New Neko Tails and Ears

Craven Theas of Urban Dare has created all new Neko tails and ears, which he has clearly put a lot of time and thought into designing.  The new choices are almost endless…

Sure you can get plain, unadulterated ears.  But why, when you can choose one with a little kitty pet?  Or bloody bandages?  Or how about bells, bows, rings, or diamonds?

Same with tails… there are tails with bandages, bows, spikes, and even one with a knife (which could come in handy in some places I’ve visited…).

Choose between bushy tails (like the ones I wear) or short-haired tails.  Then choose your prim (or none). But don’t worry about having to choose stripes or spots or colors, because get this:  Every one of these tails and ears comes with a HUD that allows you to choose alllll sorts of customizations, including texture, size, and color, plus the tails are all interactive (delivering messages when touched).

So drop him a visit, demo a tail or three, and be sure to pick up some of his floaty-flexi whiskers while you’re there.  >°.°<

Visit Urban Dare
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dare/130/153/23

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A Whole New Atomic Kitty!

If you’re a Neko who isn’t already a member of the Atomic Kitty store’s subscribe-o-matic (and why not, fer cat’s sake?), consider this your invitation to the store’s Grand Reopening — which started this week!

Atomic Kitty owners Ivy Graves and Maschinen Schwartzman did an absolutely stunning remodel to the store (I’m especially in love with all the Cheshire cat elements) and then packed the place to the roof with completely new and redesigned Neko goodies.

Says Ivy:  “Everything in the store is new, EVERYTHING! There are only a few old products left, and the hair is back!”

I’ve been wearing Atomic’s Neko ears and tails since my first day of kittenhood, so I was delighted to see all the changes made in this area — expanded tail colors, shapes, sizes, and each set now comes with an (elegantly designed) HUD to quickly convey your ever-changing Neko emotions.

Wander further into the store and you’ll find everything from adorable Neko furniture and cute stuffed mousie toys to bite on, to great accessory belts, scripted bell-ringing collars, necklaces, hats, and quite possibly the best gas mask I’ve ever seen.  Around the corner are some luscious sculpty shoes, and beautifully textured clothes (I snapped up a fatpack of the yummy Dolly Stockings).

But wait, there’s more!  How about some luminous Neko eyes (I’m currently wearing the green), gorgeous tattoos, and amazingly meticulous skins?  (This long-time RaC / Laqroki skin fan couldn’t drag her eyes away from the detailing on “Hope Emo Sad”).

Neko friends?  Hasten thy paws to this store, pronto.

Ivy and Maschinen?  PURRRRRRR…

The lovely Ivy Graves at her store’s Grand Reopening

Check out a different kind of Maschinen’s design skills here…

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50% off Neko Goodies at HLD

All sorts of Neko goodies await you at the HLD / Howard Lindley Designs Main store in McDonnell — and every one of them is currently 50% off until Monday September 1.  There are cute little shoulder pets ($35L), metallic paw boots ($99L) as well as full metallic “skeleton” sets, and all sorts of amusing backpacks against the back wall, from large hatching chicken eggs, and pandas on bamboo, to the “Hellion” green alien captured in a backpack ($75-85L).  Howard’s marked down the entire store in order to make way for a whole new line of accessories coming next week. Check it out, the prices are certainly right!

Teleport to the HLD Mainstore:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/McDonnell/117/118/501

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My Long Lost Dragon Cousin

I still remember the sense of awe and magic I felt the first time I arrived at the Isle of Wyrms.  Standing amidst these incredibly majestic dragons was enough to make even the most nonchalant Neko pause with respect.  Was it merely the luck of my nine lives when I returned for a visit recently, only to arrive right next to a Bast Dragon?  I think not…

I’m guessing most of you Nekos had no idea there was a “cat-inspired” dragon avatar in Second Life.  They even have their very own Temple on the Isle of Wyrms! As described on the Encyclopedia Draconica, the Bast Dragon is feline in appearance, with fluid movements and intelligent eyes.

Looking up at this beautiful creature, I could tell she was a kindred spirit, despite her soaring wings.  Her whiskers moved gently as she bent her large cat-like head down towards me in a friendly greeting.  Forearms and ears were bedecked with lovely accessories.  As she led me into the Cathedral for a tour, I was entranced by her graceful, cat-like walk.

Her name was Steale Denja, and as it turned out, being a Bast Dragon was not the first time she’d been drawn towards all things cat.  “My other avatar is a leopard, so I guess I was kind of led to the Cat thing.”  (hmm, future Neko, perhaps???)

