the meanderings of marelie

[nhakat]

Here is Hayley, size XS, in the Eloh Eliot brown skin with kohl liner, blush and nude lips (available at Tayren’s Fantasy Fashions in a box in the main room). She's wearing Candace Hudson Glossy Navy Storm SM Pupil Eyes and .::WoW::. smokey eyeshadow. Hair is Alli&Ali Christina in Rustbrown, which I thought would go well with the DemotiK Autumn Leaves Sweater Dress.

She’s called Hayley because I had just watched the first “Castle” of the year when I decided to make my first shape for a black woman, and I liked the character. When I was creating her, I tried to keep in mind the facial features of the black women I’ve seen. Only time will tell if I got her right, though. I used “my” eyes, the ones I wear, because I don’t have a great set of dark ones. If you want to try this face on for size (and the body that goes with it), please let me know. Consultations are L$1/minute, scheduled in fifteen-minute blocks. I would allow a good hour because even with pre-designed faces, I will make variations in body proportions to suit you. My approach is individual: your shape should go with what you have. I only do shapes, so I’m going to tweak my work to fit what you’ve bought. It does help if you can tell me where to find a demo version of your skin, because I can wear it and you can tell me how the shape is looking while I work. Otherwise I’ll just keep handing you demo shapes to try as I tweak. :)

Oh, and one more thing -- I work under normal light settings, so you’ll look great wherever you go. I don’t use fancy lighting tricks, just a low-powered facelight. I know what it’s like to be super disappointed with reality. The picture promised me I’d be so glam! Yeah, no, I’m not that kind of creator. I will glam YOU up under the lights YOU use. Because it really is all about you.

[nhakat]

No, really.

I swear I haven’t died. Life has just been busy, which I sort of expected. Writing becomes an effort.

Hunting is... special sometimes. Special like "oh my gods, the object is that small?! Who's going to see it?" Special like "I followed this hint and found bupkis." Special like "I have to ride my bike through your bloody enormous shop." And while some of what's on offer is brilliant, some of what's on offer harkens back to 2010. But free is free, and nearly free is as good as.

I will say Vengeful Threads has got some smashing gachas, which I fully intend to revisit once I know for certain what my clothing budget can be. Ought I, do you think, to bite the bullet and try SLink hands? Every single manicure gift is a bloody SLink, as if at least your hands have to be fake. Shoe manufacturers haven't gone that route yet, thank goodness. I'm also hoping to get some sort of nonhuman avatar alternative, a small black cat or somesuch. A familiar, yes.

And I'd like a child alt. That is, I have an alt who is verified, but accessing her is a beast and a half -- so I may have to remake her, which, all I'd need to do is funnel her Lindens from this account. If I'm to feel a proper child, I shouldn't be straying into the adult grid. Just back to twelve, maybe, to address old hurts? I realise today I'm dressed like a girl of twelve: knit hat, tee, leggings, trainers. Still there's a difference, because I am very recognisably me. Mari. 29. I don't wish to change my profile because I've not got my head on straight and want reparenting in some ways.

-- No, there's the email, and now I can get back in. I'll have a job and a half unsubscribing her from all the crap that occupied my dim little brain when I made her. Might as well hop-to.

[nhakat]

Tayren’s Fantasy Fashions

Continuing on my merry, I wander over to Tayren's Fantasy Fashions. I grab the notecard for the upcoming Renaissance Hunt; I loved last year's. My goodness, is it that time of year again? -- Such pleasant music here, I note, not at all jarring. Except when Josh Groban starts singing "You Raise Me Up". "Caravanserai", which plays next, is far better.

Certain of the faeries have a certain balletic air about them. Tayren appears to have embraced mesh for her designs; comparing the prim-loaded faeries to the mesh ones, I believe it's a step up for her, as it has been for so many.

Not for nothing is this Tayren's Fantasy Fashions; I would be hard-pressed to place some of the medieval and renaissance gowns in any period. Empress is a nod to Elizabethan garb, but the skirt's the wrong shape; in mesh, she could have achieved the correct effect, but she's still got this one in flexi-prims. Innocent Maiden is the better shape for the Empress gown; combine the two and you're much closer to accurate-for-Tudor. Some outfits even include hats, though I would love to see the hats match the era. Adelaide comes with what is obviously a French hood, but the shape of the gown is late Victorian. Give Innocent Maiden a French hood instead of a circlet and she'll be just perfect.

