Maitimo

Furry avatars are rarely/almost never sold as complete avatars nowadays. You need to buy all the separate parts and combine them. What you need to do first is find the skin kit that you like first. (thats the Chihuahua one that Silent linked to above). Read the description in the Marketplace - this will tell you what is already included (skin, and appliers or textures for certain other parts). Some of them come with tail and/or ears included, but this particular one doesn't. Read the description to see which head, tail, ears and feet you need to buy. Body is not specified, but you can check what bodies will fit the specified feet. In this case it's the Apricot Paws feety peets, which have sizes for almost every body in SL, so you can use any of those. I mainly use Maitreya and Reborn but I have a few others as well. Be careful with any skin that says its for Kemono or Regalia bodis. Those use their own proprietary skin map so a skin made for Regalia or Kemono won't work with anything else. The instructions with your skin kit will explain how to add the textures to your tail, head, ears etc. Sometimes there are appliers, more often you just drag the head/whatever onto the ground and add the texture using the Edit menu. One additional thing you'll need which isn't usually mentioned, is a neck extender, to fit the furry head onto the human body, otherwise there will be a gap. This is free from Apricot Paws. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Apricot-Paws-SLUV-Neck-ExtenderFix-Freebie/14958878. It's BOM so just wear it with the skin and the skin will automatically apply to it. It sounds like a lot of buying but aside from the body, other furry parts are usually fairly inexpensive, you have there a skin for L$500 and a head for L$200 whereas if you were putting together a human avatar you'd typically pay around L$1000 for the skin and L$5000 for the head. My furry avatar cost about L$1400 (not including the body), mainly because the skin and head I chose were a bit more expensive than yours. Yours will come to around L$1000-L$1100.

Putting together a feelgood summer playlist for a DJ gig inworld at the weekend and my current favourite song is this one: Thanks to an ex-boyfriend who was really into it, I've got a bit of a soft spot for reggae.

I've never been a fan of social media or its exploitative "privacy" policies; the last time I really participated in anything resembling it was Livejournal and that was years ago. I've managed to avoid Facebook and Twitter but I like forums in general, I used to like reddit until the last load of drama there, and I'm on Discord as well now, but only a small handful of groups. I have joined Mastodon though, and I quite like it. It's slow-paced enough not to be overwhelming, and I like that there's no ads, no obligation ot use my real name, and no selling of my data. There's a LOT of artists, LGBT+ people and pagan people over there, so it seems like I fit right in.

I don't think it always means a great deal, beyond roleplay, tbh. Do you remember Greville Oh, who was the owner of the original Chiaroscuro? He styled himself as a "Prince of Darkness", his avatar was a Drow (dark elf) with black skin. He dressed like a typical old-school goth. And yet, he was one of the sweetest, gentlest people I ever met. He hated violence in any form, he couldn't even bring himself to watch a series like Star Trek or Doctor Who because the guns and violence in it were too much for him. He was generous and altruistic, giving up many hours of his time every day, and a significant portion of his income, to help those whose needs he considered greater than his own. So why did he always dress up like a dark elf in SL? I think he merely liked the aesthetic of it. He certainly didn't act like one. Although - @Love Zhaoying mentioned lust - and you may have something there; Grev was nothing if not a very lustful person. But even then, he only acted as such with those who were willing to match him. I never was, and though he asked me for a sexual relationship on one or two occasions, I declined and he never pushed the matter or tried to persuade me otherwise. Despite that, there was a deep mutual love between us. He described me as the light against his shadow, but in truth, I see it the other way round. I carry a great deal of psychological baggage from my past and he was the light against my shadow. I have a tendency to be stubborn, serious and rather inflexible; I see this as a weakness but to Greville it was a strength; one that we used together to achieve things like getting Fantasy Gay Pride set up and open on time; something which his scatter-brain almost certainly could not have achieved on his own. I miss him so much. Then there are those who dress as demons/dark elves AND act like them too. Those people are selfish, power-hungry and deliberately seek to dominate over others. I see people like that as another facet of the type outside of SL who seek to dominate those weaker than themselves, whether in business, politics, sex and romantic/marital relationships etc. I think narcissism plays a part here, along with self-centeredness and a lust for power. Lust again - but not limited to sexual lust.

