Schadenfreude Oni Skulls

In Japan, the summer is the time for chilling ghost stories, to try to cool off in the hot (and humid!) weather.  In my personal opinion, year round is the time for chilling ghost stories, and I read short horror stories (short because I'm REALLY BAD at putting books down and tend to just read all night and not sleep...) before bed, because that's just the sort of person I am (I got started early, my grandmother loved watching horror movies with me when I was a baby, this probably explains a lot about me).  In Second Life, the region of Hakoniwa has undergone a transformation into a spooky night time wonderland, for Hyakki Yakou, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

There are events, there is music, there will be a parade!  Dressing up for the occasion is encouraged, come as your favourite ghost, demon, or monster!  There is also a market at the entrance, with a few shops featuring spooky goods and freebies- including this horned demon skull, from me.  One, two, or three horns; without jaw, with attached closed jaw, or with jaw as a separate linked part you can edit yourself; use the HUD to choose between bone, metal, or coloured textures all with PBR with fallback and Blinn-Phong options; 1 Land Impact each skull from human skull size to a bit larger.  Unrigged, but hey, I've been wearing it on my head anyway (with my favourite skeleton body).  An update to the Chopsticks with Eyeball is also there as a free gift- more eye colours, PBR and Blinn-Phong texture options.

Hyakki Yakou is open August 1 - August 23, but it's on Japan time! So treat those dates as 8AM the previous morning instead.  The parade will be on August 22, the website has a schedule for events!  (Google translate does a decent job of presenting the information in English.  Read the story on the last tab of the menu, especially!)

Schadenfreude Katoritanuki

天晴 APPARE! is a beautiful event devoted to Japanese culture.  Aside from the shopping, there are live events and a lot of beautiful vignettes to take photos at.

Katoributa (蚊取り豚) are little ceramic incense holders that look a little like pigs, with big mouths for air flow and eye holes for the incense to waft through.  Tanuki are racoon dogs- like kitsune, they can get crafty and pick up tricks, and like transforming into other things, there's a famous story about one who turns into a teapot.  This tanuki has taken the form of a katoributa instead.

Touch to light or extinguish the incense inside.  Pick the coil incense color with the HUD.  PBR with fallback textures and Blinn-Phong textures, 1 LI each katoritanuki.

APPARE! is open June 30 at 8AM SLT to July 20 at 8AM SLT.  (This event is on Japan time.)

Schadenfreude Hiiragi Iwashi

Setsubun (節分) is a traditional Japanese festival day that celebrates the division of the seasons- the end of winter, to be followed by the beginning of spring- which usually falls on February 3.  There are a few good luck rituals that are practiced to celebrate it, to protect your household from bad luck for the year ahead- including putting a hiiragi iwashi (柊鰯) by your front door, a holly branch with a roasted sardine head impaled on it.  You see, the bad luck oni doesn't like the smell of roasted sardines, and if they do still come close to your door, the holly will poke them in the eye.  And they like that even less!

This holly sardine comes mounted in a metal holder to screw onto your house wall, or alone to attach through other means of your choice.  PBR with fallback textures and non PBR texture versions for both included, 1 Land Impact each fish head on a stick.

We all can use some good luck, this is a free gift you can find at the entrance of the elephant to take home your own! 

Schadenfreude Uma Kagami Mochi and Sake Barrels

Happy year of the horse!  APPARE! is celebrating the new year, and a the kagami mochi 鏡鼠 this year has been decorated as a horse.  The mochi stack with daidai comes in or out of the tray, the offering tray 三方 and paper, together and separately are also included, 1 LI each piece.

And a new set of 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrels decorated for the new year, with a maneki neko and a horse version, a kumade (rake decorated with lucky symbols to rake in luck) in normal and horse version, zodiac clay bell, and a yawatauma (a traditional wooden horse of Aomori Prefecture).  Stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

Find a gift of a horse themed daruma doll at the booth, too!

At APPARE!, open December 25 at 7am SLT - January 15 at 7am SLT.

Schadenfreude Kitsune Sake Barrels

A new release at APPARE! before it's over- a kitsune (fox) themed 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrel set- stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

APPARE! is also full of great things to see if you venture beyond the center shopping area- I highly recommend setting some time out to wander through the entire venue, it's so much fun!