I do covet Elena (L$300). It's not recognisably period, but it surely does look comfortable. Also the Koyuki Geisha sets (L$300; to be honest, a great deal is L$300) -- those actually look right, come with the right hair and skin. She's not selling a fantasy there. She's selling something that honors the Willow World.

What you get here is plenty for your money. You could wander into Tayren's with L$500 and come out with a full avatar. Tayren also offers a box labelled Free to Lovely Women of Color, and sure enough, it contains items for those who desire to portray women of color: skin, hair, eyes. Combined with her willingness to explore other cultures than one normally sees in Western fantasy -- and the accuracy of her Persian pants! I have a pair of those! I mean for offline! -- I conclude she's either a woman of color herself or well aware of racial and cultural issues. I can't fault her on intent, and her work shows a willingness to move with the technology. So she's not a garb Laurel? For Second Life, and for what is really scandalously low pricing, she does well. I look forward to seeing what she offers in the Renaissance Hunt.

In passing, I note there is a blog directory advertised. I might sign this little travelogue up for it. Might. If I feel the need.

[nhakat]

Mieville, Beau, Sour Pickles

Riding into town on an altered bicycle -- I have a far simpler one, but it didn't fit me quite, so I ended up editing it 'til it did -- I arrive at Mieville Kipling, which I've always thought was a rather quality place. I had a link for Play Dead, where I probably did land, but I landed on my bike and so I sped down the cobbled street to Unrepentant.

There are some seriously cute items in the gatchas. The keyboard-key necklace appeals to me (L$50 in gatcha) and there are ear cuffs and wings; if I need either item, I suppose I know where to go, don't I? Certainly helps that the music here is lovely. I just heard -- oh god it's the opening theme from Jonathan Creek, and now I'm showing both my age and my inability to recall the proper names of things. They also sell full-price accessories; it's a pity steampunk isn't my first love! Friday night is the steampunk dance at Jack o' the Green, and I do at least have an outfit for that, though I daresay I should fit it before I'm due to arrive...

Returning to Play Dead, then. My, what 21c-goth items you sell. Tiny, tiny clothes for not-so-tiny me; I favor skirts that clear my crotch, at least. The gatchas have ankle bondage boots, again reminiscent of Hot Topic. Ground floor not my taste, second floor very nearly abandoned. Not a landmark to keep, though I should return at some point to grab Unrepentant.

Here in Beau, a bit of a how-d'you-do: a walled-in shopping centre and I'm stuck on the outside. No flying. Hm. So I'm going to have to ride it. This used to be The Plastik. Answer me this: if there's no gate in, do these shops rely on word-of-mouth? Hunters coming through? A specific community? Or is this like that North Korean city where they make it look populated for the benefit of the South, but it's really all a show? And who designs something that intricate, wasting so much land and so many prims, without a way to let passers-by in to spend their Lindens? Piffle to this.

Last on the list for the night is Sour Pickles. I seem to recall it being at least youth-oriented, if not child-style. The obnoxious rave music makes me wonder at my own memory, though. -- Ugh, it's raining; I ride into the shop and detach my bike. Time for a look around. -- Holy wow, but that's intricate design on those custom lip rings. Some of the ideas for Places To Pierce make my flesh-and-blood skin crawl, but I guess if it's pixels it doesn't hurt... Still. Upstairs there's some cute beachy stuff, as well as a series of portraits of the proprietors, I'm thinking; the NO H8 one is interesting. Ah, well. Not really a place that's suited to me overall.

Inventory: 12753. Goin' down.

[nhakat]

I’m getting more comfortable in my own skin, obviously. I find myself unconsciously mimicking fandom darling Illya Kuryakin (old-school, please). I like his style. Of course, I don’t think he’d have been caught dead in red hair with pink streaks.

Speaking of hair, this is from Exile; I got it from a Gatcha. You pays your money, you takes your chances. With gatcha machines, you trade getting exactly what you want for getting something close enough at a discounted price. Turns out I still got what I wanted, plus a few more color options. Love this versatile hair! I wear it brown when I’m feeling a little earthier; I’ve been wearing it reddish-pink for a few days, being in a glammish mood.

This particular portrait was taken at Lantian Flox. Two of my friends have chairs much like these in meatspace; I couldn’t resist a good selfie that would forevermore remind me of them.