@Ingrid Ingersoll that looks beautiful.

Oooh. This might just tempt me into a Newbrooke... wonder how many tries it will take me to land one...

My houseboat is in a region called "Dahm Strait". I've called it "Dahm Seagulls". They poop on your head and steal your food.

Cities can be magical places too. There's energy to them, not always nice energy, but magic doesn't need to be nice to be real; it just is. It's how you use that energy, or how you let it affect you, that matters. As an example, compare sitting in a crowded commuter train on a Monday morning with sitting in a crowded sports stadium on a Saturday afternoon. The difference in energy between those two situations is so extreme that I'm sure even the least spiritual person here can sense it. There's energy (and therefore also magic) in technology too. I've done rituals which literally used the internet to transmit healing to another person. It's just another way of focussing intent and will. Magic is experiencing the energy of the world around us. Whether that energy comes from a forest, or a crowded sport stadium, or from technology, doesn't really make a lot of difference. It can all still be experienced and used in the same ways.

My guess is it's so they can recycle the holiday names that they always drop in at Christmas, Halloween etc. I expect they've run out of ideas for a holiday that's coming up?

I think it depends on the club. If crowds are large, a host is really necessary because the DJ isn;t going to be able to keep up on their own. At Chiaroscuro, we always had Greville as host until he passed away, now I host when our other DJ is playing, but when I'm DJing I do it without a host. There's not too many guests, usually, that I can't do both roles together. You're right about incompetent hosts. One that does no more than spam gestures is worse than no host at all. Your friend sounds like just the sort of DJ I like to follow. I'm not sure I would be comfortable if a DJ asked me to dance though. That isn't something I would do and would likely put me off.

I got these, and I really like them, much nicer than Mounds. AND I found a cute little MOD and tintable top on the MP from Visual Pollution for L$50. I'm not too concerned about limited clothing though, I'd probably only wear them when I'm naked or wearing a bikini anyway, so a couple of skimpy bikini type tops (a fullperm kit would be even better) is all I'll really need.

I visited the regions today and I am not inspired enough to upgrade. I like some of the house modelds (not sure which ones, until I have a good look at the demos) but I find the landscaping a bit boring, too similar to the Logs, which is my least favourote theme.

I'm tempted except for two doubts in my mind. Will SL itself still exist in 7 years? Will I still be interested in SL in 7 years? I've had periods of time before where I didnt log in for 3-4 years, if that happens again it would be 10-11 years before I break even with this. What if an amazing new thing comes along before then, thats better than SL, and thats where I prefer to be? (No, not Meta, don't be daft). I'll be 60 in 7 years. 63 in ten. Maybe I won't be interested in this sort of thing at all by then. So, no. I'll let people more keen than me grab a slot instead.

This has been a bug for years, not months. One of my best friends, who passed away in 2021, was never able to see my online status, at any time between 2018 and 2021. I got into the habit of messaging him every time I came online, just to let him know I was there. And no, I hadn't blocked him or changed my settings or anything. I could see him, but he couldn't see me.

I love local chat in clubs; if I'm hosting or DJing, you can bet I'll be encouraging it, and if at any time it goes a bit quiet I'll throw in a comment about the tune I'm playing, or about almost anything else, just to try and spark a conversation. It usually works.

1. They've already stated that head and body will be separate (I actually asked this question directly to them when they were first announced). 2. Yes. As fas as I know, it will be BOM-only. 3. Probably not, except maybe for foot height. I very much doubt there will be an alpha hud or anything else. 4. They will HAVE to, at least once they're released in the wild. Starter avatars must include a skin, an avatar (mesh or not) can't exist without one. So it'll be business as usual on that; a handful of different starter avatars each containing one skin, one shape and one NUX body. Of course, everyone will have access to them in the Library as usual so you won;t be stuck with the one skin for your particular choice, you'll be able to switch to any of the others. I doubt they'll be compatible with anything else though, unless they've recruited a well-known skin maker to make them. Likely they'll be one-piece skins, body and face all in one, to reduce the confusion with new users.