Although the Isle of Wyrms’ Cathedral is even more grand today than it was when I first visited (note the stunningly beautiful ceiling in the photo at the top of this post), one thing has not changed: the warm welcome extended to all who arrive… be they hatchlings, wyrmlings, wyrms, wyverns, humans, or even curious little Nekos like me.

As the sun began to set behind the hills, Steale wanted to make sure I mentioned how wonderful all the people who help run the Isle of Wyrms are, not the least of whom is Daryth Kennedy, the creator of these gorgeous dragon avatars and leader of the community.

I bid my new dragon friend adieu, and continued my exploration of the surrounding lands, drawn up into the snow country by strange, rhythmic smoke rings.  Luckily for me, this giant ice dragon was a deep sleeper.  And a lovely backdrop to my “Encroached” outfit from Bare Rose…

What I Wore While Exploring the Isle of Wyrms:

The flexi “Hersheys Chocolate” wrapper stuck to the bottom of these boots always makes me giggle, as do my two lovely mousie armband friends.  (Collar comes with the outfit from Bare Rose).

Where to Find My Outfit:

| Hair | Truth: Elise
| Dress | Bare Rose: Encroached outfit in blue (includes collar, stockings, left arm band, leg band)
| Arm, upper right | * Designs: My Friends
| Arm, upper left | part of the Bare Rose “Encroached” outfit
| Leg band | part of the Bare Rose “Encroached” outfit
| Stockings | part of the Bare Rose “Encroached” outfit
| Boots | KS / Kitty Scraps: Derelict Boots

Learn More about the Isle of Wyrms:
http://www.sltriptips.com/Cathedreal_Dragons

Visit the Isle of Wyrms:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cathedral/120/154/32/

Visit the Temple of Bast (the Egyptian Cat Goddess) at the Isle of Wyrms:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lyre/56/64/79

Dragon photos by Stacia; landscape and fashion photos by Bobby Yoshikawa <3***

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Chance Encounters

There really are no coincidences in life. Think about how you met the people who became dear to your heart in Second Life. Perhaps it was a very special photo that a stranger gave you by surprise. Or maybe a guy dropped down onto your bar one night while you were working.  Like me, I’m sure you’ve found that each “chance encounter” now seems, in looking back on it, a very special set of circumstances that brought you together… whether in RL or SL.

Something similarly heart-warming happened this morning, and because of it, I wanted to make a special post just to say thank you to each and every one of you wonderful Nekos, furries, humans, and residents of Second Life who read this blog.

I truly appreciate you. I’m not just saying this. I don’t have a store, so I don’t do this for promotional reasons. I don’t solicit designers for freebies to review; the stuff I wear, and the props Bobby and I use, all come outta our own little linden wallets. This blog is purely done for joy (and also because we love to share what we find). So when one of you takes the time to post a comment to this blog, or drop me a notecard in-world, or IM me to tell me that you enjoyed what I wrote (or more likely, that you’re in awe of Bobby’s awesome fashion photography), it truly does mean a lot.

And a special thank you to our new friend Mikalis, who we met “by chance” today, only to discover he’s been reading this blog for a while and, at least from what I can tell, enjoying it. ^_^   So here’s to you Mikalis, and all the rest of you lovely blog readers and plurkers and friends… Neko or otherwise… it’s people like you who make Second Life and this blog so much fun.

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Cyberpunk Kitty

One night when I was just a young Neko girl, I had a dream about a man with a strange mechanical device on his head. When I asked him what it was, he turned to me with an infinitely indescribable look, and a tear slipped down his cheek. “It is my prison, my addiction, my pandora. Without it, I would die. With it, I have tasted the apple that no human was meant to touch.”

For years, this dream haunted my writing, coming out in fits and starts of what I hoped would some day become a novel. But William Gibson beat me to it. His triple award-winning novel “Neuromancer,” and the subsequent “Pattern Recognition” and “Spook Country” not only dove headlong into the concept of humans blended with cybernetic technology, it launched an entire cyberpunk theme that continues to this day… even in such places as Second Life.

Visit any of Second Life’s cyberpunk themed sims, and you’ll find all sorts of cyber-loving nekos, humans, and other combinations of cybernetic life engaged in roleplay. Clothing ranges from steampunk-inspired to more typical cyberpunk outfits, with everything from mechanical limbs to gas masks and glowing hazardous equipment belts to customize your role.