Not only is Lantian Flox still there -- so is Harambee Gwassi! I’ll donate when I reup my Lindens (I’m getting low, because of little splurges here and there, but I did make L$1000 last me awhile, and that’s meatspace pocket change). HG is a sim dedicated to furthering the cause of education in Kenya; I can’t not love that. Loredana Loring, one of the sim hosts, treated me with courtesy and kindness when I visited, so I’ll do her a solid and put up a link and a plug.

[nhakat]

So here I am on the cutest bike ever. I know, can't wear her into stores, but when I'm touring large sims at what is otherwise a leisurely pace, it's kinda handy.

This is where Ear Candy used to be, I think. It's now a mesh clothing store, a portrait studio, and a gestures emporium. I'm sure Willow Mesh is good stuff, but it's only two designs yet, and neither's quite my style. I don't need portraits (I can do my own) and I really don't need gestures. Le sigh. Back on the bike to see if I've missed anything else on -- is this sim really called Earth? Huh.

I see some kind of Halloweenland which must be up from last year, because I don't think anyone's planning for Samhain yet. Uh... there's breedables? Jump my bike over a wall and I'm at bug-a-boodle, a kids' shop (what are they breeding in these parts?). Oh, how cute -- whenever I move right, my right arm sticks straight out! Some kind of armor shop past that (sci-fantasy, not proper medieval), a hunt at Inkheart -- okay, that's cool with me, off the bike for a mo'.

Inkheart does some really, really pretty eyes. I love the ones I'm wearing, don't get me wrong, but if I can win a pair that's even better? Ohhh, yeah. There's a giant discount board featuring eyes that are close to my meatspace eyes for L$1 -- nice, nice! Tiny pupil, though, and mine are kind of... permanently dilated. I look freaked out when I try to wear something with a tiny pupil. :) I'm spending a dollar here and there and it does add up, so I should probably aim for demos at some point. This designer does pretty work, but it leans small in the pupil. Something to remember.

Back on my bike, then.

[nhakat]

Mari, SC, BBQ area.

[nhakat]

Firefly; Flowerdreams; Ever Ever Land

Another day, another lot of landmarks through which I need to plow. I can't believe what passes for what in Second Life. I do so hate to disappoint you, but there is no way on earth the terms "geisha" and "camisk" belong in the same item description. Geisha would be horrified; I surely am. And the items pretending to be some form of Near Eastern, when there are prints of medieval Arab and Persian garb on the wall -- it's all marketing, exploiting the fad for all things "exotic". In Basra, if you wore that camisk you would be stoned. If you presented yourself to actual Rom as a "gypsy queen", the best you could expect would be the cold shoulder.

Off to Flowerdreams, then. I ought not to go to a shop unless what I've had from it is tasteful -- then again shops do change their focus. Nile Karas isn't disappointing me as a designer. The Felicia gown (L$600) has an ethereal air to it, revealing and concealing just what it should in order to create interest. With demos available, I can try before I buy, which is nice as I'd hate to spend that much money on something that doesn't suit my skin tone! Night Love (L$600) appears to be just my style as well, all that sparkly silver and slate blue, and Leonora (L$600) in Sunset has beautiful lines. I absolutely drown in the old-style ballgowns with skirts as wide as one is tall, but I can do sleek. Oh, yes. -- You couldn't wear all of it to Comyn Castle, and some of it would be difficult outside an A or M sim. What you won't look is cheap. Well, any cheaper than in Pnina Tornai.

Of course, I go looking for Tone Cosmetics and find myself plummeting. I do wish designers would be kind and leave their sky platforms up with a redirect sign. I really do. I can appreciate shutting your shop because you're no longer interested in selling, and you'd rather put the prims to use building your private paradise. Now the only building on the land is labeled The Drunken Bunneh, which, while cute, is unlikely to be of any use to my. Pity. They did good makeup.

[nhakat]

Gorean University; Lions & Butterflies

(Where I went in search of Arachne Silks, which had previously done some decent stuff.)

Goreans freak me out.

I'm -- for lack of a better word, modest by inclination. The thing is that as long as I'm some degree past skintight, and not showing too much of that skin, I can be okay. It's not like I have to, say, veil myself, then put on a dress, then add gloves, then add another veil, then a cloak, a hood, and just for kicks another veil until there is only a bundle of clothing walking around.

And I'm wary of a group whose roleplay apparently creates a market for realistic-looking marks of abuse, but "no gay stuff" is perfectly fine to put in your RP limits. Maybe my RP limits involve not being beat on. Is that going to be respected? And not being "raped" (I have enough nightmares about dealing with the aftermath of not-rape).