I'm non-binary (though my avatar is more or less fully female nowadays, except for the facial hair). Here's some earlier looks though, when I was more androgynous: All those were "before the hormones". Now, my look is more like... Although I did recently dress up as Graham Norton for a Eurovision-themed party... Just realised I forgot to say why. I started with a male avatar, though as an elf I always looked a bit more on the feminine side even when I wasn't trying (see below) In around 2018 I decided to invest in Maitreya + V-Tech, so I could take advantage of a wider range of costumes for the weekly fantasy parties I go to. And... I never looked back, and I've worn a male body on only a single handful of times since then. I loved the more feminine look. Over the years, I gradually shifted more feminine. First I switched the V-Tech for Petite, then I dropped the chest mods altogether, the hormones kicked in, and nowadays I wear Reborn more then Maitreya. My skin is a custom one I made myself, based on a male skin so I am still muscular, except with boobs. An I non-binary in RL? The jury is still out on that. Maybe. Probably. I don't think there are many gay guys who would have an avatar as feminine as mine if they weren't actually NB or even fully trans. But I don't do anything about it. It's not really practical or possible in my RL situation. But it's a lot of fun to be different in SL.

To me, they are not the same. Nature in SL is lovely, and I do get a lot of pleasure from living in it (in RL I live in an urban environment and there isn't a lot of nature around unless I take a drive somewhere). So I do benefit from spending time in beautiful natural settings in SL. But, something vital is missing. In RL, nature is alive. There's magic in that, and it cannot be replicated in SL because nothing in SL is alive, not even our avatars. In RL, I can place my hand on the trunk of a tree and feel that it's a living, ancient being. I can breathe the air after a rainstorm and inhale all of that vitality. I can step into the sea and feel the motion of all that water against my skin I can't do those things in SL. Nature in SL is pretty, but it's a model of it, a toy. It's the digital equivalent of a plushie wolf or a plastic tree. SL nature does have two advantages though. It doesn't smell like a manure-heap, and there's nothing in it that will try to kill you.

I would have applied for the mentor program except for two things; First, I don't ever use the official viewer, and on occasions I have tried it, I hate it. Second, upon learning that the new welcome hub is not, as previous ones, restricted to new users only. Anyone can visit it, in the same way that they can visit Social Island 10 or whatever its called. That one is a cesspit of griefers and trolls, and I have no doubt that this new welcome hub will be the same within a month. So, unless there is a permanent and visible Linden presence as well as volunteer mentors, it's going to be a horrible experience for new residents and mentors alike.

I'm not sure how this web link addresses the building errors? Is it the wrong link? TBH I didnt notice the building errors, because I went during the launch party and I was so lagged I couldn't even move, never mind explore. I did, however, notice two things: 1) The HUD did not remove when I teleported away, as noted by Drayke. 2) The media screens in the party area displayed only a Facebook login page. Which is useless to me as I do not have a Facebook account.

Make sure you are not set to "Busy" or "Unavailable" status. All inventory offers, including marketplace purchases, are automatically rejected when set to Busy or Unavailable. Turn this off, and then request a redelivery (or ask your friend to do so, if it was something she bought on youtr behalf)

The time I spend in SL is often seasonal. Less in the summer, when I'm outdoors more often. More in the winter when the weather is bad.

I struck lucky with my latest one, which is a square. With a Dock Holiday, the larger windows on the end and side face towards some nice Mole landscaping, the other side faces the water. Only the back end faces a neighbour's boat. I like the Shore Thing too, but that one was the wrong way round for this parcel, with the big end window facing the neighbour.