Shrill, crazy, laughable. And, at the same time, almost enough to make me sad and ashamed to be a woman. But, I happen to derive much enjoyment and pride from being a woman (which for me includes finding Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels trilogy very hot indeed as well as appreciating it for an interesting story and engaging characters), so I am not about to have that affected by a pathetic creature who clearly suffers from a serious case of twisted panties. Talk about providing an excellent explanation for why the Greeks made a national pastime of misogyny and made all their monstrous mythological creatures female. This particular breed one might call the “-Ismy”. Its sort of like a harpy but it just goes on and on and on about its favourite -isms. Its not really dangerous unless you have issues with your blood pressure, however.

So, we have a new interview with a cast member, this time Liam Cunningham who plays Davos. Unfortunately, one part of the written interview stood out in a very bad way… The producers now say that they prefer it if the actors do not read the books? Lovely. I guess it was too good to be true having so many of the actors reading and enjoying the books before and during the first season of Game of Thrones.

If an actor personally feels that reading the books isn’t compatible with how he or she prefers to work, well, that’s one thing. Its their work and I am not going to question how they approach it in the sense that this is just one of many parts in their career. However, I vastly prefer it when an actor says “oh yes, I read the books and I really like them” because I do think it can improve the performance if an actor is a fellow fan who has had a chance to fall in love with the same aspects of the books that fans have fallen in love with. I also feel that if an actor comments on differences from the books it puts those differences in a better light if the actor has read the books and can speak of the how’s and why’s of the changes from a position of knowing what the original story was.

In fact, I believe there were some instances of actors who had read the books pointing out bits and pieces during the first season and I am also reminded of how apparently Christopher Lee did the same during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Having actors that have read the books adds more people who may have insight on a scene or may be able to point out little slip-ups and unintentional changes. Perhaps they won’t be able to argue against most intentional changes, but I’ll take any little crumbs we can get in terms of getting more of the actual story into the show.

If this truly is what the producers recommend to the actors I am afraid my respect for them and my trust in them has taken a serious plunge. I had really hoped that success for the show wouldn’t mean that it no longer matters to them to stay true to what those who love the books want to see, but its looking pretty bad.

So, we have the first more substantial trailer/teaser for season 2 of Game of Thrones. Still very much liking the look of Melisandre. Conleth Hill’s Varys continues to impress—his voice is perfect and I definitely heard it in my head when I read the last chapter of A Dance with Dragons—and so does Sophie Turner’s Sansa. Do like the use of that particular piece of dialogue from Varys, the riddle has long-term implications. Fake Aegon, anyone?

On the other hand, I am dreading what Margaery will be like and I really hope they’ll leave it up in the air as to whether Renly has bedded her, though it sure didn’t look like it would be left ambiguous from that one shot… But it could still be the case.

I am also, I am afraid, dreading their take on Dany for this season even more after her little bit of shrill, hysterical yelling. That just isn’t Dany in A Clash of Kings.

This blog has definitely been living up to its name lately, with assorted otherworldly creatures being featured. And there’s more, since has released another batch of very unusual skins. Darker versions of the Fae skins, additional Neko skins and something distinctly more Sci-Fi than Fantasy, Android skins. If you want a low-prim way to a fantastic look, check these out.

While it is true enough that I am a lot less optimistic about season 2 than I was about season 1, I shouldn’t give the impression that there’s nothing I am looking forward to. In terms of casting, I think Melisandre and Brienne have the potential to be really good. If that turns out to be true, that will be very enjoyable as those are two characters I really like. I wasn’t really taken with Brienne until she became a viewpoint character and I downright disliked Melisandre until her chapter in A Dance with Dragons, but now they are definitely among my favourites and what I know about the characters all together will still affect how I see them in the second season. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed for those storylines.

I also have hopes for the Beyond the Wall storyline, though likely it will (once again) be sad to see how little the wolves will be used. That’s one of those unavoidable changes that I can’t fault anyone for, however.