At APPARE!, June 30 @ 8am SLT to July 21 @ 8am SLT!

Schadenfreude Snake Statue Pair and Snow Snakes

Japonica has an extension for its last days, it will be open until the end of the month.  I've added a few more things in celebration of this extra time!

These snake statues are something I'd been vaguely planning on for the Year of the Snake (I don't get all of my yearly projects done, ever!  Usually I aim for the statues in the middle of the year because I know I won't get everything done by the beginning...but I've only succeeded once before with the cows!), and since we got extra time, I finished them up (I was trying to finish them up to release mid event, but man, PBR adds a lot of time to the entire process).  Texture change with four stone types, each with snowy and mossy options as well as just stone, the statues are a matched pair on top of pillars, just the stone snakes, and just the individual pillars.  There are unique textures for left and right- but you can secretly use the textures from the opposite side by switch the "l" and "r" at the end of the names (tell it it's left, and it'll use the left textures, tell it it's right, it'll use the right textures!), the textures will be flipped in the opposite direction on the other side (including the pillars).  It's not a bad idea for bandwidth and speedier textures, but it might be something you notice, so I've left the choice up to you!  Optional PBR and fallback textures for all options.

And there are two more gifts!  There is a souvenir Daruma for Japonica, and these snow snakes!  Piles of snow sort of made snake shaped-ish, also a matched pair like the statues.

At the final round of Japonica, open December 25 at 8am SLT - January 31 at 8am SLT.

Happy New Year!

I'm a little late on saying anything about this- Katakana Shrine is welcoming people for the New Year, as it does.  I've already been on my first shrine visit of the year, as well as traveling the entire Goshuin Project for New Year 2025 (see my travels on tumblr) to prepare for this Year of the Snake.  But, as I do, I've also set out a few free gifts at Katakana Shrine to go alongside the gifts and lucky boards that feature in the new year celebrations.

X kimono: !HONENOKE! Furisode (f) SHOUCHIKUBAI (RLFandNAMINOKE, chiki.vita & taiko.mccaw)

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Lucky Okobo Geta, with snakes and Daruma, with 4 strap colors,

and snake daruma dolls in 2 colors.  There is also a snake kokeshi doll, using the HBS kokeshi base, which is also a gift there, with templates to make your own!

And don't forget to get your Goshuin stamp and hamaya to commemorate your shrine visit at Katakana Shrine.

Schadenfreude New Year Sake and Neck Snake

Ryukyu is celebrating the new year with the Okinawa New Year Festival!

Some sake for celebrating this upcoming Year of the Snake, with your choice of 5 labels featuring lucky rakes decorated with good luck charms, that match sake barrel labels from the past few years.  Drink that sake out of a janome ("snake eye") tasting cup, so named for the snake eye circles design inside the cup to check the quality of your sake.  Bottles that will give out sake to your guests are included.

X top: [Adeyakko] ImoutogoOuga Sarashi Green (yakko.lemon)
hair: KMH Hair F123 (kumibou.mayo)
tattoo: Izzie's - Body Mermaid Scales purple (izzie.button)
skin: [Heaux] Nicha - Light Brows - Frost (blush.diavolo)
head: LeLUTKA / evox / CAMILA (jaden.nova)

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And for the New Year sale, a snake to drape around your neck to take with you.  Texture change with the 20 Japanese and Fantasy snake options.

Plus there's a bag on the table with free cookies for you.

At the Okinawa New Year Festival, December 27 @ 7am SLT - January 12.

Schadenfreude Kagami Hebi and Sake Barrels

Happy year of the snake!  Japonica is celebrating the new year, and a snake has taken the place of the mochi in my kagami mochi 鏡鼠 this year.  The snake comes in or out of the tray, including a tray with a raised board underneath to show off the snake more (she's short!), wrapped around an orange, the offering tray 三方 and paper, together and separately are also included, 1 LI each piece.

