Happy Holidays!

I finally got a subscriber dealie- so I decided to reward people for giving up a group slot, the old group would become a VIP group. Mostly because I'll feel guilty this way and give them things more often. Because I'm random, in the notice archive you can currently find:

Scary Witch hats in Christmas and Hanukkah stripes (with and without spiders, that can be changed with the HUD from the full version of the Scary Witch hat, though it will not change the hat since you couldn't change it back!)


Colour change via HUD Scary Santa hat, 2 texture change feather tails, and 4 pairs of mismatched socks

The Santa hat is also out for purchase in the shop, on the table with the more traditional Santa hats, in transfer and copy versions, so you can choose just for you, or to give to a friend. The copy version comes with a HUD that lets you easily see all the options- the transfer version has a touch menu instead so you don't have to worry about losing track of one of the pieces.

And they are also with this year's stocking! Full of lots of bizarre randomness, as always, there are a couple of new hidden treats this year for the patient/obsessive.

Picture shamelessly stolen from Achariya,
who I'm sure will let me get away with it!

(hya's beautiful boy bookends of Sobriquet and boy Ach are both in antlers one can get out of the stocking. It's like a TARDIS and can hide some rather large things)

Stumblebum Brigade!

The Stumblebum Brigade is coming to town again, bringing with them exclusives only available this weekend, 12:01am SLT Saturday morning to 11:59pm SLT Sunday, after which they go poof and will never be seen again. Sunday night, the Brigade will disappear until the next time (with the holidays, that won't be until January!), when there will be entirely new exclusives.

This week there are 10 new designers participating, and two of them have been plotting behind the scenes.

Plotting in pink!

The offerings of hyasynth Tiramisu of ~silentsparrow~ and Allegory Malaprop of Schadenfreude are coordinated pinks and blacks- Knitty sweaters and armwarmers with happy cavorting pink elephants and matching starry jeans from the former, and subtley spooky bat themed Strix corset, Striges skirts, and Moroi jacket from the latter.

My offering, the skirts, corset and jacket, in the pink that matches the batkinis, Jerry's Flight collar, the wings and the shoes (yes, I've been hoarding them):





Sunday night they go away, never to be seen again, so if you want them, you have to act this weekend! Get mine at the elephant, and grab a notecard with LMs to the rest of the Brigade while you're there!

More Christmasy

A small glass bird to perch upon your shoulder (or head, or wherever one chooses!), touch to colour change, transfer for giving a cute little bit of cheer to a friend.


Glittery tinsel trees, for decorating: they come in a variety of colours, and in a rotating and hue shifting version, with assorted settings you can monkey with.



And a gacha machine, finally! I've been meaning to have a gacha for a while. I've got some of the stuff for it but haven't finished all I was thinking about doing in the first go (I'll probably end up adding more later anyway, but still, I need to start out with something!) This is not the gacha I've been thinking about, this is geared just towards Christmasy, a gacha full of ornaments. The machine itself is a little tree on a post.



The bird is at the gifthaus, the purple Turnip Homes house at the base of the elephant. The trees are at the tree farm on Horst. And there's a gacha both places!

I've been puking winter all over the Starlust

New wintery things from Schadenfreude! I made snowflakes this year, 10 different designs. They're sort of like the snowflakes we made as kids, folding pieces of paper up into six sections and cutting all the layers at once. However mine have hidden designs too (which, yes, I admit, I've been trying to hide in them ever since I was a kid, but I wasn't anywhere near as good at it then and mostly made squinty little devil faces with pointy ears then).

The snowflakes come framed in 2 different versions- one has a handmade light blue paper backing in front of which the snowflake is suspended, the other has no backing and is just the snowflake suspended in glass, the wall behind will show through. Both versions are 3 prims, so not too terribly hard to use for decorating.

And! All 10 designs are also available in matching lanterns! These are also 3 prims each, and cast a light that can be changed by the owner by touching it- it can be turned off entirely, it can be made still, or it can jiggle back and forth a bit with the wind.



All the snowflakes and lanterns are out in the new gift hut, a purple Turnip Homes tea house, sitting on the hill with the elephant. Everything in there is transfer for giving to friends, since it is that time of the year, after all!

