Orwar

It doesn't drive as regular SL vehicles, it's pretty difficult - but really fun! Instead of the vehicle going forwards when you press W or arrow-up, doing so increases your throttle, and then it just drives at that speed until you pull the throttle back. Same with the steering, pressing A or D, or an arrow key, turns the steering bar and the vehicle will keep turning until you straighten it back out. My one complaint is that it really doesn't handle curbs very well, especially if you end up on the grass off the walkway and want to get back on the road .. I suppose 'don't drive off the road' will have to be my new driving mantra!

It was in the sidecar and we hit the curb a little too fast, so it flew out and hit a banline, and is now lost in the warp.

Ve have zhe ark of zhe kovenant, ja.

Neph was jealous of my car, so I got her a motorbike! With a sidecar, so that she can bring a friend. Two, with the extra seat on the bike itself. And a trench coat, to keep her warm whilst out and about!

Setting up for a shoot ...

Oh, look. The paranoid mob is yet again gathering their pitchforks and torches like the ignorant plebeians they are; perpetuating misconceptions and slander about that which they clearly don't understand, and have no desire to understand. It's pointless trying to explain Bloodlines to those who are already hellbent on hating it. It's opt-in; receiving a bite request is no different from being asked by a dance machine to animate your avatar, or someone using a HUD to animate a hug or kiss with you. Blaming Bloodlines is to blame the tool, rather than the operator. Does everyone who own a gun in SL shoot people at random? No. Does everyone who are part of Bloodlines spam everyone they see? No. The 'spampires' are griefers, no different from any other griefers who spam you or bother you in any other way; treat them as griefers, block them and move along. Heck, if it does bother you 'so much', there's an entirely free tool with which you block all Bloodlines interactions. Perpetually. But 'nuuh, I shouldn't have to do anything, I don't want to wear this thing and click it once and then delete it and never have to look back, I'm entitled to never having to say no to anything I don't want, no one should ever offer me something I don't want'. Scoffs.

Minus the sorry part! I don't see why I should be apologetic about someone failing to stimulate me socially or intellectually.

I don't do excuses; if someone doesn't interest me enough to converse, I'll just tell them so.

I'm not aware of any mods (well, except V-tech), but you can achieve a fairly petite look with just the sliders - although if you go too low on them, much rigged apparel will start having issues with clipping.

I demo'd it on Neph, but I couldn't deal with the lips. Otherwise it was a nice head.

I have one that I bought a little impulsively a while back, played with it for a day or two, and forgot about it.

Signature Gianni (the body) and Belleza Jake are the most widely supported male mesh bodies. As far as heads go, it depends a little bit on what you're looking for; Catwa's heads (particularly Victor, as far as men goes) are usually the most well-supported ones. Genus is supposedly working on a male head, but I haven't heard any ETA on it, and it's hard to tell how popular or well supported it will be when it comes out.

Or is the lack of complacency why we suffer such grief from politics to begin with? Democracy is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy; and in many places it has already failed. Is it the ultimate solution to how to govern society, or is it an immeasurable source of conflict that, frankly, the majority of us would be better off without?

Is it a car? Ist it ein boat? Es ist ein Schwimmwagen! Cat, Momo, Styx and I tried to drive the demo home to Cat's houseboat; unfortunately after getting off Heterocera and arriving at Sansara's beach, I drove into a banline I didn't see and we got thrown into the sea. T'was an epic adventure in the making though! [19:51:18] Orwar Furlgrimr (orwar): Cat you're now standing up, with your left arm behind your head doing a very backwards salute that's not appropriate to do in a WW2 Wehrmacht vehicle! [19:51:32] Catrie Athena (catrie): it's not my fault!!! lol

I don't know, I never tried making such a joke around you. But, the second component of that joke is a very different thing; this isn't about observing something typical male or female behavior that is a bit silly or amusing - it's about saying 'your presence isn't desirable', with the implication of that 'your presence would make people uncomfortable, because as a man, you can't be trusted to behave around lightly dressed or undressed women'. It's more akin to making a joke about why women shouldn't drive. Let's use that as an example. What if the topic was 'Wanted: in-world non-RP location for Men's Vehicular Society (insistent women may join, if they understand road-signs, the right of way, and promise to stay on the road and off their phones)'. Would that still be okay? What about: 'Wanted: in-world non-RP location for a virtual golf club for men (insistent women may join, if they can at least occasionally hit the ball, and don't go hysterical and blame their clubs, shoes, skirt, spectators or some random bleeping bird whenever they slice, and threaten their fellow players with the golf clubs as a result)' - still okay? And who says where we draw the line? As opposed to the non-binary people you mentioned, that would refer to the overwhelming majority of men who are indeed binary. Regular, as in 'the more common sort', as in, what most people first think of at the mention of 'men'. Again, I'm not opposed to the idea of something being specifically geared towards men or women, it's the tone in which it's presented I take issue with.