So I wonder, walking around in what would be fine and modest clothing on Darkover, what in the hell I would do if some great hulking testosterone monster came sauntering up to me in this marketplace and said "You my woman. You come with me now."

Probably cuss at him and TP away in a hustle.

Besides which a lot of these designers have completely ignored advances in mesh technology when it comes to free women. Free women are boring, right? It's a man's, man's, man's world, and since Lesbians of Gor would be boring to men (with the exception of two kajirae screwing), what's the point, right?

I would roleplay the Gorean Island of Misfit Toys. I would love that. I'd be mistress to a woman who was taken by mistake, or a haven for runaway kajirae. Maybe I'd have a backstory about how, without the good fortune of meeting a sympathetic (maybe gay?) master, I'd still be a slave myself. That is interesting! That has possibilities! And then I'd make sure the women were just as good at fighting as the men, and... and then they'd tell me "This isn't Gorean enough. We're taking our toys and going home."

So really there is no point. But if that one landmark exists that I came to find, well, at least it won't have been a wasted trip.

. . .

Still, it's amusing to hear David Bowie at a Gorean shop. I'm not going to lie, either. The prospect of picking up a cloak for L$35 at Lions & Butterflies on Sunday isn't a bad one. I might have to click the subscriber in order to get the low, low price. Hm.

L&B also does a very Restoration free woman dress, though it's called Wench (actually, you'd have seen respectable ladies wearing that kind of thing...). Prudence and Penelope are both straight-up 1870s-1880s, with those polonaises. I like Pamela, particularly as it veers away from the peculiar suggestiveness of other free women's designs. Ferne ditto in that respect. There's some here that would make me collar-bait if I wore it into a Gorean RP area -- oh, you think I'm talking out my rear when I discuss these things? Ohhh, oho.

In terms of cloaks, I like the Ramona. No surprise there; it's the plainest. Next plainest, similar cut, is Lucille. Trust me, I'm just as mystified as you as to when I became so enchanted by plain things, or things with a little embroidery and not much else. Fancy fabrics are harder to mix and match, maybe?

Intriguing to me that nobody's peddling veils here. You'd think that would be a way to make a quick few Lindens -- have an accessories aisle. Still, I'll remember this place. I mean, there's a kiosk in the roleplay section giving out some screamingly funny fanfiction. I can always sit on top of a bookshelf and read.

Home, Jeeves.

[nhakat]

Sacred Cauldron - the late Friday dance

There's a quote I can't quite piece together, so I'm going to look it up. Ah yes: "Only men laugh, only men weep, only men dance." I'll take that to mean it's a human thing to dance, and not a male thing.

Falcon's music and Lola's dances combine to make me a bit more graceful in the virtual overworld than on the material plane. When nobody's looking except maybe Mum, I dance well enough; it's when other people can see me that I get so wrapped in knots and my body forgets how to let the music take it over.

In multiple senses of the word, I miss Peregrine's dance nights. I mean to get out to them and then I don't do it; then I'm sorry I didn't! And (I'm really crossing the streams now) Raven Raqs Beledi is starting up again, which I should like to try.

I'm learning how not to be stuffy. I put on stuffiness like armor, to hide the laughing little girl inside. She's still very much alive, you see. I was reading Exile's Song today and I understood Margaret very well, she who is also Marja and Marguerida. Marja the Broken Cutie -- Margaret who made herself strong -- Marguerida learning how to be who she was always meant to be.

Or take a lesson from Fynn's unabashedly curious, easily delighted Anna, who found Mister God everywhere but where she was told to look -- I find Missus God in my middle and I'm in hers, too.

I'm in a safe place, dancing at Sacred Cauldron, dressed in purple with my hair done lavender and tats running up my torso. I'm able to show more than my bare feet and a bit of chest. I'm okay with my belly out, and if this fine cropped tunic were missing its long bell sleeves I'd still be happy. I can make ribald jokes and not have it be taken for more than, well, a fondness for ribald jokes. Elsewhere I am constantly navigating a pornified world, where if I'm not big-R Religious, a lesbian, or fat, my worth is my willingness to put out. Sexual liberation? No; a liberation would be a sexuality that doesn't ever feel like a transaction, is always by mutual consent, is not the defining characteristic of a whole gender.