Mako Kungfu has blogged them here- and you can actually see the glow there (since my shaders are still not playing nice).

Also, the tree farm is back up sprawled across Horst. Mopsie's a bit navigationally challenged this year, so I hope you enjoy smacking into the ice cream and/or the unicorn as much as I do (in fact...I kinda....don't want to fix it).

New this year at the farm are 2 prim fir trees.

Head over to the elephant, but don't go up the stairs! The gift hut is outside near the elephant, as is Mopsie whose dearest wish is for you to hop on her back and ride her to the tree farm. Her sister Flopsie would love to escort you back.

50L Fridays!

It's my week for 50L Fridays again, and this time you get a few things!

Firstly, a pair of vests, in red, and green, because it's that time of the year.



And, the cat mask I was wearing for a chunk of October. When sculpts first came out, my first thought was "oooo, skulls!" (and thus were born Jerry, Clarence, the unnamed little dudes made into ornaments, and a bunch of other silly little guys who will probably never be finished but were fun to prod at), and my second thought was "oooo, masks!" The second thought I didn't really follow up much- at first I just wasn't happy with what could be done under the limitations of sculpts, and there already is an awesome mask source, Illusions. Eventually I figured out another way to make them that got by my biggest problem (eye holes!), that had its own fun pitfalls. I finally got this one "done" as much as it is because the unicorn needed a Halloween costume...and then argued with myself about finishing it, and kinda sorta wanted to sneak out a sneaky preview as is since who knows when (or if, honestly!) I'll ever really get done what I'd like to do for it. And...this 50L Fridays came about and I said "well, why not!?" The mask is out in both copy/no trans and trans/no copy versions, so you can get one for yourself and mod to your heart's content without worry, or give a gift to a deserving friend.



And then, not for 50L Fridays but it finally got me to finish it and do the ads and junk: a striped vest to match the Stripey Patchmas pants. Just because!



All out in elephant, of course!

After the event is over, items will be available on the Marketplace.

Starlust Trash Hunt!

So, we're kind of a trashy people at the Starlust. But we are also messy. We need you to clean up after our crap, because we've left trash all over the sims, full of goodies.

From Schadenfreude, a tie with a cockroach on it (you might recognize him if you've been eating the Valentine's candy, or looked at the wall in the lobby), and a pair of pants upon which, quite bored in class, I have scribbled a bit.



There are lots of other goodies from other people out there- start hunting at the lobby!

xstreet

I've been keeping my soapboxing off the feeds and on my "personal" blog (which is mostly neglected and doesn't feed anywhere), but some of this is information that perhaps, needs to be seen by a wider audience (especially #2, alternate systems). I'm long and wordy, so I'm going to only post links:

My problem with the roadmap- an analysis of the real reason the new "roadmap" doesn't sit well with me.

xstreet alternatives- a short form with the 6 (only 5 are up and running at the current time) xstreet alternatives I found, and my quick reaction to each. If you go to the blog itself, the previous entries are more in depth on each service- still very cursory as this was my first run through to compare features, so I very well may have missed things, but my first glance, and what made me decide which ones to proceed with on a more in depth basis. I've started posting on MVX, (very) slowly, and will probably cross post more things to other services as well. I will only be picking one as the "catalog" service that is what I would rather see xstreet be than the new system however, simply due to the fact that all listing takes a very long time.

Copper Cat Corset and more neckties

The elephant has been getting terribly cramped, so it's new room time! (The elephant is still pretty cramped...I haven't finished reorganizing things. Also...it may be yet another new room time soon...) New room, means new corset to match:


(eyes are retired by Miriel, Jinx hair, Bixin pants, Koijini jewelry, Moonage Daydream skin)

p.s. Obviously not _forearm_ tattoo, but upper arm tattoo. But, I haven't been getting enough sleep and tomorrow is yet another early morning, so I'll try to remember to fix that later, whoops.

Once it's been out for a bit, it'll be moving into its room, as the rest of them have.

New ties as well, the one to match the new corset, and the Sparrow corset, and 3 other motifs- Erzulie was an old group gift, but gained the second in the pair and has been rereleased following people requesting it lately; Leo was seen in Joe the Lion and is finally ready to go. In separate pairs with each motif, and a HUD controlled fatpack of the set.