And a new set of 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrels decorated for the new year, with a maneki neko and a snake version, a kumade (rake decorated with lucky symbols to rake in luck) in normal and snake version, zodiac clay bell, and a takehebi (a traditional bamboo snake of Toshigi Prefecture).  Stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

Sadly, this is the final round of Japonica, but 10 years is a good run!  I would love it if it comes back some day- it's one of my favourite events in SL- but for now, let's send it off with a grand celebration!

At Japonica, open December 25 at 8am SLT - January 19 at 8am SLT.

Schadenfreude Hamster Figurines

Hamster Festival is here for 2024!  A festival devoted to Beetlebones Dwarf Hamster avatars, but the hamster is optional and it's full of general fun things!  Hamster parties sometimes happen, and they are very welcoming to avatars of all heights and species!  I love Hamfest, and I look forward to it every year, a celebration of the fun possible in SL.

This year I'm giving away these little ceramic figurines.  They are inspired by the fox figurines (as well as some other types, but foxes are the most common) at Shrines, but this time, they are hamsters.  Hamstar Shrine, which was signing Goshuin during the New Year Goshuin Project event had little tiny stone hamsters out at their hokora, reminding me that ceramic ones might be desirable as well!  Clean and dirty, PBR and non PBR textures (you might even want to mix the two types of textures for things that look just a little different if you want to put a number of them out), they will fallback to non PBR textures on non PBR viewers if set to use PBR textures.  1 LI each, with or without a base or pedestal, pairs in one object on pedestals also included.

This year, Hamster Festival is open July 28 at 5am SLT to August 17 at 8am SLT.  (It operates on Japan time.)

There is also a Summer Goshuin Event running August 1 - 14, go around SL visiting Shrines and Temples, collecting the stamps!  The Hamster Festival Shrine is not an official stop (it is not on the list, but there are a few places around that aren't on the list that are offering this currently), but you can get your book stamped at it too!

Schadenfreude Tatsu Dragons

Slinky longboi dragons at Japonica!  7 poses of dragons, each with mirrored versions, and each with lower and higher LI options.  At given size, the lower LI versions are 1-2 LI each with more aggressive LODs, and the higher LI versions are 4-9 LI each (the more they have stretched out, the higher the LI due to the size penalty in calculating LI).  Due to the nature of mesh, making your dragons larger will cost more LI.

Textures include PBR and non PBR versions, choose whether you want PBR or not in the HUD before you make your color selection.  Non PBR textures will still change with PBR, non PBR viewers will see your color selection regardless.

I've put preview images on each of the posed dragons in inventory- don't expect that all the time.  The process for doing it is SO CLUNKY, just getting the actual pictures attached to the object.  It might not be the worst for doing one, but it is amazingly tedious for 28, and I regretted my life choices repeatedly during the process.  So while I'd like to do it because it's a neat feature (though truth be told, I'm on the fence about it, the images keep popping up when I actually don't want them to and am just trying to get. to. a. thing.), I may not unless it gets way easier to do.  It shouldn't take a considerable amount of time and effort and menu after menu for each just to do that, it should be simple drag and drop!

At Japonica, open June 30 at 8am SLT - July 21 at 8am SLT.

Happy New Year!

I love visiting shrines in SL, my Hatsumode, first shrine visit of the year, is always to Katakana Shrine.  After lurking around for a few years, they invited me to join in, so now I also offer some of the free gifts for visitors- until mid January there are free gifts and lucky boards at the shrine, for the festival to celebrate the new year!

X kimono: !HONENOKE! KIMONO (f) Tako (RLFandNAMINOKE, chiki.vita & taiko.mccaw)

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Lucky Okobo Geta, with dragons and the lucky mallet, with 4 strap colors,

and dragon daruma dolls in 2 colors.  There is also a dragon kokeshi doll, using the HBS kokeshi base, which is also a gift there, with templates to make your own!

This year, there is a Goshuin Project run by sakka Flow, where you can get the special red stamps to commemorate your shrine visits.  It has introduced me to some beautiful new places!  You can get a stamp and a bonus set of books as well as the original set, at Katakana Shrine.

Schadenfreude Chopstick Rests and Kokeshi Sake

Okinawa New Year Festival is ringing in the new year with little ceramic daruma chopstick rests, with and without black lacquered chopsticks.  5 daruma colors to choose from, 1 LI each with or without chopsticks.

