“Someone else’s loss is my chocolaty goodness.” ~ Joss Whedon, “Nightmares” (BTVS)

Naturally, I’m watching Dollhouse because bad Joss is better than no Joss and there is the hope the plot will get better (or, at least take a number and show up). I can’t help noticing that while the plot lines lay flat, the characters go under-developed and the acting begs for direction, the costume department has got it all going on. The clothes crack is not lacking, and I’ve decided that I need Eliza’s wardrobe. Nowish.

From the pretend dress in the pilot episode (right) to the all-work-no-play boss lady, to the preppy schoolgirl with knit stockings (feel free to pop those into my mailbox or inventory anytime), I want to play dress up with the Dollhouse closet. If some psycho has to chase me through prim woods and shoot arrows at me, that’s fine, so long as I get the clothes.

Dollhouse Outfit Lust

Attention Designers: If you’re not watching this show, just TiVo it and fast forward to the cute outfits. Then give us our crack, please. Thankee sai.

“They call me wise, but I am far from wise, for all that I foresaw fragments of it, frozen moments caught in pools of water or in the cold glass of my mirror. If I were wise I would not have tried to change what I saw.” ~ Neil Gaiman, “Snow, Glass, Apples”

Oh damn it all. I’ve never wanted a Mac until now.

It’s bad that I want a computer just to make a sticker look pretty. Right?

“If you aren’t remembered, then you never existed.” ~ Arisu Mizuki, “Serial Experiments: Lain” (via Chiaki Konaka)

When I was a wee nibblet, video games were limited to pong, cable TV hadn’t yet hit the “must have” mainstream and there were only so many Nancy Drew books a girl could read in a week. Such background is important for this entry because they are the only circumstances that can possibly explain why I subjected myself to watching the 1974 anime version of Jack and the Beanstalk over and over again. On Beta, no less.

Recently, while playing YouTube roulette, I encountered the full-length English-dubbed feature which I couldn’t help watching. If you’re morbidly curious, it’s broken into ten parts (the first of which starts here) and runs about 90 minutes. I’m sure this violates any number of copyright laws, so I’d view sooner rather than later.

Jack & the Beanstalk : ceepy anime

This movie represented my first exposure to anime, and even though I hadn’t seen it in about thirty years (how the HELL can it be thirty years) I was struck at how much I’d never forgotten. The witch, Madame Hecuba, was (and remains) one of the creepiest all-time evil characters from my childhood memory. The woman freaked me out in ways Chernobog and Maleficent never could. The haunting paper doll wedding court still pops up in my dreams from time to time, although until a few days ago, I’d have sworn they were an army of ghost gumby dolls.

The audio definitely made the experience of rediscovering this film ten times more disturbing. It’s like listening to the theme song from the first Halloween movie — instant chills up and down my spine. I found myself giggling at a sudden urge to hide behind the sofa. The music plucks around in that surreal only-in-the-70s psychedelic way and mingles the lazy cheap riff rock with strange synth/lectric squeaks and rattles. The sound effects are macabre, even when they’re trying to be innocent.

I can’t figure out how this movie managed to frighten me as much as it did, or why it compelled me to watch it over and over despite those fears. I remember popping the tape into the machine and working myself up — like you would for terrible-tasting medicine. Perhaps I was merely intrigued by how strange it was in comparison to other childrens’ fare; after all, Mickey and Bugs cartoons were nothing like this, and even my silently smirking Pink Panther, for all his oddity and mishap, never freaked me out to this extent.

Was it the peculiar Oedipal overtones? The King Kong factor? The realization that the dog has more character than any of the humans? The not-so-subtle way “under a spell” seems to translate to “being drugged?” The fickle and not-so-noble nature of the “hero?” The annoying way that the princess is dressed like a rag doll while the human-turned-mouse character is dressed like a princess? And while we’re on that subject, what’s with the princess’ hair? How the hell did Hecuba manage to birth Tulip? What exactly is Tulip planning to do with a princess 1/100th his size on their honeymoon? What good is it to be queen if you’ve got no one to boss around but a son that wants to squish you? Why is that gypsy guy so nightmarish?

Had I eaten far too many red M&Ms that year?

Jack predates Dark Crystal, Black Cauldron and Heavy Metal in my pop culture consumption history. It set the stage for all anime that followed. I still remember the lyrics to every stupid song and found myself muttering along to each and every one. After. Thirty. Years.

It’s crap like this cluttering up my brain that kept me from passing calc. And I’m as bewildered at its appeal now as I was then.

Watching it as an adult did yield an unexpected perk; one of my great childhood mysteries is solved. I’m convinced the giant is named “Tulip” in the English version as some in-joke homage to Tiny Tim. Why he ends up wearing heart boxers in the closing sequence is one of those questions I’m willing to leave unanswered.

“You can kill a lifetime without feeling anything but skin.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

Blogger’s Note: Skin entries may be NSFW, depending on how uptight you are about pixel nudity. I do not put such things behind blog cuts for modesty’s sake because I do not think there’s anything vulgar about human nudity, let alone pixel nudity. You have been warned.

I pretty much stopped doing skin reviews after January 2007 for a few reasons. The first and most important was the lack of skins in SL that jazzed me. For a long time, skins were all variations on the same chord and the vast majority of them weren’t up to par with the front runners who were already over-blogged. To a lesser extent, the never-ending drama over skins leaves me flat; I don’t want to promote something I can barely stand to think about. However, skins in SL have seriously skilled up over the last two years and there are a few worth stepping up to the mound and pitching at. Elin by Laqroki is first out of the batter box.

