September is my favourite month.

Why? Well, it’s my birthday month for a start, and this year is going to be a special one, it’s my 40th. But what has made it even more ruddy fabulous is that The  Arcade gacha event will be hitting the grid again,  and if you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks then you’ll have missed the teaser images featured on Plurk and on various Flickr pages.

To be perfectly honest, it would have probably been more beneficial to my health if I had been living under a rock, that way I wouldn’t have seen any previews of what this round has in store for us. The last round was amazing enough, but bloody hell, when I first saw some of the pictures of what this round had in store for us, well, I am embarrassed to admit that I actually cried!

Seriously dear reader, I blubbed. 

I confess that I am cringing as I write this, but my emotional response to the goodies on offer was nothing short of visceral. I sobbed when I saw the collections of critters, furniture items and accessories that have been promised to us for this round.

Why? Well, I could say it’s hormones seeing as I officially hit middle-age in a few weeks, so you could forgive me if I was feeling a little mid-life crisis like. But I actually don’t have an excuse, other than I was totally moved and completely blown-away out of the park astonished by the creations that I saw.

Bear in mind I’ve only seen these on the official ad posters, too, so goodness knows what condition I will be in when I actually hit the machines!   Unfortunately, I have no doubt that this round will be jam-packed 24/7 for days on end, which will drive me round the twist. I’ll be one of those poor dots that you see on the map hovering pathetically at sim borders, pleading at my monitor for someone to leave so that I can get in!

So what am I especially looking forward to?  I’ll post some of my favourites over the next few days, but first of all I want to tell you about some of the fantastic animal-themed items that I have seen and simply MUST have. 

The first images that made me misty-eyed were the pictures of the INTRIGUE CO. Puppy Pals….

..see what I mean?

Why did I blub? Well, first of all, PUPPIES! But also because I’m a big fan of the INTRIGUE CO. plushies collections, and these are without a doubt in my mind the best examples yet. I love the way that these guys are crafted.   Not only do they look like the breeds that they are representing, they are perfectly coloured and feature irresistible breed-unique detailing, like the bow on the Yorkie’s hair. It must have taken ages to make these, but what an absolute joy they all are to behold.

Do I have a favourite?  I do have a few to be honest, but I’m going to try my hardest to win all of them!

Now, let me introduce you to the SILENT SPARROW ‘Pwnies!’

 

Now, if you know me in real-life (unlucky!) then you’ll know that I have a bit of a thing about a little show called ‘My Little Pony-Friendship is Magic’.

Yes readers, Kitty is a Brony, with no fucks given.

I have a collection of ponies on my desk, as well as an ever-expanding  (like my waistline) family of plushies courtesy of my local ‘Build-A-Bear Workshop’.  You could say therefore that I’m a bit of a fan, and I’d barely finished wiping  my eyes when I saw the poster image of the pwnies, and started blarting all over again! I mean JUST LOOK AT THEM! They are utterly perfect; a multitude of poses and colours and patterns and you would have to have a heart made of the coldest steel to not fall into a messy puddle of happiness at the sight of these.

They are just so much fun, and I am especially taken by Dash (for obvious reasons) and of course, Matt and David (seeing as I’m a bit of a Whovian as well!) To be honest, yes I want all of these as well, and I’m already starting to panic about how many prims I’m going to need to free up to accommodate all of this Gacha awesome. (My house is pretty darn near perfect for me in-world, but I’m going to have some epic rearranging to do to accommodate all of these wonderful things!)

But let’s not stop there! It looks as though I am going to have to find the room for an aquarium too, because YUMMY! have created a piano-shaped aquarium and a collection of fish to inhabit it and boy are they are super-cute.

I don’t have the space or time for a  fish tank anymore so this will be the next best thing for me.  I’m looking forward to seeing how these fish work too,  because apparently each one is animated with unique movements so I’m anticipating something very special indeed. I haven’t really selected a favourite fishy, but I am very taken by the ‘Spotted Weirdo’, as I feel that I have a lot in common with it. (I fear that the acquisition of this tank will lead me into ridiculous games of ‘Find The Fish’, which is sure to drive everyone around me bonkers, but no shits given!)

Not only that, but the packaging for this particular Gacha prize is pretty special too!

Last but not least are my absolute critter must-haves from this collection. They are, of course, cats, and this is when my tears REALLY fell. Because just LOOK AT THEM:

 

Now, a fact that you possibly don’t know about me, apart from my obviously being cat obsessed, is that I collect Maneki Neko and images of the Egyptian Goddess Bast.  In fact, I am completely Bast-obsessed.  I have statues, jewellery and books about the cult of the cat in Ancient Egypt, and I also like to make trips down to London to see the Gayer-Anderson cat in the British Museum. (Mine in a previous life, obviously 😉

So you can imagine that when I saw this collection and  spotted ‘Isis’ the Egyptian puss, as well as not one but three Maneki-Neko, I almost had a heart attack from excitement.  But there’s more; there’s a chibi-cat for everyone in this set; for example there’s ‘Pumpkin’, who obviously appeals due to my Witchy persuasions (and also because I had an amazing cat called Pumpkin too!) and ‘Sweetie’  is another Whovian reference and an absolute must for my in-world Doctor Who collection. There are so many fabulous felines here to adore, and then there is ‘Fatman’, who reminds me of my much-missed ginger lad (for whom I confess I am still mourning).

Allegory, if by chance you’re reading this, I thought your ‘Voubou’ collection was outstanding and have them proudly displayed in my home, but these are on a whole different level. Every one of these cats is perfection.  They’re shaped so sweetly and decorated so perfectly. I cannot wait to get my paws on them; I just hope that I don’t have to wait too long because I know EXACTLY where I’m putting them. Well, I *think* that I do…GAH!

The Arcade opens on September 1^st (that’ll be Sunday then) and I shall be clawing my way into that sim with all the strength and power I can muster so that I can get my mitts on all of these wonderful  creations, and I expect that you will be doing exactly the same!  I fear it will be a battle, but so long as I can get my critter-fix within a reasonable time frame I’m sure I’ll be fine!

Do check out the official blog and Flickr groups for updates on this event, and tune in tomorrow when I’ll be sharing some other favourite picks of mine. (These didn’t make me cry, but they are just as outstanding!)