Virtual Neko in Second Life

Like so many others in Second Life, Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays.  Take Mexico’s “Dia de Los Muertos” and combine it with the masked anonymity and esprit of a New Orleans Mardi Gras, and you’ve got one of the best nights of the entire year — particularly for us Nekos.

How Did Halloween Get Started?

We’ve got the lovely Irish to thank.  October 31 was one of their ancient Celtic holidays celebrating the end of the harvest season and… a little bit more:

On this same night, it was believed that the dead could escape the confines of the underworld and wreak havoc among the living, in the form of sickness, tricks, or misfortune.  All sorts of efforts had to be made to avoid these vengeful spirits, including bonfires to frighten them, sacrifices to placate them, and costumes and masks to confuse them.

No surprise then that Americans (and our retailers) embraced the “spooky” aspects of this holiday with glee.  Adults throw costume parties, decorate their yards, and go “haunted house hopping” together.  Children threaten their neighbors with “tricks” in exchange for armfuls of “treats” (thus helping to bridge the sugar gap between chocolate Easter eggs and Christmas cookies).  >O.o<   Pumpkins are carved into “Jack-O’-Lanterns” with scary or funny faces, filled with candles, and set out on front porches to presumably frighten away the evil spirits on Halloween night.

Dark Dharma Haunted Manor in Second Life’s Benten region

Second Life seems especially taken with Halloween spirit, with the same plethora of costume parties, ghoulish decorations, candy accessories, scary gifts, virtual haunted houses to explore, and outrageous Halloween costumes.  (For those of you humans wondering what this Neko thing is all about, maybe it’s time to try dressing up Neko for Halloween, mm…?  After all, Sn@tch has all their “Kitteh Parts” marked at 50% off until midnight SLT!)

My Fond Kitten-weenie Memories…

Halloween brings back a lot of special memories to this Neko girl.  Growing up in a small town surrounded by rustling cornfields certainly added to the experience, not to mention sparking my youthful imagination.   I remember assiduously attempting to convince my parents that I had, indeed, seen a broom-riding Neko witch pass over the golden harvest moon.  They just smiled, of course…

This Octoberville scarecrow reminds me of a dance partner I had once…

Still another memory was of a dark and stormy Halloween night, in which I began my foray as a Neko princess wrapped in yards of lace.  After three hours of trick-or-treating in the rain, I was magically transformed into a soaked and sorry-looking Neko mummy.  Need I remind you how much we cats hate water?

My most favorite Halloween memory however was the year my parents deemed me a mature enough kitteh to oversee my younger brother’s door-to-door sugar begging.  Nothing beats a big Sis-Cat willing to carry you on her back to all of the outlying neighborhoods, thereby ensuring you come home with record-breaking piles of candy.  Now that’s kitty love.

Trick or Treat?

These days, Second Life supplies me with all the kitty-lovin’ virtual treats my little Neko heart could ever desire:

| Skin | Tuli: Elizabeth Gothic Halloween ’08 (with web tattoo) – available for sale or FREE via a generous group gift (if you haven’t paid the $250L to join Tuli’s group yet, it is WELL worth your lindens and group loyalty… Tuli is one of the most talented and generous designers in Second Life).
| Ears | Sweet Leonard + Needful Things: Trick or Treat Ears in auburn (also check out the adorable matching tail for these ears, as well as Halloween legwarmers and a spider shoulder gift)
| Tail | Atomic: Trick or Treat tail (this was a special holiday issue; it’s no longer available)
| Hair | Damselfly: Verena in Cinnamon Warm
| Hat | Glamurena Studio (part of the Halloween Pumpkin outfit; see below)
| Shoulder Kitty | CatNip: Cheshire cat (have I said how much I heart Akasha?)
| Jewelry | EarthStones: Eww Spider! necklace and ring (also available: matching facial piercings, earrings, and belly ring)
| Outfit | Glamurena Studio: Halloween Pumpkin set (includes the shirt with prim puffed shoulders, optional black bodice, flexi skirt, striped stockings with garter belt and prim ankle puffs, and a cute witch’s hat)
| Legwarmers | Riddle: Halloween Sculpted legwarmers with candies – FREE!
| Boots | Bax Coen Designs: Ankle Boot in black patent (these tres sexy boots feature color change soles, laces, heels, boot tips, and lacy ankle “cuffs”)
| Broom | CatNip: Witchy Broom (photo at top)

Left: EarthStones’ Eww Spider! Necklace; Top L: Sweet Leonard Trick-or-Treat Ears’ Top R: CatNip’s Cheshire Cat; Bottom L: EarthStones’ Eww Spider! Ring; Bottom R: Atomic’s Trick-or-Treat Tail; Right: Riddle’s Halloween legwarmers and Bax Coen’s Ankle Boots.  (Click photo to enlarge)

Other Cool Halloween Stuff:

I hate making decisions… with so many incredible Halloween goodies for Nekos in Second Life, it took me a while to select my outfit.  Here are a few others (and more freebies) that you should also check out:

Acid & Mala: H-ween outfit and two FREE shoulder pets
Adam & Eve: Sorceress / Sorcerer outfit
Bare Rose: Black Majo Witch Outfit
Kumin Kumin (by Kumin Kohime): Spider Cat outfit
G(P)ND / Gothic (Passionate) Neko Dreams: Saur Holt has one of the most extensive collections of Halloween costumes on the grid
Kitty Scraps: FREE halloween lollipop and cute candycorn lollipop earrings (items not currently available)
AMH / AnnaMayaHouse: In addition to several cute accessory items for Nekos, this store has a cute FREE accessory named “Wicked Witch Wendy” that comes in three options… a scarf with the witch attached, a witch shoulder pet, or a witch that flies around you on her little broom, emitting colorful particle effects.
AURA Fashion: There’s a really great “Witch’s Broom” for sale here that looks great and comes with a few cute flying/hanging poses

Top Favorite Halloween Haunts to Visit in Second Life:

– DarkDharma Haunted Manor at Benten: by DarkDharma Daguerre
– Octoberville: by Nathan Oddfellow, Master Kaos, Cherub Spectre, and Shylie Wilson
– Ave Maria / House Cyr: by Alex Bader
– Deviant’s Asylum and Haunted Woods: by Riann Maltese (keep climbing the hill…)
– SiniStyle’s Store: by Krius Misfit (creepy farmhouse below; haunted store above)
– Trick or Treat Halloween Costume Fair

Warning: Ave Maria may scare the tail off you…

Flying witch and fashion photo by the frightfully fantastic Bobby Yoshikawa <3***

© Stacia Villota / Virtual Neko in Second Life – 2008
http://virtualneko.com

=^..^=

~ by Stacia Villota / Virtual Neko on October 31, 2008.

Posted in Explore, Fashion, Neko How To
Tags: broom, candy, cat, cat girl, catgirl, costume, costumes, halloween, hat, neko, nekos, second life, SL, virtual, voodoo, witch