And another set of ties, these with spiderwebs in an assortment of colours. These totally slipped my mind...but _I_, at least, will wear spiderweb covered ties all year round, so that's ok.



All out in the still overstuffed elephant, who will be shedding his wings...soon.

Fifty Linden Friday the 13th

Schadenfreude is in 50L Friday this week, for the ladies and the menfolk alike, a vest in DANGER blue (much thanks to Apatia Hammerer for her naming skills, as I couldn't come up with what to call it!):


(House of Munster and Philotic Energy hair; Schadenfreude skins, oxford, striped pants, and lurking pants; retired Miriel eyes; Luth and Torrid poses)

And, it's Friday the 13th. So, the Electro-spook Black Widow necklace has snuck off from the Electro-cute jewelry fatpack, to be on special just for today:



Your taxi to the elephant, they're out on the steps up into the head.

And here's a list to everyone!

After the event is over, items will be available on the Marketplace.

So, what can we do?

I'll step down from my soapbox soon. Promise.

We, personally, have a limited amount of things we can do about content theft- we can try to educate (however there are so many people in SL, and I keep running into the same ones over and over, that I don't know how effectively we can reach beyond our microcosm. But we still need to try- because content theft goes far beyond what LL can control, though they can do a lot to mitigate it they are not), we can ourselves choose not to participate on the buying or selling ends, and we can try to get LL to listen.

LL runs a little like a democracy- when it doesn't come to features they come up with in house, they listen to the community. That community...is huge. And diverse. And has a lot of different ideas of what is a priority, and what even should be done in any particular case (I know that upon occasion I've wished there was a "Vote against this feature" button on the jira). So, the most effective thing we can do, is mobilize as large a group in support of the issues important to us as possible (I may not agree with all of Artist's Voice's tactics, but they are trying to actively mobilize a group for this goal). But here, this goes beyond that. Because we don't just need action- we need action NOW. LL is notoriously slow at feature introduction (some of this is 100% valid- you need to test features so you don't cause more trouble. However, beyond that, they promise features and never deliver, and it can take years to deliver features, which in my opinion goes well beyond any reasonable amount of testing, especially when it comes to particular features where this has happened). We need to convince them that not only action is required, we need the people working on this as their only project, now. Starting today.

The way to do this, is to go en masse to office hours, flood them with emails, faxes, real mail, however you can get ahold of them to say "enough is enough, something needs to be done" so they finally get tired of wasting time fielding all that and do it just to shut us up. Vote on the jiras, though this is the last thing on my list- it's the easiest, it's also the most ineffective especially when it comes to getting something done on a reasonable timetable, features are promised, and then seemingly abandoned, or you might see them implemented in 5 years. Be firm but polite- do not swear or insult. Profanity is the last resort of the inarticulate motherfucker, and I say this as someone who swears like a sailor. Insults are an ineffectual way to get a point across, because would you listen to anyone who gave you good advice, but started it with "you're an asshole, but"? It's an issue we're all passionate about, but we need to count to 10, and present reasonable rational arguments and requests, because those are far more likely to be listened to.

What can LL do? My personal roadmap is one you aren't going to like. I don't like it. I hate it. But we've gotten to the point where something that I hate is preferable to what we have now, which is the Old West and someone riding into town, shooting someone else in the face, and riding out to hide in the hills, so he can come back and do it again, and there's not a damn thing the sheriff can do unless the posse is damn lucky. So the best idea I see under these circumstances is something radical.

At this point? My first step would be something exceptionally radical and something I hate- shut down the grid to 3rd party viewers. And bots. They should be able to do that on a fast time table, not something that will take months or years. I hate this idea- I haven't used the official viewer in a very very long time- so long, I couldn't tell you how long, my love affair with alternate viewers started before Emerald became so popular. The official viewer is, from time to time for me, a laggy crashy bugridden piece of shit, and I've needed alternate viewers to be able to stay in SL for longer than 3 minutes. I hate this idea- there are a lot of legitimate bots out there that do extremely useful things, and I'm not talking about traffic bots. LibSL is a great resource to the community (though the thing i was excited to use it for, sadly can't be done, because there are a lot of limits on what you can do). Legitimate things will break. We will lose things that we've had to find other ways to do because LL hasn't seen fit to include some features that are very useful. Shutting down innovation sucks- there are a lot of great things that have come out of these, things that LL wasn't willing to do, or put as a lower priority, that other people stepped up and said "ok then, this is what I want, I bet other people did too, let's make it happen!" I like the community being able to be active and decide its own course. But a few rotten apples are ruining the bunch for everyone.