As for the rest…Sophie is a great Sansa, so any scenes with her (but without the trainwreck that is Cersei on the show) should be something to look forward to. Maise is also a great Arya, but Arya is not a character I like to read about at all and it colours my feelings for her on the show. Given the lack of any casting for the Bloody Mummers, I am also left feeling dubious about the final execution of her storyline in general. Robb…well, no. Not happy with this expansion of his story. Again, doing the typical thing. Theon and Bran we’ve not seen or heard much about, nor Asha (except that idiotic name-change), and the same really goes for Renly’s court. We won’t get a huge melee and a spectacular fight between Loras and Brienne, of course, but that’s another of those sad, mostly unavoidable facts.

And I very much fear that, once again, we will be cheated out of most dreams, visions, etc. However, I’d forgive a lot of things if it turns out they’ve secretly brought back Harry Lloyd to play Rhaegar for the scene in the House of the Undying.

With a bit of time on my hands following the end of my literature class and the submission of my application for the doctoral program, I’ve really been diving into writing more material for the MUSH. We have a fabulous core group of roleplayers but we are also getting a lot of newbies who love A Song of Ice and Fire but aren’t used to MUSH roleplay or even roleplay at all. Hence the new Style Guide.

Having just finished listening to the interview with Nonso Anozie who is playing Xaro Xhoan Daxos in the second season of Game of Thrones, I feel as if all my worst fears for the season have been at least halfway confirmed. Of course, one shouldn’t go entirely by what an actor says, we’ve had some odd reports in the past that way, but it really sounds as if HBO has decided to change Daenerys’s storyline quite considerably.

Oh, and beware of spoilers.

I really don’t care that there are groups of whiners out there who dislike how Elio and I run our websites, our game or anything along those lines. Are there things we could do better? Always. But I sincerely doubt any of the things we consider “better” would please any of the whiners. So, they’re irrelevant.

What does bug me from time to time, however, is the way people lump different parts of the site together. For example, saying that “westeros.org hates characters X, Y and Z”. Really? Because, the way I see it, “westeros.org” is myself and Elio and refers to the main site, westeros.org/www.westeros.org.  Nothing is posted on that site that we didn’t write or directly approve, except for the Facebook comments. Good luck finding any posts from us ranting about Daenerys (my favourite character) or Catelyn (Elio’s favourite character).

Of course, it is absolutely true that there are two subdomains on westeros.org that contain a lot of material that we did not write or indeed directly approve. There’s the wiki, awoiaf.westeros.org, and there’s the forum, asoiaf.westeros.org. The wiki is facts, not opinions, so good luck finding any rants there. So, it all comes down to the forum, which has over 30,000 total members. You’ll find a lot of opinions there. We don’t control those opinions, except when they cross certain lines (and disallowing people from saying they hate a character would be a touch draconian). But neither are those opinions “westeros.org”. They are the opinions of some members of “asoiaf.westeros.org” or “the westeros forums”.

Some opinions are widely supported, some not so widely. Some we agree with, some not. The forum isn’t a monolith with the sole purpose of advocating certain opinions. There’s no agenda, hidden or otherwise.

A day or two ago, one of our staff told me that he couldn’t quite believe how long he has actually played on Blood of Dragons, because he still thinks of it as his “new MU*”. I can only agree, it does not feel as if we had our beta opening in 2006 and our full opening in 2007.

But, its true enough. It also shows in some aspects of the game which have become a little worn down over the years. Not to mention the grand plans that were never fully realized… So, with the second season of “Game of Thrones” coming up, we’re focusing on a lot of improvements and additions over the next few months. The problem is just deciding what to do; our todo list is a few miles long and its not easy to pick the things that will benefit players the most.

We have settled on a few things, however. We are getting more articles up, such as Can I Play A… which tries to help prospective players by outlining available, difficult and unavailable concepts. The other key area we’ll focus on is establishing a better framework for political roleplay. We have some interesting ideas that we hope players will find very helpful.

Work is definitely never completed with a MUSH. But, that is part of the fun. Sometimes it is just a bit overwhelming.

They’re tiny, they’re amazing and they are mesh. The Petites are a new joint venture from several talented creators—Yabusaka, Fallen Gods and Wasabi Pills—that have joined together to produce a line of small mesh avatars. Alia Baroque of Fallen Gods provides an excellent introduction and I will try my best to convey some of my impressions of these adorable little avatars.