Laqroki Elin Skin Full Body

Overall: This skin is by far one of the most superior, if not the best offered on the grid today. The shading is suburb without resorting to the oiled-down highlight look, the development is both athletic and feminine, the make-up is clean and sophisticated. From clavicle to kneecap, shoulder blades to heel, the anatomy is tendered with detail. There are no glaring seam issues, shading problem areas, or lazy shortcuts. Although there is the faintest indication of seam on the back where torso meets bottom, I’ve noticed this on all skins I’ve ever owned and I’ll continue to believe it’s a limitation of the format until I see proof otherwise.

Pricing: The cost of Laqroki skins is the most obvious drawback to owning them. They go for L$1490 per skin; the Elin 12 skin set is L$6500 and the Kat 8 skin set is L$5900. I think charging L$1500 for a single skin (even the best skin on the SL market) without much variation or perks is unnecessary and, frankly, stupid. Obviously, if this marketing works for them, that’s their option, but if skin makers are going to continue to gouge the market, I’m going to continue to have zero sympathy for the rampant black market they give birth to. I can say without doubt that Laqroki would have gotten more of my L$ had their skins been more reasonably priced. From someone who shops as indiscriminately as I do, that’s something worth noting.

Options: Pretty non-existent. What you see is what you get. There are a few make-up options per skin, but they’re all pretty much variations on the same with different tinting. No freckles, no lashes, no manicure/pedicure, no different styling on bits. On the Kat skin there is an identical skin provided for a hair base on the head. There are lashes, etc. available at the store, but they are separate purchases.

Personal Issues: The lack of options irks me for a skin of this cost level. My ongoing frustration with nail polish not matching lipstick continues. I would have liked a paler skin option — even the fair/pale feels tan to me. The nips are pert and cute, but I found the areolae to be too small for my taste. Other than those personal quibbles, it’s seriously hard to find anything wrong with this skin.

Laqroki Elin Skin Torso

Face: The face of Elin is nicely detailed with good distribution of highlight and tone. The eyebrows are delicately arched and well spaced without looking painted-on or over-plucked. The lips have small wrinkles and interesting features; the philtrum is clearly defined and is the only part on the face that is a squeak too shiny for my taste. The make up is clean and adapts well to multiple cheekbone settings. I didn’t get a good shot of the ears like I should have, but they are also ripe with detail, including shapely concha and lobes.

Torso: From clavicle to pelvis, the definition on this skin is sublime. I played with a few different belly and hip settings and the skin converted nicely from svelte to curvy without any noticeable caveats. Obviously, if you lean toward the non-Barbie variety of girl, you should always demo prior to purchase (especially on skins of this cost bracket). The navel is a charming little innie that begs to be nibbled on. The nips are pert with light, rosy areolae that boast realistic bumps and interest. Even the armpits are shaded and distinct.

Laqroki Elin Skin Feet & Knees

Stems & Feet: This is one of those cases where a picture tells a better story than I could. The kneecaps, back of the knees, and calcaneus are gloriously defined, and the border muscles of the tibia almost seem to be flexing and taut beneath the flesh. The shading and highlights are effective without looking like you just slathered yourself in Crisco. The feet actually look fab. If the SL mesh didn’t completely fail on ankles, there would be nothing to complain about.

Laqroki Elin Skin Bum & Bits

Bum: You know that gesture of some Latin-based culture origin where you bring your hand to your lips and make a pucker kiss while fanning out your fingers and murmuring “perfecto!” Well, that’s all I got here. The bum is as kissable as it is spankable, with light shading. It avoids that cadaver butt heavy shadow effect you see in some skins, but still clearly shapes the cheeks. I’m partial to girl bottoms that have those cute little twin dimples just above, but I think that’s asking for the stars when you’ve been handed the moon…erm…so to speak. In this shot you can make out the torso/bottom seam I mentioned earlier, but it’s camouflaged much better on this skin than I generally see, feathered into the shading on the backside of the hips and diminishing tailbone.

Kitty: I’m the sort of girl who prefers a bald or au naturale kitty to patch options, so this Brazilian wax look works for me. The labia majora and minora are clearly represented and there’s a fair hint of the prepuce of the clitoris. It’s a neat and tidy little slit that is attractive without seeming overly lewd. If you like your pink pretty, then you’ll have no complaints here.

Laq Kat Skin With Hairbase

I wanted to show the hair base option, available with the Kat skin, but I wasn’t going to spring for the Kat skin as well as the Elin. Enter friend Viv who prefers the Kat with hair base. (Yes, my friends will stip on command for public display — don’t yours?) This is a helpful base for hairstyles that have flickering prim disease, or options like punky mohawks. If you’re a person who enjoys a buzz cut, or if you want your avatar to reflect RL hair loss issues, it’s also a nice option. Further, if you’re going to be somewhere laggy and want to cut back on the prims, it’s an attractive-enough base.

My final scorecard:
Quality: A
Pricing: C+
Options: C-

What, Where, & How Much:
LAQ ~ Elin 10 [Fair] Glow skin - L$1490
(Pack of 12 for L$6500) (Kat 8 - L$5900)
Laqroki
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Laqroki/154/67/23

“Totally mad. Utter nonsense. But we’ll do it because it’s brilliant nonsense.” ~ Douglas Adams

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