I would rather wait for step two to be in place and ready to go, it would be a less disastrous and violent option, to have a first wave of acceptable viewers in place first. But the question is, can we rely on LL to do that in any reasonable time framework? Every day more content is stolen and redistributed, new releases are copybotted the day they are released. Can we wait the weeks, months, years it might take for them to finally get around to finishing the process enough to put into practice? I don't know that I can wait that long, and I don't know of any real way to definitely light the fire under their asses to get them to realize it needs to be implemented, yesterday. Even an impending lawsuit hasn't woken them up (they think they can argue they've done enough- I think it's far too easy to see that there are so many other avenues open to them they have refused to explore that will make them liable).

The important part, the part that I fear LL could just decide not to implement (although they should, with other people creating more stable viewers than they do, it saves them work, and they aren't even having to pay them!), is the second stage- when you start the one team on shutting down the grid, you create two other teams. One team is in charge of clearing individuals and groups for having their viewers (and bot "viewers"!) access the grid. What background checks required, what degree of accountability and how, every step of the process, both creating the process and the actual implementation. They need a hard and fast guide on what features are never acceptable, they need immediate access to people who can look over each new feature as they are developed that isn't on that list, and decide whether they are desirable or cannot be put into a viewer that can access the SL grid. They need to make decisions about features fast unless it truly is a complex issue, instead of tying everything up in red tape- unlike things added to the jira, the work is done. The second team works on how to limit access to the grid- what steps to implement and how. For accountability, each team or individual with a viewer or bot should have a unique key- if the key gets leaked and is found on a viewer with features that haven't been cleared they can track down the problem immediately. The key can't be released alongside the open source, obviously- the viewer code can still remain open source, but it must only be offered compiled for download by end users, in the version that can connect to the SL grid. We may (no doubt, will, until/unless someone else picks them up) lose good features as people choose not to become verified to have their work connect to the grid, or fail the verification process.

Legally, to me, this all makes damn good sense to LL- I'm not a lawyer, but I grew up with one, and if I had the credentials and was working on the case, I think I might argue that LL willfully colludes with IP thieves by not taking these actions. They have the end control over the platform, and only an idiot wouldn't have seen this coming the day they released the source code. To my mind, they have the moral obligation to fix this problem that they have created- and with the lawsuit filed, I would think that maybe, just maybe, their legal team might see the legal benefit in getting some control implemented before it goes to trial so, late or not, they can still show that they have closed some of the largest holes. In other words, LL, it might be very seriously in your best interests to make this project a top priority.

Open sims are still the Wild West, and each needs to decide what action they want to, and can, take. Open sims will become where the viewer side innovation happens- not only those who choose not to go through the accountability process with LL, but new features that may not be greenlighted can be developed there. Some may be developed so they can point and say "look, this is how it works in practice, it's not a bad idea", some may be developed as pet projects that LL will never allow for various reasons (there's been talk that LL won't allow Emerald's OTR chat for legal reasons, for instance- there will always be features like that that aren't actively malicious, but won't be allowed if they regain control, as LL also has a degree of accountability in what features they allow). Open sims become more attractive to programmers of viewers, SL becomes more attractive to content creators who make the grids interesting.

The viewer stays open source, and libSL continues to be viable, but LL regains control of the grid. Innovation is curtailed, but not stopped. People are accountable for the features they include- the big problem with copybot and copybot viewers is that they take away all the work involved in stealing content. It will still be possible, but you'll have to put effort into it, you'll have to know what you're doing, and the majority of the people abusing these things, are, quite simply, lazy and taking advantage of the hard work of others- including the programmers making these "tools" for them.

Let's talk about theft

I think it's pretty obvious that I'm in opposition to the two days of silence, of abstaining from action, instead of taking it. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and being quiet just makes you easier to ignore. (Yes, I know that's simplistic and not what you mean, but it still is some of the end result.)