I promised some more looks at the new skins from Nomine, and here’s the second one, the Reptile skin. This is something very different from your usual skin fare.

Feel like slipping out of your human skin and into something very different? Then you should head over to Nomine to check out the latest release from Munchflower: a range of truly imaginative skins for several fantastical creatures. You can become a dazzling Fae, a lovely Mermaid, a feral Neko or a scaled, slithery Reptile.

The Fae skin inspired me to head over to the beautiful Chakryn Forest and I hope to bring you a look at the other fantasy skins in coming posts. Of course, you can also take a look at them on the Nomine webpage.

Over at Adam n Eve, sachi has been on a tear lately, releasing two new skins (and preparing several more for release). I am very fond of what she has achieved with her latest skins and I really wanted to try and get better at what I keep calling “fancy headshots” to do them justice. So, here’s one attempt, using the brand-new Natalie skin.

A touch (or rather more) of decadence is never wrong and the Marquis set from Libertine by Alia Baroque (best known as the creator behind Fallen Gods) delivers just that. It is a sumptuous furniture ensemble packed with animations, from elegant and languid sits (including plenty of sits for male avatars) to steamy threesomes. There are also many props included, some just for decorative purposes and others to be used with some of the animations. For those who prefer to keep their animations mature rather than adult, a version with just those poses is also included for each piece of furniture.

We’re starting off the photos rather tame, but it gets a little steamer inside. And do click through to the larger versions; I wanted to show these in the full width so they had to be sized down quite a bit to fit on the blog.

Etheria 2 ends today, so if you have yet to check out the lovely clothing and jewelry on offer, make sure to head over there soon. I am wearing the My Lady Love set from Dark Mouse, just one of several beautiful jewelry sets designed for the event by the various participants.

You will also get a look at the brand-new Harper skin from Adam n Eve, a corset from Sn@tch and the new boots from lassitude & ennui, as well as a new prop from Glitterati.

Etheria 2: Painted Ladies is now open. It is a small-scale, themed event where five jewellers have created pieces inspired by the “painted ladies” of the Old West and five clothing designers have created matching outfits.

I really enjoy themed events, they always bring out some interesting results, and Etheria is certainly evidence of this. For this first look at what’s on offer at the event—which ends on January 8th—I am showing the jewellery from Caroline’s Jewelery. I am also wearing a pair of new mesh boots from lassitude & ennui which were spot on for this theme.

Skin Within is back. After a long silence, there is finally a new skin release from Ayesha Bisiani in the form of a lovely redhead called Alina.

Of course, many of you may not have been around for Skin Within’s earlier releases, so a short introduction might pique your interest. Ayesha specializes in faces with distinct ethnicities—previous releases range from Turkish to Scandinavian—and each skin is released in a single tone specifically tailored to the look of that skin. With so many of the current skins having a very particular look it is so nice to still find skin makers that make faces with a lot of individual character.

While staying true to her original concept of the skins, Ayesha has updated her sales model to take full advantage of tattoo layers, something I will discuss in detail when looking at what the skin includes.

There’s an appalling lack of snow and cold this Christmas, so for a wintry landscape and a frosty look on life, I have to turn to SL. There are plenty of sims done up for winter (these photos are taken on our home sim, Revelations) and many creators offer seasonally appropriate releases. Now, some of it can give you red and green overload, but not these Ice Crystal skins with matching outfits from Fallen Gods.

I’ve had a yen for trying out a new skin of late, just to see what’s out there. I didn’t find anything particularly new that really caught my eye, but I did find something “old” that I had previously passed up, but a recent sale made me give it a second look: Tableau Vivant’s Vincent skin, which paired perfectly with one of newest hairs from Kavar Cleanslate of Exile.

Mesh clothing still has its issues, at least until we get the help of the deformer, but mesh definitely shines when it comes to furniture. Maxwell Graf of Rustica has just released a gothic chair and matching table, all in mesh, and of course we needed them for our house from Rustica.

Also shown in these photos is a brand-new mesh hair from Alice Project; Alice Demonia is releasing a new hair every day for the next 10 days and offering great discounts on her already great prices.

