men's and women's prizes, and I'll be dragging along a long-suffering male alt for the purpose of showing off the guy stuff in style. You're looking for a three dimensional heart (pictured above) and I'm planning on showing the prizes in sets of twenty so that I don't completely overwhelm myself.

Stops 1 to 20 -- Stops 21 to 40  -- Stops 41 to 61

21. Love Zombie
Lumpy!

Womens: Dress :: Mens: Shirt and Vest

22. Crushed Violets
Look for me under the black brocade

Manor House

23. [.Riel.]

Skin and SLink Hand and Foot Appliers

24. .:CoLLisions:.

Collar

25. P A N D E M O N I U M 
You make my heart flutter

Fountain

26. Julia Collection
What’s crimson, has vines and is fluffy?

Wearable Pit and Heart for Roasting

27. .::Cubic Cherry Kre-ations::.
Opalescenza

Heart Eyes

28. Little Pricks + Skin Deep
Here is where my heart will forever sleep.

Chest Tattoo

29. Goth1c0

Tattoos on arms and chest

30. Insanya
Its just around the corner.

Back, chest, and arm tattoos

31. {Frick}
Both hearts are keeping the bucket o’ tentacles company (2 hearts)

Skin, Eyes, Every Applier Known to Woman

32. Kita’s Sideshow

Men's and Women's T-Shirts

33. Lilith’s Den
Mandrake guarded, heart to <3, eternal flame to keep them warm

Book, with and without music

34. ..::: Scrub :::…  – Skip for now and move on to #35.

35. ~Black Arts~

Black Leather Biker Jacket and Bra

36. Boudoir
Cheers!

Tiffany Box and Just Kidding note

37. ~paper moon~
She wrapped my love in red velvet

Obsessive Love Altar

38. +REDRUM+
Trim that bush before getting your knickers in a knot!

Biting Booth and Pencils in Eyes

39. Roawenwood
You want this don’t you?

Bloody Plushie

40. [ bubble ]
Feel like gacha-ing?

 Heart Eyes and Necklace