I respect the reasons behind it, and I, and I'm sure everyone who is on this side of the fence, understands what you're doing- your motives are pure. The actions, though, the actions are something in which we can't participate- and yes, a lot of us have reasons to be very vocal in opposition to them.

So, instead of being silent, I'm choosing to open a discussion. Well, a monologue really, but perhaps it will give some people some things to think about.

Content theft in SL is a big issue. It's also a complex one, and there are various layers of it. Right now, this, is only trying to deal with one small aspect of it, one facet that has a huge and direct impact upon the residents of SL, the people who make SL what it is. LL may have pulled the slogan "your world, your imagination", but that is what Second Life is. WE create it. There is very little content that isn't created by residents, people just like you- LL provided the framework, and we are the ones who drape our dreams across that framework to make it interesting and engaging, and worth exploring and coming back to, and beautiful. People just like you, put hours (and days, and weeks, and months) of effort into creating what you see before you. If that has no value because it's just a virtual world, what DOES have value? Most of the trappings of our world, the things that make it worthwhile, are luxuries. TV, movies, games, computers, the internet, art, music, candy, lawyers, all service jobs...these are all luxuries. You need shelter, you need food, you need sleep. Most of the things in life are things you could live without if you really needed to, and yet, you still pay your hard earned money (in a job that, more than likely, is also related to a luxury, unless you're out there farming crops or building houses- and even then we have progressed to a point where we want more than just the basics even of those). You are compensated for your time, your energy, your work, and those who create the content of Second Life are simply asking for the same courtesy. We're building the environment you see, and instead of having to go out and pay $60 for a game that you might get a week's worth of enjoyment out of before you've finished it, we're just asking for micro payments as you go for the content you choose to want.

And therein lies part of it- you WANT what people are creating. We are not denying you something you NEED and are entitled to. We are not greedy. Life isn't free, and money made in SL goes toward necessities of life so we can continue to spend the time creating more things you want.

You, of course, know all this to begin with. This blog, and in fact the entire controversy, won't spill over to those who need to understand that their selfishness destroys people- both economically and emotionally. If you've ever had your home broken into and items stolen, you know what theft is like. It's not really that different with content theft, there's a lot of hopelessness and feeling invaded and violated. Just the threat of it is enough to keep some people away, or make people more hesitant to share things with other people.

So, what can be done? The only truly concrete thing we can do is educate, and try to raise the issue to LL, to yell so loud that eventually they listen and do something just to stop being pestered by us incessantly. When someone passes you something, tell them it's wrong, explain why. Take note of the people involved- many are burnable alts, but some can be held accountable, and AR them. Tell the legitimate creators so they can take the actions they can, as ineffectual as they can be at times. In cases when you see things stolen being sold in a shop- DO NOT TRY TO SHUT THEM DOWN YOURSELVES. Contact the original creators. It is absolutely imperative that the creators take action first, because if the thieves pick up and move on, you have to FIND them again, and the way the process currently works, you have to be able to concretely point at it and say "LOOK, HERE IT IS." Step up, and take the action that is appropriate to the situation, make sure the creators are informed so they can take the actions _they_ can take.

The Lindens, they can do some things. Even they can't stop content theft entirely, but they HAVE allowed it to become too easy. Third party viewers have added a lot of great functionality to SL, and I've even had to switch to them at times simply because the official viewer plain didn't work for me. However, they've been given far too much free reign, and they need to be controlled for the good of everyone. There ARE ways that can be done, with a vetting process they could even allow some third party viewers to operate, so long as they are cleared. Innovation would be curtailed a little, because new features would have to go through an extra layer of clearing, but it would not be completely stopped. Adding accountability would also mean that if viewers started sneaking in with undesirable features, the team with the leak could be tracked down, and their ability to make a sanctioned viewer could be removed- not simply accountability to the Lindens, but you are accountable to your entire team, and have a far greater incentive to behave, as well as to make sure the rest of your team behaves. Know who you are working with, and choose not to work with them if you don't think you can trust them.