Lord Almighty

Jokes about exclusion and prejudice are okay now again? Good to know. Well, no, but we've also always been very inclusive (or rather, not bothered to give a damn) and willing to give everyone at least a chance. You ever showed up to a gig with a skinhead and a drag queen in tow in the same company? I have, and it went just fine. Girls tagging along for stag nights because the groom is their friend? Never been any issue. Hen night with guys tagging along for the same reason? Again, no problems - perhaps I just don't hang out with girly enough girls or guyishly enough guys, that we need to be kept apart like third-graders? There have been several threads on these forums, where the focus has quickly gone to how bad men are, how "they only want one thing". I'm not specifically accusing you of having made any such suggestions, indeed I think that your involvement in those threads has generally been among the more reasonable perspectives - but yes, as a man being part of this community, where there's no shortage of misandry, you'll forgive me if, with that in mind, I don't find it 'funny' to joke about whether men should be included in social stuff. If all you had said was "we want to find a spa and hang out and get our nails done" (or, whatever), I don't think that it would have been any issue of any men tagging along making people uncomfortable, and I think that your response here (see below) was mature - but to pretend that there's been no implications? Please. Although I am generally uncomfortable about specifying exclusions (i.e., only women allowed), I think that this is something we can determine collectively (by whom?). I certainly understand the discomfort that might arise from a mixed sex outing of this sort (just as it might in RL), and it would certainly change the social dynamic, but I want to be careful, myself, about hard-and-fast rules that might, conceivably, exclude people who are non-binary (what about 'regular men'?) (as an instance). However, this is something we can discuss as a group. And yes, a good solution might be have outings that are fully open, and ones that are women only? (I wonder if there are really many men who would want to do this, tbh?) Partial exclusion is still exclusion. I wasn't too 'hyped' about the idea to begin with, but I might have tagged along with Neph if only to be supportive of forumite social activities, but with that attitude, just, no. But by all means, knock yourselves out.

Hm, can't think of anywhere, it's not really my kind of 'thing' (although, I do have an ongoing project to build a spa for myself). But I think that the questions regarding "What qualifies as a woman in SL" is an interesting one. A female avatar? Well, would that be sufficient 'security' - or would it still make people uncomfortable if a female avatar with a known-to-be-male person (or possibly dog) controlling it; for example, Neph? If not, then would it just be an exclusion of those to be known to be men, or would you start voice-verifying people to make sure that all are what they claim to be? And, to say that 'men can be included under certain conditions' .. Well, that's not being inclusive, that's handing out a sentence before there's been a crime. Shouldn't the 'rules' be 'behave yourselves and be nice to each other', and apply equally to everyone? I could again begin to list some of the many, many occasions where I've been on the receiving end of sexual harassment from women, or witnessing other men being in that position, both in SL in RL. As far as SL goes, my personal opinion is that a person should be perceived as who they project themselves to be through their avatar, not by what's suspected to be behind the avatar. I'm not against the idea of having a "women only spa" or a "girl's night" or a "tea party for gentlemen"; but at some stage it must be decided who qualifies as what, and in that process there are going to be disagreements and probable cause for hurt feelings, if not outright transphobia, misandry, or gender/sexual discrimination. Very much this. But have you ever considered what discomfort it brings those men who never have, and never could/would, do anything particularly nasty to a woman, or any other person at all, when they keep being told that they're a potential threat, that they're perceived with suspicion and fear, and that they're basically animals who can't be expected to control themselves. I get the reason; some men have done absolutely terrible things - but so have some women. The majority of men, and the majority of women, have done nothing wrong. Maybe it's because I'm Scandinavian, but mixed gender sauna-bathing, which is not uncommonly done entirely nude and usually with nothing more than a towel, is neither weird nor sexually charged. And, sure, sometimes you want to do it just with the guys, and sometimes the girls want to do it by themselves; it's all good. If anything, it's become more difficult to do because people are now trying to pin reason to it, other than just 'wanting to hang out with the guys/girls'.

... He's got my hair, and beard. Squints eyes.

That's the point. No one expects a suburban vampire! .. And the uh, non-vanilla things I keep hidden in a safe place!