On the recommendation of Rehula (the designer of the outfit I was wearing), I explored one such place called Dark Ecstasies, a privately owned sim practicing full immersion cyberpunk RP. Set in the year 3088 in the city of Alpha 47-122, this city’s build is excellent, with an incredibly diverse range of structures, nooks and crannies to inspire your role player’s imaginative heart — from more intimate spaces like a round, firelit cyber bar, to public areas like the gladiator-type fighting pit. The locals were quite helpful, particularly when I mistook a steaming, lime-green pool of nuclear waste to be a futuristic day spa. Silly little Neko girl… ^_^

Want to learn more? Read Neuromancer… especially if you’re a science fiction fan, to see what the hype is all about. Search for “Cyberpunk” in the Second Life “all” tab to locate a plethora of sims, shops, and roleplay groups dedicated to cyberpunk. Or just do what this Neko did… dress up and dive into role play with all four paws.

My Cyberpunk Neko Outfit:
This entire outfit, with every lovely accessory you see (and even some you don’t see) was all part of the “CyberNeko” outfit designed by Rehula at: NDN: Nebuchadnezzar - Cyberpunk and Cybergoth store

Look closely at a few of the details below… this outfit literally comes with ears, goggles, hair, collar, clothes, accessory armband, a sack of additional accessories to carry (I had to leave my arms free to keep my balance while walking amidst the nuclear pools, so I wasn’t carrying mine), flexi skirt, leggings, and accessorized boots. So yeah, don’t blanch at the price, but instead add up what each of these goodies would cost if you bought them separately. Can you say bargain for its sheer “mix and match” potential? Sure you can.

Get the Low-Down on Cyberpunk:
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/what-is-cyberpunk/

See William Gibson in Second Life, reading excerpts from his latest novel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QeuEo-F3JI

Interesting Interview with William Gibson after his SL reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhqxKWU24Cc

Teleport to the Year 3088 in the City of Alpha 47-122 (Dark Ecstasies)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Ecstasies/74/201/725

Fashion photos and photoshopping by the radioactive Bobby Yoshikawa <3***

Nota Bene: Neuromancer is scheduled to be released as a movie in 2009, directed by Joseph Kahn, with Hayden Christensen (you know, the young Darth Vader kid?) signed on in the lead role. Hmmm……

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One Purrfect Neko Family

From left to right: Elora, Sonya, and Imso (who took the photo)

Here’s the story… of a lovely lady
Who was bartending at Laguna Bar one night…
When a man fell… upon her counter,
“Do I know you?” “Well yes, you might!”

With all due apologies for having bastardized The Brady Bunch(tm) theme, the story is strangely familiar: two people meet in Second Life, then later hook up in real life, and become such good friends that they adopt a virtual daughter and start living together in happy Neko family-hood. Sound too strange to believe? Read on…

Elora, hip Neko mom

How did it all begin?

Elora and Imso first met when Elora was bartending at a Second Life club. Imso (who is a fantastic DJ) was celebrating not having to work that night with such a dancing frenzy that he fell off the club’s balcony and landed right in front of Elora. Chats ensued, and it wasn’t long before they discovered that they not only lived in the same small country, but had quite a bit in common, including some real life friends. They had even met in person once, over a decade ago. And all of this came full circle because of Second Life…

What inspired Neko?

“It was all Imso’s idea,” says Elora, “he’s a wild cat, that one.” In honor of his (RL) birthday, Imso and Elora sent out birthday party invitations complete with Neko tails and ears to all their friends, in order to celebrate the event by “playing Neko” for a night. But after the party, the furry parts just… somehow… stayed put.  Elora shrugged, “it kinda gets to you.”

For Imso, it was an accurate reflection of his personality. “I like to be stray. I’m a compulsive role-player in RL (he said with a twitch of his dice-bedecked tail), so being Neko here made me feel accordingly to what I really am, or at least try to be, in Second Life — free, stray, strolling along as I like.”

So how in the world did Sonya manage to enter the picture?

Sonya had always been a mutual friend, and technically a virtual family member, considering that Elora’s sister BlueAngel had already adopted her as a niece.  But it was the strange lure of furry Neko ears and tail that got to her: “I loved seeing myself with ears and tail,” grinned Sonya.

She started joking about being adopted by Elora and Imso and “going Neko” full time.  Next thing you know, Elora and Imso bought a new house suitable for a Neko family, completely redecorated it with appropriate Neko perches and furniture, and Sonya moved into the front yard in her very own Neko-ish shipping container.