Idea theft is another issue, and it's a harder one. We can't protect that with technology. Some is allowed under innovation, however there is also protection for derivative works- it's a greyer area, and a much more complex issue, but it can still be protected in some cases. When it comes down to it, both sides CAN push hard enough to bring it to court, and depending on the case, the judge can decide in either direction. It's a harder case for one to judge themselves as well, however it can still be both morally and legally wrong. You personally have to decide what you think is right. The original creator is the one who has all the facts to know how much of _their_ creation was entirely original and how much was innovated upon by other works, so parties trying to take action without all the facts (aside from their own personal decisions to support this or that creator due to it) can cause more trouble than help, in many cases.

Content theft in SL is not just limited to SL, either. It's easier to steal an entire finished product from the same system, but content is also stolen from other games, from copyrighted images, and from other sources from which the creator in SL doesn't have the rights. However, some people are very fastidious about obtaining the rights for everything they use! And many of the same programs and techniques used to create environments for games are used by artists in SL as well.

Many people try to justify theft in SL by accusing the creators of theft- photosourcing from resources they have not obtained rights to, using pirated software to create what they create. You might be very surprised how many creators DO have legal software, who even have purchased expensive software like Photoshop (many may not have the latest version, and may go years between upgrades, but will buy it on sale after a newer version has come out when they can get a deal that makes it fit within their budget). Many are very careful about obtaining all the necessary licenses. It is true, that not all the people who create in Second Life do, but to accuse everyone of it is a disservice to those who do.

Remember remember

A 48 hour ban on commerce in Second Life hurts no one but those who make their livings creating the content that makes our world beautiful. Most creators are already feeling the pinch- they are, after all, the ones punished the most by content theft to begin with, as well as the whole economic downturn (and LL can spin the numbers all they like, it has had a lot of impact in Second Life regardless of what they try to pretend). 2 days without sales means the very real possibility that some won't be able to eat, or pay rent in RL this month- nevermind the fact LL doesn't care that they had 2 fewer days to earn tier. 2 days without blogging means fewer sales due to less advertising. In fact, LL doesn't lose a single thing- they still get all the tier, the only way it _would_ effect them is if those 2 days of sales really did kill the content creators, so they couldn't cash out enough to be able to pay rent and eat, and had to leave SL entirely. And it's unrealistic to think that all the business you would have had in those 2 days will magically show up the day after- in fact, most of the people in SL will not have heard of the boycott, and out of sight, out of mind.

It's a gesture to try to feel like we can do something, but the only thing it does is hurt the very people it is trying to help. Instead, I urge you to support the original content creators instead! And, you know, inundating LL with emails and faxes about how they ought to do things about content theft wouldn't really be a bad idea either :)

So, no, I shan't be stopping shopping or selling for two days. Instead, I shall show you the outfit I wore for Achariya's post, something I put together of works of just a few of my favourite designers in Second Life, without whom we would have a much less beautiful world.

outfit: ~silentsparrow~
hair: Calico Ingmann
horns: Illusions
earrings and necklace: Balderdash
lip ring: Lazy Places
wings: ~Scribble~
boots: First Flower
pose: ++ DESIRE++
eyes: Miriel, a content creator we have already lost in Second Life because while she created things of uncommon beauty, they didn't sell enough to be able to afford running a business in SL.

I know a lot of the people whose work I'm wearing here- some of them I consider friends, some I don't know well- and some I've never met or spoken to, but I still love the creations of their beautiful minds. This is just a tiny sampling of the people whose work I enjoy, who have enriched my life. (Mostly it's just what I threw on last minute for the photo for Ach! So so many people aren't represented here who are such a deeply important part of my Second Life, whether they know it or not.)

Designers create your Second Life experience- environments, avatar enhancements, events, all of it is created with the time, energy, and skill that regular people choose to put into this world. While some people scoff at paying designers for their time and effort, how is it really any different from buying a game at the store? Then, you _are_ paying the team who created the environment, the difference is that here, the ability to create is open to everyone, and because of it, we can create something so much more diverse, more than just a game, but a world, an experience that is always expanding and changing.

Content theft hurts every single one of us. Because of it we lose the creators who make our world amazing, we lose the innovation that makes Second Life rich. However, choosing to boycott creators, even to send a message to LL, can easily have the same effect of forcing people out.