I've been made an object since I figured out how to flatter my body, which is disturbing because I managed to stop my own development cold somehow -- no, there's no somehow about it, I dropped fifteen pounds in a week just when I would've started taking on a woman's shape. Not my fault. Stress about killed me. Then I lost my mind and started starving on purpose. I broke something to do with being able to eat and gain weight; except for a few months in 2011, I've been below 90 my whole adult life, even after I stopped starving on purpose. It would be worse if I were taller than 4'11".

Point: I still get taken for underage on the regular. Which is why it's all the more disturbing, you see? Because until 2011 I hadn't any hips to speak of, either. Now I'm nearly thirty, at least I look old enough to drink!

At least in the virtual overworld I can design a shape appropriate to my age, and wear it as covered or as bare as I please without that being inherently creepy.

-- oof, my back's seized up a bit from crunching myself into this chair. Time to hoppit. It's properly Lammas now. I should set my tarot out to soak in some of that blue moon and high holiday energy. Maybe a bit of fiction as well? The world I'm trying to build is coming together splendidly, person by person.

Uncrunch, fetch deck, kiss my mum hello, eat a late light supper. Sounds like a plan.

[nhakat]

Rosen; Suki's Silken Fashions, Hanbok

DemotiK is gone; a pity, as they made some lovely tunic-style sweaters. I wander a few paces over to Inedit. Despite what's being touted as women's fashion, I do wander further in to see what else is on offer. I am hoping, of course, for something that hits a little farther down my legs than my crotch, something without cleavage. Something with sleeves? Or something I can put sleeves beneath? A gown for a special occasion that isn't skintight would be lovely. I suspect I'll have to shop on a Gorean sim if I want anything like that. I do like the one pair of boots, the leather ankle-height with the short, chunky heel. They wouldn't be terrible for riding. But they're L$290 and I can't justify that.

I haven't taken vows of poverty. It's just that I'd rather buy books.

I suppose I can discard that landmark.

I can also toss the one for Lark; Annamaria Bushido is completely empty. Suki's Silks? Oh, thank heaven. Something's still where I left it. I've a dress from Suki's that I like, and on landing I see, to my amusement, a dress that actually mixes elements of documentable Norse fashion with fantasy. Yes, women did wear their hair under scarves, though they weren't bound in quite that fashion, and yes, they suspended strings from brooches, though the brooches most often went with apron-dresses called smokkrs. A mesh smokkr would be nice.

I fancy the trousers that go with Oasis Dancer. If I could just get the trousers in the size I end up needing, and those shoes, I'd be a happy woman. Autumn Rose is also nice, with its square neck, cloak, hood... good grief, that is easily L$800 worth of goodies included. Suki doesn't stint. Spirit of Christmas Past is the same in different colours, reds and greens and plaid. And the Dress of the Dales! That one's my favourite. It's practical, with its apron-shaped kirtle, and I like the knotwork at the hems.

Nearby at Ziva's Underground Footwares, there's the Sith Brood Boot, which I'd like to see in demo form before I drop L$300 on it, but that's my skinflint self speaking. Ziva's has a nice mix of practical and fanciful shoes and boots. It's a good complement to Suki's, actually, and I wonder if they've ever collaborated?

Home to Sacred Cauldron for nightly devotionals at the Artemis Shrine. "Impastor" will be done by then. I can go barefoot there and not feel self-conscious. I could probably go naked and not feel self-conscious, under the right circumstances. It's not a sexual space. It's a space where sexuality might, incidentally, happen, but it's not a first-and-foremost sexual space. I appreciate that safety.

[nhakat]

Sacred Cauldron -- Artemis Shrine

Mari, Mari, you're home.

Not for years did I know a more welcoming place than Sacred Cauldron, and not for myself alone ever. I rode my love's coattails when it came to being social; when we parted ways, I had my own people, but none in Second Life any longer. We had all dispersed, and I hadn't the heart to go back looking. There is no going back when you have been gone from a place for long enough.

But if you have only stepped away to address your life, it's possible to wander back and find things not much changed. Growing, if anything. And that is Sacred Cauldron for me. I knew when to look for the nightly devotional, and if I am awake in time for the morning ones, then I shall try to make them. There is even something on Saturday, a discussion, and I love a good discussion. You must know this if nothing else. Not a fight -- just a sharing of ideas and a little growth. Electrons whizzing between us, as Alexey would say. And does.