What does this Neko family do for fun?

“We are online together nearly every day,” answered Elora.  “Imso is the creative guy and a DJ.”  But Imso “only DJs when I feel like it, as I never want SL to become WORK.”  Elora is a bartender and owns a DJ Agency.  Meanwhile Sonya was working in a gallery as a history consultant (yes, in Second Life) until it closed recently.  They have their own private club “Paws Off,” and are actively involved in a gallery at a sim co-owned by Imso, where he and Elora set up rotating art and photography exhibits, including some rather talented photography of their own.

Apparently the whole family also shares a rather familiar addiction: “We’re a bit shopaholics,” confessed Elora.  Sonya snorted in response, “A bit?! We are veryyyy shopaholics!”  Their favorite stores include Sn@tch, CatNip, Deviant Kitties, Eat Rice, and Renegade for Imso… whose record of attachments is a whopping 1271 prims worn at one time.  “I’m a sucker for belts and armbands,” he grinned, “some of the most beautiful acessories in SL are Neko.”  (This kitteh blogger couldn’t agree more).

These family ties have become so strong, they even extend beyond the virtual world.  In fact I wasn’t able to interview them right away, because all three of them were spending the weekend together in real life, along with some other friends they’d met in SL.  They estimate they have around 25 people who are friends in both SL and RL… which Elora says has made these friendships much closer.

The Neko Bunch

Okay, so maybe Elora and Imso only wound up with one daughter named Sonya, not six kids. And in real life, they all hail from Portugal, not a 1960’s split level in American suburbia. Nor did anyone in The Brady Bunch(tm) ever wear furry tails or ears to my knowledge. And yet, here is a family similarly brought together by fate, in every sense of the word.  Who also just happens to be Neko.

In meeting these three wonderful people, I couldn’t help but marvel at the way connections between humans (and Nekos) arise and evolve, despite how some in the ‘real world’ might dismiss our ‘virtual world’ as being separate from human connection.

Elora, wise Neko mom that she is, summed it up perfectly:  “Because family is also the one you choose.”

| Neko Tails | Purrfect Kitties
| Elora and Sonya’s favorite stores | Sn@tch; Deviant Kitties; Eat Rice!; CatNip
| Elora’s Jeans | Truth
| Imso’s favorite store | Renegade

All photos (except the top one) by Bobby Yoshikawa <3***

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Neko in Wonderland

Admit it.  You’re no more likely than I was to put “Neko” and “Alice in Wonderland” in the same sentence, much less the same photo.  But the minute Bobby found this absolutely adorable “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” story book (chock full of cute poses), he was so inspired that he wouldn’t rest until I’d found my very own Alice outfit.

After I saw Bobby’s photo, I think “inspired” was an understatement.  His picture above is worth so much more than a thousand words that I’ll keep this post short — just enough to tell you where to find all these goodies AND where a Neko playing Alice might find her very own wonderland to explore in Second Life.

If only an awesome SL5B build called ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ (by LittleToe Bartlett and Pavig Lok) was still available!  Instead, we followed the advice of my lovely, ever-so-helpful fellow SL Plurkers and headed off to the Jabberwocky sim:

All sorts of fun little secrets await your curious kitty heart here (look for a hole, follow your whiskers, and KEEP going through the structure you see above). Soon you’ll be able to assuage your shopping urges with a bunch of Neko-friendly stores that are in the process of setting up shop, including Curious Kitties, Katatonik, Schadenfreude, and my lovely friend Rouge Darcy’s Rebel Extravaganza / Rebel-X.

So yes my Neko friends, part of being a cat is being curious, which gives us full permission to test out whatever outfits or inspirations come our way, don’t you agree? After all, Second Life is our very own Wonderland… curiouser and curiouser………

Buy the Alice in Wonderland story book here:
Kurotsubaki Store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tean/157/201/24
Their Description: http://kurotsubaki.blogspot.com/2008/08/story-books.html
CatNip’s Purple ‘Drink Me’ Bottle: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hysteria/40/53/22
(CatNip has other cool Alice-themed items at their store too)

Get your very own Alice outfit here:
| Hair | Maitreya: Aimee (free in the main store lobby!) in Gold Blonde
| Outfit | Edelweiss: Alice (using shirt option #1)
| Shoes | Maitreya: ChiChi pumps in black velvet (laces tinted black)

Visit Jabberwocky:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jabberwocky/119/22/25

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