The topic of the week appears to be fan fiction and there are a lot of strong feelings on both sides. For my own part, I find it difficult to write in detail about my opinions because I see it as a very clear-cut issue: if the copyright holder doesn’t permit it, you don’t do it. I am of the opinion that it is both legally and morally wrong to do so.

But, the issue does perhaps deserve a bit more time and thought than that. As an initial caveat, let me add that any opinions stated here concern fan fiction that is distributed more or less widely, primarily on the Internet. If someone writes fan fiction for themselves, there’s clearly no harm done.

We’re nearing Christmas and its time to get that shopping done…as I know all too well, having just had a little RL crisis in terms of planned gifts going awry. But at least I got my photos done first so that you get a look at this new lingerie set from Insolence, the Collabor88 items from Earthstones and a new hair from Wasabi Pills. Also, read on for a hint about a limited edition skin for 99 L.

I’ve previously posted about how one of the common complaints raised against Blood of Dragons is our applications process, or rather the fact that we have one at all, even with all the streamlining we’ve done over the years. The other common complaint we get from people who either never check the game out at all or log off as soon as they find this out, is that we’re a full consent game.

Now, many players simply prefer one to the other and spend all their time on either full consent or non-consent games. That’s a reasonable preference, either way. But when some players insist that a setting like A Song of Ice and Fire cannot be used for a full consent MUSH or that we’re ruining the opportunity given to us by having GRRM’s approval for the MUSH, then it goes beyond a matter of preference.

Of course, one could just settle for saying that we’ve definitely proven that its wrong to claim full consent doesn’t work for an A Song of Ice and Fire game—Blood of Dragons has been running since 2006 and while we have had some slow periods, we’ve done very well this year. Could the game be better? Of course, and we’re always working on it. But our consent policy is not a weakness, its a strength. So, in the hopes of scaring off less prospective players as soon as they see the words “full consent” we’ve updated our FAQ entry on this issue. Perhaps it might help players see that the policy is something we’ve carefully considered and which has a proven track-record on the game.

This particular photo was inspired by a group of people who apparently find it terribly amusing that some SL players like to take photos of their avatars. Indeed, sometimes even naked photos. Of course Ran and I had to make some special “pixel porn” just because.

Well, not just because. Good skins deserve to be seen in the nude from time to time and there are a lot of really good sensual poses out there.

Not a sign of winter around here as of yet, in contrast to last year. But at least plenty of wintry clothes and props are starting to appear in SL and LostAngel Industries are doing there part with several new winter-related props in their Winter Village, among them the carousel I’ll be showing here.

I am also mixing and matching a few pieces from the Meli separates by elymode which feature some gorgeously drawn ribbons and bows as accents and I am wearing a bit of mesh: a new hair from Wasabi Pills and the rigged mesh feet from Slink.

What a day for shopping. Not only so many sales that you can’t possibly manage to visit them all but also some fabulous new releases. In this post, you are getting a look at the Jamila skin (and my shape for it) from Adam n Eve—the skin is discounted 60% for the Skin Addiction Black Friday sale and I have the shape out at 50% off to match—together with some amazing new lingerie from Nomine and a set of unisex(y) model poses from Studio Sidhe.

Black Friday is upon us, and The Warehouse is here with a massive L$100 sale on select items from some of the foremost brands in SL, both past and present: Naughty, Armidi, The Abyss, The Body Co., as well as a preview collection from The Boutique. Suffice it to say, there’s a whole lot of value there. Quite a lot for women, yes… but some excellent items for men, as well!

Are you in the Warehouse group? If not, you better get in there right away because you do not want to miss the sale starting at 12:01 AM on the 25th. Thousands of items from Armidi, Naughty, the Abyss, the bodyco and more are on sale for just L$100. Clothing, accessories, hair and even skins.

I am showing just a few of my favourites in this post; three gorgeous skins from the Abyss and clothing from Armidi. I am also showing the newest prop from LostAngel, the Stage.

I couldn’t resist going back to Venexia for some more shots, though with rather more modern styling featuring a coat from Sascha’s Designs as the main item. I am also using a skin from Dutch Touch, which sadly will be closing once the store no longer pays for itself according to an announcement by Iki Ikarus earlier this week.