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Contents 22.
Through the Lens
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Proust Spotlight
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Trending Now
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Designer Showcase
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Things to Do
144.
Artist Highlight
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Art Perspective
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World of Roleplay
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At Home with Wendz
The talented blogger and photographer, Autumn Rose, brings us “Early Spring.”
Gild shows us his favorite outfits, as well as the event exclusive for The Clique!
Oema is back with her art reviews with the Nativo art exhibit by Stefano Mingione.
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Teaming up with the Blogger & Vlogger Network, we showcase JM!
Bring a group of friends and check out the Rooms at the Mirage.
Ahn Avion goes in depth and discovers “The Kingdom of Giliath.”
The ECLIPSE stylists showcase their take on the best fashion trends for Spring 2018.
From the WSL management company, we feature their artist Toxic Darkmatter.
Wendz Tempest shares the bold and beautiful Spring Arrival in Home & Garden.
s
ECLIPSE Magazine is dedicated to not only offering an aesthetically pleasing publication, but to also be considered a platform that offers rich and relevant content. Each month, we showcase residents and groups that have taken the concept of “your world, your imagination� to such great heights that they have impacted the culture and lifestyle of the Second Life community.
36.
Cover Story EarthStones Cover Photographer Lessthen Zero
176.
Ask Noey
186.
Voices from the Grid
206.
The Wayfarer
Writer: Cajsa Lilliehook
Noey Ivy London Flower offers the best advice on the grid for all your SL needs.
Each month ECLIPSE asks residents a question, see what they have to say.
Join the Wayfarer on a journey exploring the sim, the Garden of Absentia. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 7
inspire
ed dreams/224/75/3002
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executive team
No
Trouble dethly
cajsa lilliehook
Taylor Wassep
carley benazzi
Publisher
Copy Editor
Creative Director
Lead Stylist
jessyca teardrop Assistant Editor
the c
writers
photographers
Ahn Avion Cajsa Lilliehook oey Ivy London Flower Oema Persephone Vitrac Synful Aeon Wendz Tempest
Alex Avion Brent Lockhearst Carley Benazzi Kess Crystal Kiana Jarman Lessthen Zero Persephone Vitrac Taylor Wassep Tempest Rosca Wendz Tempest Wicca Merlin
stylists Caesar Langer LeezahKaddour Misoindite Romano Silly Avro Taylor Wassep Wicca Merlin
guest stylist & photographer Autumn Rose
interested in advertising with eclipse? have an idea for a great story? looking to start a new career in second life? email trouble.dethlysl@gmail.com
contributors
I am a fond believer in the saying, “You are who you are, when nobody is watching.� Perhaps, the world could use a little more kindness. This is not directed towards anyone in particular. It is simply the void that I feel is missing right now. I have been here before. It is not an unknown trail; however, this month I will keep this thought on the forefront of my mind. To see if it will change my world, even if only for a moment it becomes brighter and better. To remember to be kind, even in circumstances that I might typically react differently too. To make a concerted effort to understand those around me and not hasten towards judgment. With that said, this issue of ECLIPSE Magazine, we featured Abraxxa Anatine on the cover. She is the talented creator behind the brand EarthStones, and I am thrilled that we are able to share her story this month. There are a total of 13 pieces for this edition. One of which is a fashion spread for the brand Gild. They are one of the sponsors for the upcoming event the Clique, which is an event inspired by the Breakfast Club. Beyond that, Wendz Tempest teams up with Brent Lockhearst to continue our Home & Garden piece, and Oema is back with her art column. Over the past few issues, we have also tried to incorporate a piece that focuses on things to do on the grid. The piece that satisfies that want is The Rooms at Mirage, be sure to check it out! I do hope you enjoy this issue, and happy readings!
letter from the publi
isher
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through the lens AUTUMN ROSE SHOWS US HER TAKE ON “EARLY SPRING.” Photography by AU
s
TUMN ROSE.
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Hair: Oleander - Billie Top: Val Koer - Essential Crop Top Dungarees: Emery - Liv Dungarees ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 25
Hair: Nani - Blossom Hair Face Flowers: Nani - Flower Face Dress: Nani - Sailor Dress A Labradors: Nani - Labradors B1 and C2 Petals: Anc - Petal Rain
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Hair: Stealthic - Lithe Headband: Ariskea - Flower Child Dress: Ison - Off Shoulder Dress Necklace: Kibitz - Time Turner Grass: Keke - Feather Grass Wolves: Jian - Grey Wolf Collection
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Hair: Stealthic - Lithe Jacket: Zenith - Raining Shopping Umbrella: Zenith - Raining Shopping Boots: Friday - Heidi Wellies Ducks: Jian - Duck Family Page 30 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Hair: Truth - Ximena Top: Spirit - Peepa Shorts: Blueberry - Frappe Kitties: Kite - Russian Blues
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EarthStones Are a Girl’s B
written by cajsa lilliehook. photography by carley benazzi, lessthen zero & temp
est Friend
pest rosca.
