Scylla Rhiadra

Agreed. The colours and the pattern are perfect.

I hung out with @BelindaN (seen here, sneezing), Saskia Rieko, and Eva Knoller. Belinda is apparently allergic to Valentine's Day.

Saskia and I. @Saskia Rieko is the pretty one in the foreground, of course.

So, what do four single girls who are happy to remain so do in SL on Valentine's Day? Well . . . we get together to talk, and dress up ridiculously small dogs in onesies, of course! From left to right, @BelindaN's legs (she was busy sneezing during this pic), @Eva Knoller, me, and @Saskia Rieko

Need a band to record in it? We're very good! And, weirdly, still unsigned!

Soooo . . . I should probably just stop looking eagerly in my mailbox for a new envelope, then? 😕

I think these look really lovely! The issue, so far as I'm concerned anyway, isn't the making and selling of things with a Valentine's Day theme -- or, as in your case, just referencing "love." Love is a good thing! It's the barrage of media messages and marketing around the holiday, and the implicit message that if you don't have a "valentine," then, really, you're kind of a loser. I don't see any of that in play here. These are just nice decorative objects.

There are times when decapitation seems the only truly reasonable response.

That's kind of brilliant! And groundhogs are adorable. We could stand fewer pink hearts and more groundhogs!

That too! Unless they are those nice candy-coated Cadbury's ones. I'd like those year round, please.

From the outset, I want to make it clear that I do not hate Valentine's Day. I see, intrinsically, absolutely nothing wrong with a day that celebrates romantic love. I also emphatically do not resent or want to seem to be belittling those who love Valentine's Day. I know that there are many for whom this is an especially magic day, and I am in no way suggesting it shouldn't be. If V Day is your thing, enjoy it! I sincerely hope you have a lovely one! BUT . . . what I have come to resent is the relentless onslaught, usually beginning in mid-January if not earlier, of commercialized, commodified Valentine's Day merchandizing and marketing. It's nearly as bad as the lead-up to Christmas and Hallowe'en, and in SL, doubly so. I can't open the MP, or go to a store or event, without being blinded by the glare of glowing pink hearts, and kitschy cupids. And, too, in SL particularly, the holiday has increasingly become sexualized: it's not merely about romantic love; more and more, Valentine's Day messaging and merchandizing is not about the connect between two hearts, but rather about the connect between the sheets. Which in one sense is fine -- I'm not a prude. But god it's all so booooooring. There's another element to this, too, however. The media and marketing around Valentine's Day has become so ubiquitous, and so aggressive, that it can serve, in effect, to make anyone who doesn't have a significant other, a boyfriend or girlfriend or lover, feel utterly excluded and somehow inadequate. It can, for some, become a constant, haranguing reminder that they are alone. The solution is not to "ban" Valentine's Day -- obviously. Again, intrinsically there is nothing wrong with a day celebrating love and our romantic connections. But it would be really lovely if it were less militant, less in-your-face, and less implicitly judgemental. Anyway, I thought I'd create this thread as a place to gripe for those who dislike, resent, or are simply bored by Valentine's Day. No need to defend it, if you love it: no one wants you to give it up. But those of us who are annoyed, not by the holiday, but by the way it is marketed and force-fed to us, need a place to vent too!

What a great question! I don't have the answer, but I'm going to page @Horus Salubrius, because for some weird reason, he seems like the kind of guy who might. (I'm probably wrong.) I'll be interested to see what responses this gets!

Well, in addition the built-in poser in Black Dragon (which is amazing), there are two commercial ones I know of: Anypose, and Animare. Both do roughly the same thing, although the former is both more expensive and a bit more powerful. Both, however,, are a bit clunky: the increments by which they move or adjust body parts (based on the avatar skeleton) are not as granular as one might wish. And neither does Bento (although you can use Anypose in conjunction with a hand poser, the name of which I've forgotten for the moment). And for facial expressions and poses, NOTHING is better than the LeLutka Axis HUD.

Yes, this was my thought. I don't think either the textures nor the mesh are vastly better than what is currently available in SL. And in terms of poses, if you're willing to take the time with a poser HUD, or the poser in Black Dragon, you can get just as good as these. It's the rendering that's the issue. And maybe materials?

