Saturday, May 31, 2014

Where Sadists Prosper

"This... was the straightforward solution to the greatest mystery of all: Why is the world so unfair? Why all that savage economic injustice, those brutal wars, the everyday corporate cruelty? The answer: psychopaths."
-Jon Ronson, The Psychopath Test
"Psychopath? Me?"

   My friend Sian Pearl has been incredibly busy lately with a new and ambitious undertaking. In that post, she has detailed her aims in a far more eloquent manner than I can ever muster, so I implore you to read it. (Fun fact: that memo at the beginning of the post is something I said as a joke.) 
  Sian is attempting to put together a roleplay venue that, to my very novice eyes, seems entirely unique. As opposed to the regular RP sims, the BaC® Conflict Management Centre™ doesn't ask for you to create a character that fits in a defined world, commit to a particular genre, or attach a certain HUD. It is a space for your pre-existing characters to meet in a futuristic corporate space, and attempt to solve their conflicts (in a manner that openly invites these peace talks to fail). Again, Sian is far better at explaining this than I am.
Norah Sells Out
   To illustrate that I am making this post as a genuine expression of my own thoughts, and not a hollow shilling out of a friend's work--as appropriate to the subject matter as it would be-- I'm going to talk about my experience at the centre. Sian's blog mentioned that the place is static, and has no story, but I think that I insisted on playing a character that suited the world she had just built.
   This was the first time I had played a character in SL that had any amount of power in her world, as well as my first ostensibly "evil" character. I have a suspicion that these two facts enabled one another.
   We all know numerous adages about the corruptive nature of power, many of us know of the Stanford Prison Experiments, and I know that at least I try to believe that I am a more empathetic person than those that perpetrate abuses from positions of power. However, when I had that power, I pulled out one of Sian's eyelashes. Who's to say that I'm that far from a psychopathic CEO once I put on that mask?
  
 So, come on down to the BaC® Conflict Management Centre™! We have a mindwashed post-human, a business-casual sadist, and a spa!

Barthes Cybernetics Approved Apparel
Skin: -Glam Affair- Brandi - Frost 05
Hair: TRUTH Junia
Eyes: <<< negaposi >>> Elfin Eyes - Darkmatter, and [pIRA] Bineyes - Aqua 
Eyebrows: [Buzzeri] Katie Brows (tinted)
Eyeliner: [Buzzeri] Royale Liner
Eyebags: NOX. Eyebags
Sweater: ISON Work It Blazer - Black
Skirt: *BOOM*  Horizon Mini - Pitch (Past C88 item, no longer available)
Shoes: Ingenue Pickford Heels - Ebony (tinted)

Poses: flowey. lookbook eight (mirror) and walkin' four

Thursday, May 15, 2014

What's in a Norah?

Listen, I've only had one post, but I can tell that you took one look at it and thought, 'I love this Norah thing. Where can I get one?' Well, new friend, I'm afraid to inform you that you cannot purchase a Norah, receive one as a gift, or even find one laying in a gutter. However, I myself am intimately familiar with the components of a Norah, and can give you tips on assembling your own Norah facsimile. We here at the Vespers Institute of kickassitude and taking no guff have carefully dissected what exactly makes up a Norah:

What's in a you? Do you break down into pieces as easily as a Norah?

What's on a Norah?
Skin: -Glam Affair- Brandi - Frost 05
Hair: TRUTH Yelena
Eyes: [Buzzeri] Mysteria Eyes - Ice
Eyebrows: [Buzzeri] Katie Brows (tinted)
Eyeliner: [Buzzeri] Royale Liner
Eyebags: NOX. Eyebags
Sweater: ISON Angora Sweater (midnight)
Shorts: {mon tissu} Hanalei Shorts (brown)
Shoes: Ingenue Esme Flats - Dove (past FLF item, tinted)

Pose: flowey. the base

Monday, May 12, 2014

Erasing the Anxiety of the Empty Page

Hello!


I'm Norah. This is my blog. It's nothing special yet, but I'm hoping that you'll help me build it into something enjoyable. 
I'm starting this blog to allow my use of Second Life to be creative, rather than purely consumptive. I'm nervous, I want you to like me, and I know that if I just give in to my critical impulses, you'll never hear a peep from me. So be patient, I'll bloom into a snarky flower in no time.