Jerry's Flight, Lucent Batwings, and a little gift

Jerry's Flight is finally out, a shiny vinyl collar with a vinyl winged Jerry hanging down, and a simple silver buckle in back.

(~silentsparrow~ Putrid Selador from Deader Than You; Schadenfreude Langwidere Amythest skin, Thom hair, Jerry Skull earrings; retired Miriel eyes)

The wings from the Batwing Lucents are on their own now- with a few extra textures, in soft non shiny colours. The shoe fatpack has the new textures too, and both also have mini wings included as well now.

(Draconic Kiss Demona hair; ~silentsparrow~ belladonna:lepidoptera tattoos; Schadenfreude Langwidere Amythest skin, Strix corset; retired Miriel eyes)

And another free seasonal giftie, a charm bracelet with some spooky thingies on it.


That may do me for Halloween this year! (Which, you know, is good, since it's here already.) Good thing I'm spooky so I can do some of the rest of the stuff another time.

All, of course, smashed into the overcrowded elephant.

Strigoi Oxford, and Strix Corsets

A little for the boys, a little for the girls, and obviously I'll only be making things with bats on them until the day I die.

The Strigoi Oxford is a special edition Oxford with silver bat buttons. It's a little lighter than Noir, but darker than Charcoal, because 30 colours wasn't enough!

(on him: &Bean Closer Smiley skin; Schadenfreude Thom hair, Moroi trousers; retired Miriel eyes
on her: Den-Dou Vampire Mona skin; Tiny Bird Autumn Leaves hair; Schadenfreude Moroi trousers; retired Miriel eyes)

The Strix corsets have made a reappearance, because nothing says "I'm a spooky vampire" like an acid green bat corset. Separates in colours to match the Morois and Striges skirts:


(Schadenfreude Veronique hair, Lucent Batwings, Striges skirts and Moroi trousers; retired Miriel eyes; unreleased Jerry's Flight collar that I might get to eventually; mask that may or may not ever be available, but it's my Halloween costume, dammit)

All at the elephant.

Moroi

Moroi is something of an offshoot of the Strigois. While playfully accented, they are more traditional in tone- Moroi takes some of the same motifs and goes in a different direction, for a more modern daemon. It also differs in the colour options, in that it actually has them- the black is accented with your choice of 6 colours: crimson, pumpkin, slime, azure, purple, or noir. A set consisting of a cropped jacket with sculpted cuffs and optional pointy pointy tails, and 2 pairs of mildly distressed black pants (traditional waist, and a lower slung option) with leather belts and big silver bat buckles. If you want to wear a shirt, you'll have to find your own elsewhere (Alle, of course, doesn't bother with a shirt, but it's rather nice for swirly tattoos to peek out from).



(hums "one of these things is not like the others"-
on her in all but Slime: [][]Trap[][] Vampy skin, Stained; Schadenfreude Jinx hair; retired Miriel Flame eyes
on Allegory who snuck into the photoshoot: Schadenfreude Veronique hair, Alabaster Langwidere Emerald Joe the Lion skin, Jerry Skull earrings, unreleased Jerry's Flight collar; retired Miriel Absinthe eyes
on him: [][]Trap[][] Vampy skin; boon hair; First Flower Valerian boots; retired Miriel Flame eyes. on Crimson and Pumpkin: Schadenfreude Electro-spook tees. On Slime: Schadenfreude Charcoal Oxford shirt. On Azure: unreleased stitch tattoos. On Purple: unreleased Strigoi Oxford shirt. On Noir: Schadenfreude Elephant t-shirt, available in the little booth in one of the elephant's feet.
p.s. I obviously need to take vendor pics of more crap...)

Shoved out in a corner of the elephant.

Striges

The Striges are skirts- scalloped batwinged over contrasting underskirts, belted with a batwinged buckle and studded with coffin studs and spikes. They're fitted to a rather small frame so I didn't hit the scaling wall, so stretch them to fit your shape. The glitchpants aren't much in the way of pants at all, but continue the waistband above the belt, and at least ensure you aren't entirely falling out underneath. 7 colours are available in paired separates: ghostly white, noir with 2 toned black, and the strong colours of crimson, pumpkin, slime, azure, and purple. The pairs are with a black overskirt, and the alternate colour peeking out from underneath, or the colour vibrant on top and the black peeking out from behind the scallops. There's also a scripted fatpack that lets you do all that and more, letting you mix any of the combinations together to your heart's desire, and comes with all 8 glitchpant(ie)s. (Yes, it's a theme, if I can script things to have a stupid number of options that most people wouldn't care about, but I rather like having, I shall.)