And some sake to celebrate with!  There are also versions filled with green tea, if you prefer.  Each of the three sets is designed after a different style of kokeshi doll.  All include bottles with the top attached, bottle and top as separate objects, and the top on the table next to the bottle; plus stacks of cups to match stacked up into dolls, and singular unstacked cups.  Bottles and stacks can be touched to get a cup by you or your guests, in plain givers and in versions that will take each cup individually until the stack is gone (and then restack themselves automatically).  The Togatta dolls are stacked as dolls with the small cups upside down and also in stacks of small cups upright.  The Tsuchiyu dolls also have mixable stripes on the cups that can randomize themselves each time they are rezzed.  All have larger cups as part of the sets- the urn shaped torso cup in the case of the Tsugaru, and the extra large head cups for the others.  If this were a RL product, I would also be designing some drinking game around them for the large cups!

At the Okinawa New Year Festival, open December 26 at 7am SLT until January 12.

Schadenfreude Kagami Tatsu

Happy year of the dragon!  Also at Japonica this year, some dragons taken the place of the mochi in my kagami mochi 鏡鼠.  There is one with mouth open, holding the daidai in his mouth, and one with mouth closed, with it perched upon his head.  Both come in or out of the tray with the daidai, the offering tray 三方 and paper, together and separately are also included, 1 LI each piece.

At Japonica, open December 25 at 8am SLT - January 21 at 8am SLT.

Schadenfreude Sake Barrels and Horns

X kimono: [SHIFUKU] Antique Kimono Men (n0rik0)
hair: Vango. Julian (norman.millar) with LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.049 (jaden.nova)
skin: HISS. ATSUSHI SKIN MOON (rehmyel)
eyes: Izzie's - Tokyo Eyes sage (izzie.button)
head: .[AKERUKA ADVX] Andro M Head (kaoz.koba)
pose: MMMA_2403 (momomura.zehetbauer)

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Happy year of the dragon!  Japonica is celebrating the new year, and you can become a dragon with horns decorated with ume flowers in shades of white, pink, and red, in two styles of realistic and stylized paper cutouts.  The horns have 12 options- white, black, brown, and red, each solid and tipped in gold or silver.

And a new set of 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrels decorated for the new year, with a maneki neko and a dragon version, a kumade (rake decorated with lucky symbols to rake in luck) in treasure boat and dragon version, zodiac clay bell, and a tatsugaruma (a traditional papier-mâché dragon of Fukushima Prefecture).  Stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

At Japonica, open December 25 at 8am SLT - January 21 at 8am SLT.

Schadenfreude Butterfly Sake

Butterfly sake to join the Artist's Butterflies at Japonica.  Sake with adding blue butterfly pea giving it some color.  Butterfly pea also turns pinker when exposed to citric acid, yuzu slices added to cups have turned the sake in those cups to a pinker purple.  Cloisonné butterflies are present on some bottles and cups, texture change with two options (gold top veining and body, or black)- the HUD can also be used with the Artist's Butterflies to add those options to the bottles and cups, as well as to allow for more fluttering cloisonné butterflies when used to change butterflies in that set.  1 LI each piece to rez: bottles open and closed with and without a static butterfly, glass cups of sake with and without slices of yuzu and without and without animated perching butterflies, and a bonus empty cup.  Cups can be held in your right hand, cups without butterflies can also be drunk from.  Bottles include versions that will give out cups of sake to your guests to drink.

And a butterfly themed 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrel set- stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

At Japonica, June 30@8am SLT - July 23@8am SLT!

Schadenfreude Artist's Butterflies

Butterflies at Japonica, inspired by family crests, Ukiyo-e, and paper and fabric patterns.  5 different designs, each in 10 color options (including stark black and whites), sold by design or in a pack of them all.  Each includes a variety of butterflies: clusters that fly in circles in 2 sizes to wear or rez, a single butterfly that flies in a circle you can set the radius of, a flapping trail of 4, static butterflies in 5 poses (4 including mirrors, the 5th is symmetrical), and single wing flapping animated butterflies that hover in place or flap their wings while perched.  Collections of butterflies in single objects can be set to different texture options with the HUD by using the numbered buttons or the "Choose" mode.