Perhaps I'll go looking for the people I left. They wouldn't recognise me. In this virtual overworld, I've chosen a form very plausibly mine, save for certain chest adornments. I'm a bit of a realist when it comes to how I see myself: no, I'm no supermodel, not in any world. I've given myself a proportional form, down to the size of my hands. I have a gorgeous skin, and I don't need to show it all off at once. The concession I've made to style is height, and that because some places have restrictions designed to keep child avatars out. (Let me roll my eyes ever so briefly, because height does not a child make, and would people stop mistaking me for a preteen? Applies offline as well!) Therefore my avatar is tall enough to beat the standard and not much taller. According to the height meter that now comes with the client, I'm taller than my flesh self by three or four inches, which is satisfactory. Some choose to become chieri in the virtual overworld: unearthly beauties without a fixed gender. I am always female and always small. This is enough.

And if I find them, what will I do? What if they recognise me after all? Oh, nonsense, Mari; you were never among them as yourself. Or were you, with her? Once? Twice? Years have gone, not months, not weeks. Years.

Cross that pass when I come to it.

[nhakat]

Kentigern West -- Adult Pleasures, Kaoss (91, 181, 27)

Inside a courtyard walled in on three sides; there are Greedy tables in the southwest corner, a coffee kiosk and tables to the east, and one lone soul but two months old looking to expand his horizons on the other side of the wall -- I don't think I want to engage. Housing to the north and west is largely empty. Well, who keeps pied-a-terre any longer except as a large group? It's expensive. Carry a few things to put out when you'd like to picnic or camp and you'll do all right.

Truth-Cube east of the wall, and a gathering spot. This must be a community, but they're not online at the moment. I begin to wonder what's so adult about this spot. The shopping? Well, there's a model somewhere here who looks like Fig from "Orange is the New Black". There's not overmuch here that's Renunciate-friendly, and I haven't bothered with Slink feet as one needs to buy and remember so very many attachments. I know that in-world I can run as fast I will in heels, and fly; nevertheless I'm developing a distaste for impractical-looking shoes for everyday wear. I bought a nice pair of texture-change boots for L$75, mesh, and they look well with my clothing. I have pretty enough shoes for those moments when I'd like to appear attractive to the sort of people I'd like to attract.

-- Ah, yes, here's the notecard. The activities are far more adult than the surroundings, I see. Well, I'm not keen on exploring what I suspect is on offer. Chatting with a resident now, a friendly girl, completely new -- oh, dear, I'm old by comparison, and I don't mean in SL years. Then again, this is the Internet Generation; those who say they know their limits, well, I'll let them find out for themselves if they do. She's eighteen and age-verified if she's on an A sim. I only hope if she finds herself in over her head that she can go to someone or somewhere safe.

Day in one sim, night in another; crossing into Kentigern East, the sky turns dark. I walk into the rental office, which is offering apartments that look like a million dollars. Let us merely say that I've seen House Hunters International; an apartment that posh would go for quite a lot in Hong Kong. Of the New York housing one can only say "ka-ching". There are places to dance, places to enjoy the nightlife, cuddle places (some gendered, by the look of it). This pink-light area is actually a red-light district. I remind myself that, in a Second Life where sex sells, I am sworn not to earn my bread as the object of any man's lust. (I wonder if that applies to women's lust.)

More housing, lovely, rustic buildings I would not be ashamed to inhabit if I did choose a house. Improbably, I find a church. Well, a chapel. Is it for more than weddings? I would not mind a place to attend Mass once in a while, though Catholicism and I went our separate ways when I was thirteen and goddesses began to resonate better than father-gods. I could look for Episcopalians, who are not nearly as strict.

Would it be terrible to join a group here? I don't believe I'd fit in; there's little to recommend me to anyone, including the fact that I'm really not looking for a boyfriend. I don't know that what they want are women who can be safe people for other women. And when I stop and think, I don't know that the girl I met will be all right. Yes, she's an adult. She's also eighteen, if she's not lying (if she is, then I officially don't care). There's a sexual ethic among millennials that grew out of the boomers' free love: sexual liberation benefits men and women who want to cater to men. If you will be more sexual than the generation prior to yours, you will do it according to norms set by men. Being sexual according to women's norms happens largely in LGBTQ spaces, emphasis on the L, B, T, and Q (one could hardly ask a gay man to embrace feminine sexuality).

It's pretty. It's sexual. It's pretty sexual. One to ponder. One to revisit, perhaps.