(assorted Schadenfreude Langwidere skins and Miriel eyes on all, as well as the cat mask I'm still trying to decide if I'll put out even though it's not and may never be done that you can't really see anyway!
I went through all this styling just to cut off the heads, you know, but:
in the fatpack: Schadenfreude Nekomi hair, Electro-spook tank; Schadenfreude Veronique hair, ~silentsparrow~ Putrid Selador Deader than You Tour prize (goes away Halloween, so act fast!), unreleased Jerry's Flight collar; Schadenfreude Batkini and out of frame Cinder hair; Calico Ingmann Hannah hair, Schadenfreude Koijini necklace and Batwing tank; Schadenfreude Augustine hair and cropped Striga top; ~silentsparrow~ gutter glitter pumpkin top (Deader than You Tour prize, see above note about poofing soon) and envy waist cincher, Schadenfreude Tish hair.
Crimson: Schadenfreude Tish hair, Arachnophobia necklace, cropped Blood Striga top, also a Deader than You Tour prize.
Pumpkin: Schadenfreude Pumpkin batkini (Deader than You, again!)
Slime: Schadenfreude Slime Moroi jacket
Azure: Schadenfreude Batwing tank and Koijini necklace
Purple: Schadenfreude Caged corset
Ghost: Schadenfreude Electro-cute Skull tank top
Noir: Schadenfreude Strix corset, unreleased bracelets)

Shoved out with the rest of the new stuff in the elephant. New stuff comes with tokens, btw- remember to redeem your tokens soon, Halloween is the last day for the tour!

Strigoi Viu

Like Striga, Strigoi Viu is a year overdue. It was originally some extra pieces for Strigoi Mort, before both sides of the equation ballooned...a lot. Mort gained black and white tie and all the accoutrements due to a tuxedo, and was quite bloated all by itself, and so the frock coat and assorted other pieces were set aside to be their own set.


(skin: Den-Dou Scarface(B); hair: Schadenfreude Thom; eyes: retired Miriel Silver Screen eyes; shoes: Lassitude & Ennui Laudanum)

Strigoi Viu, the living vampire, is a mourning (har har) suit, with a generously tailed frock coat with pointed sculpted cuffs, bat brocaded waistcoat, top hat and cravat upon which bats have alighted, black pants with bat pocket detailing on the back, and a plain black shirt with starched sculpted collar. It's less formal "day" wear than the fully formal Mort, and I felt a tad spooky Jack the Ripper-esque while wearing it.

You can find it out in the elephant, who's getting rather cramped lately.

50L Fridays: Electro-spooks

Schadenfreude is in 50L Fridays this week, with 2 offerings:





also set out tonight is also a set of tank tops with the Electro-spooks, that's more just for the girls:


Plus, all three Electro-spooks are also in cameos- they've been snuck into the Electro-cute jewelry fatpack, along with earrings and necklaces with skulls that also work with the HUD (so all bits, including the bracelets and hairbows and all, can be changed to any of the 12). If you have the Electro-cute set already, wear your updater balloons to magically get the new pack with everything!



Hop on over to the elephant to grab a notecard with all the participants this week! (Because I'm too lazy to list them. But they are good.)

Scary, a very godmotherly collaboration

A collaboration between ~silentsparrow~, Calico Ingmann (who as always with ~silentsparrow~ costumes, made perfect hair), and myself, Scary is our homage to a particular resident of the Fright Side.

One of my parts was the hat, and I made a bunch more textures for it (brim and crown change independently, so you can mix and match). And an optional spider (there's a no spider version for those who don't like spiders, but he's cute! And he can be candy striped!)



Scary, the set and the hat, are out at the elephant. You'll have to venture over to silent sparrow or Calico Kitty for the marvelous Jill hair though!


Items in this post blogged for other looks:
Scary outfit, at Pretty-pretty dress-up
Scary outfit, at Achariya