Most movement of butterflies, flapping wings and in circles, is done with persistent properties that are low lag, and will continue even when unscripted (the exception is the perching butterflies, those do require a script to flap).  You can disable scripts with the HUD or manually to make the butterflies have even less impact on your region, make sure you do it in a copy if you delete the script!

Butterflies are also designed to allow you to tweak transparency and glow if you wish- use the Build menu to change those settings.  Select Face and set just the wings to transparent for the single butterflies, to avoid transparency conflicts.

At Japonica, June 30@8am SLT - July 23@8am SLT!

Schadenfreude Kagami Usagi and Sake Barrels

Happy year of the rabbit!  Japonica is celebrating the new year, and a rabbit has taken the place of the mochi in my kagami mochi 鏡鼠 this year.  The bunny comes in or out of the tray, with an orange on the head, the offering tray 三方 and paper, together and separately are also included, 1 LI each piece. If you have Kagami Mochi or Tsukimi Dango offerings from previous years, pick up an update by touching the black sign- there are some more texture options and fixes that have been added to them!

And a new set of 菰樽/飾り樽 sake barrels decorated for the new year, with a maneki neko and a rabbit version, a kumade (rake decorated with lucky symbols to rake in luck) in normal and rabbit version, zodiac clay bell, and a tama usagi (a traditional papier-mâché rabbit of Fukushima Prefecture).  Stacks and single barrels, 1 to 2 LI each at about a standard 4-to 72 liter size of about .65 meters tall barrel, with extra shading options to choose from if you are picky in how you stack!  (There are versions of top and side shadow boxed so you can stack them on top of each other or next to each other and keep the shading they have in the particular stacks also.)  HUD texture all to your desires- set them all the same, choose individual labels to texture to exactly what you want, or let it randomize them for you with the mix button.  You can also mix HUDs from other sake barrel sets for more options, even in the same stack.

At Japonica, open December 25 at 8am SLT - January 22 at 8am SLT.

Schadenfreude Zabuton Kitsune

A Drop of Bittersweet Amber is a visual novel for the spooky season, from the people that host Japonica.  Like The Dolls from 2 years ago, it's a beautiful story you slowly uncover as you progress through the areas.  You should do it!!

There is also a little market attached with a few shops- there are some freebies, some sales, some new releases.  I'm late finishing up my new thing! but finally have, some foxes on cushions (more accurately, kitsune on zabuton).  There are 7 poses which each include mirrors, and each pose has a fox with one tail, or some configuration of multiple tails- 2, 3, or 9.  All are texture change with 6 fox colours (two shades of orange fox, pure white fox, pink fox, and 2 different white foxes with red markings), 4 eye colours (gold, brown, blue, and red), and 12 zabuton (kitsune patterned, with different background colours).  1 LI each at "realistic" size (which is actually a little large, foxes are deceptively tiny!)

There are also 2 new free gifts to be found there, aside from the treat bucket variant also there waiting for you: an eyeball you can eat with chopsticks, and a plate with a pile of salt, to keep evil away.

X mask: [Deadwool] Oberon mask (masa.plympton) (but sorry, from 2014 and no longer available)
outfit: Ricielli - Ava Top and Jumpsuit (fhara.acacia)
tattoos: ~silentsparrow~ Fledermaus Tattoos (hyasynth.tiramisu)
fingertips: [Cubic Cherry] {Soft Touch} finger fades (kreao.kujisawa)

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Go play A Drop of Bittersweet Amber before it's gone!

Schadenfreude Bat Rest- Chopstick and Paintbrush

Shop&Hop is a massive mall full of gifts and sales, the Halloween round is here!  You will find my gift there, a little black ceramic bat to rest your chopsticks, or your paintbrush, on.  Don't use the same one for both unless all your paint is edible!  Each one is 1 LI each.  Plus!  Find a special variant of the yearly treat bucket next to it.  Everything else in the store is on sale, 20% off.

Shop&Hop is open until November 1!