This is somewhat predictable, and at the same time, disappointing. I have, and use with fair regularity, three different bodies: Maitreya (with and without the Petite add-on), Slink Physique, and Legacy Perky. The Perky is probably the nicest body, but hugely over-complex, waaaay over-priced, and missing some of the functionality of the other bodies (such as BoM add-on layers that smooth out cleavage and nipples, crotch, etc., as well as an asymmetrical harness or equivalent for the arms). The Maitreya is, honestly, a pretty mediocre body in most respects, except for ease of use and clothing availability. (I know, of course, that there are those that will disagree, and that's fine -- I understand that part of this is about personal taste.) My preference in most regards is for my Slink Physique, which I think is both a very nicely shaped body, and extremely economical in terms of its use of resources. But, of course, support from clothing makers for it has been dropping steadily for probably 2 years now. It's a little disappointing, to be honest, that the two most popular bodies by far are either meh or hugely expensive and not completely (in my view) functional. And neither is as economical or, if you like, "environment-friendly" as Slink. I don't entirely understand how Maitreya gained its dominant position in the market, to be honest, and I'm a bit flabbergasted too by people's willingness to pay so much for the Legacy bodies which, while very nice, have some serious issues. Oh well. Such are the vicissitudes of a free market, I guess.

For all our sakes . . . yes, you do! 😦

Dahling, I only dress for myself. *wanders around naked through a busy shopping sim*

I've just returned from viewing @manoji Yachvili's new exhibit of her RL photography, "καλειδοσκοπεω" The Greek title, her introduction to the exhibit tells us, means "to see beautiful," and that's what Manoji has done: seen beauty in those things and places we would not ordinarily seek it. Her central metaphor is that of the kaleidoscope: The idea is to see the beautiful in those things that are not "obviously" so -- and by seeing them as beautiful, making them so. So, as a kaleidoscope fragments the reality it captures into new and alien forms, recombining them into beautiful and light-saturated patterns, so too does her art both highlight and create the beautiful from the detritus and waste of modern industrial society. Her pictures are of abandoned equipment, junkyards piled high with waste, but each is accompanied (as you can see in the picture behind me, below) by a kaleidoscopic re-imaging that creates new beauty and form from them. The exhibit is, appropriately, housed in an abandoned warehouse, furnished only with broken-down and stained furnishings. It's not merely appropriate: it is in its own way beautiful. (But then, I love urban landscapes.) This is really stunning. You should visit. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny Hills/51/98/1610

Wow, this is clever and useful. I can totally see uses for this -- for photographs taken in public, for instance. Too bad it will only work for rigged items, but still . . .

I presume that's why they are wearing one! Although it's probably a disappointment to get a spanking from me, rather than that ultra-buff hipster dude across the room.

Yeah, no kidding. I don't do that very often, fortunately, but I have occasionally spanked someone by accident. Oh well. I'm sure they deserved it anyway.

That might be an effect . . . but I don't think that's the OP's style, generally.

Pretty good answer, I think. It's not his pain that might, maybe, perhaps, make you a better person, but your own. Or maybe the pain you feel watching that horrific scene is just proof that you are already a good person. I think probably both. And that you felt that pain so intensely makes me pretty certain (and after all, I'm the one who matters, right?) that it's not merely fear of repercussions that drives you, morally and ethically. I might, of course, be wrong about this, but if you had the opportunity to hurt someone, I'm pretty sure that it would be your imagining of the effects of that hurt, more than fear of punishment, that would prevent you. But, again -- we're all human, so probably both play a role. Yeah, I agree. I've seen people hurt who were not particularly "good people," or who brought harm upon themselves through their own possibly malevolent actions. It's still possible to feel for them, even while remaining aware of the fact that they were doing wrong. I feel that way, for instance, about that poor woman who was shot during the attack upon the Capitol Building. What she was doing was objectively wrong and harmful -- but oh, how very very sad. I am terribly sorry for her, even while judging her for actions that endangered others. I'm with Maddy on this one. You can trust your emotions to be genuine -- which doesn't necessarily mean that they justified. Asking ourselves these questions, as you do here, is important precisely because, as Maddy says, they are genuine, and yet can also be misguided. It's a work in progress for all of us.

In some ways that's an awful story -- what a terrible thing to happen to a 6 year old. But . . . what you carried away from the experience, finally, was a lovely memory of a lovely person, your doctor. So, he made you better physically, and gave you a gift you carry with you still today. So, I'd say that's a pretty good bedside manner. No. She's a gadfly.

Gopi, I have a question for you. Is there a way in which that pain maybe makes you a better human being? A more caring and ethical one? Or is it a reflection of who you already are? Or, alternately, is empathy, as some have suggested, uncritical, dulling our ability to judge right from wrong because we are too busy "understanding" everything from the perspective of others to be able to stand aside and judge?