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Earthstones: Hearts & Flowers Bento Ring Set - Treasure Pack Photographer & Stylist: Carley Benazzi
A decade ago, bling ruled the world in Second LifeÂŽ. An avatar could find eleventy million diamond, ruby, or emerald parures with full-bright gems that sparkled and flashed on your neck and your finger like the searchlight blazing across the sky from the parking lot of a used car dealership. And that was perfectly fine, if you wanted to wear a ball gown everywhere and every day. Looking for something to wear with a pair of jeans or a simple sundress was a difficult proposition. I know this because I searched high and low and went through the jewelry listings store by store by store back in 2007. I found a few places. I found a store with kinetic jewelry that was just a different iteration of the original problem. Another store offered jewelry made of flower petals that duplicated the jewelry the owner made in her first life. In a Japanese sim, I found a necklace made with stones reminiscent of the ones you make and bake in your home oven. On a role play sim, I found a leather necklace like one you might pick up at a openair market. But jewelry like the kind I had in my first life jewelry box, jewelry made with azurite, carnelian, jade, larimar, and agate? It was discouraging.
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Luckily for me and all the other lovers of fine, but informal, jewelry, Abraxxa Anatine joined Second Life in May, 2007. Anatine had not originally thought about pursuing a career as a SL jeweler. “I actually wanted to make furniture and home goods. In fact, one of the first complete things I made was a dog house. I also had not intended on opening a business with the items I made as I was already running a busy web/ graphic design business at the time, so I was just popping into SL here and there for fun.” Anatine had the same struggle trying to find non-pageant jewelry, but unlike me, she decided to do something about it. “Ironically, I initially had no desire to make jewelry but after coming up empty handed from an exhausting search for a good quality peace sign necklace, I decided to try learning to make my own. I succeeded at that and then thought maybe I’d see what else I could make. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
She soon opened EarthStones which she describes as “built on the idea of realistic stone jewelry for all.” She describes her aesthetic as new-agey, peaceful, relaxed, and comfortable. And that is the ambiance at her store and sim and exactly what you will find in her collections. There is so much diversity in jewelry design and aesthetics in SL® today that is may be hard to imagine how exciting and different EarthStones was back then. I was curious how Anatine made that choice, swimming against the current. She laughed, “Hah! We do go way back don’t we? There was no choice to make really. I just wanted to design and create pieces to work with my bohemian style. In 2007, the grid was sorely lacking in such jewelry and all those blingy formals out there looked a little silly with my ripped jeans and tie dye tank top. I simply wanted to design the types of pieces that I would want to wear and it just turned out that many other users shared my taste.” Earthstones: Mystic Earrings & Necklace Photographer & Stylist: Carley Benazzi
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Earthstones: An Photographer &
nara Earrings, Bracelet & Necklaces & Stylist: Carley Benazzi
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Anatine’s first experience in SL was not a sign of things to come. In fact, she said it was mostly confusing. “I had no idea what Second Life was and a friend had messaged me insisting that I check out this “creepy place” he found. So after much cajoling from him, I registered and logged in, spent about 13 seconds on newbie island, accidentally figured out how to TP, figured out how to fly and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to fly over the ocean. After a few teleports, I quickly got bored and left, but my curiosity was piqued, mainly because I couldn’t help but wonder what people saw in the place. So I logged in again. And again. Eventually, it stuck.” Like most SL creators, Anatine has shifted from mostly mainstore releases to marketing through events. She admits she wishes she could do more mainstore releases, but says it is difficult to find time when working to event deadlines. “Selling on the grid has changed dramatically and what was once a ‘work at your own pace’ dream job, has become something of a race to the deadline stress fest. I typically participate in two to three events a month, cycling among Uber, The Liaison Collaborative, Cosmopolitan, Tres Chic, and some others. Because of the massive amount of time involved in creating anything these days, creating for all of these events doesn’t leave much time, if any, to do anything else. That said, I do occasionally try to leave myself time to squeeze in a main store release that won’t be held captive at an event for a month.” Page 42 | ECLIPSE March 2018
Earthstones: Eye Glasses - The Librarian - Treasure Pack Photographer & Stylist: Tempest Rosca
ChicModa - Kim Photographer & Stylist: Taylor Wassep ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 43
Earthstones: Peace, Love & Harmony Bracelets Photographer & Stylist: Tempest Rosca Page 44 | ECLIPSE March 2018
Earthstones: Petit Vigne Photographer & Stylist: Tempest Rosca
Anatine’s customer base forms a community through her in-world group and her annual Halloween Hunt is famed for its fabulous gifts and her absolute refusal to drop hints. No matter how hard you beg, she won’t tell you. Asked how much time went into fostering that sense of community and camaraderie in her group, she replied, “The simple answer here is: as much as I can and not as much as I would like. Again, time is the main factor. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to meet all the event deadlines and still have time to create my own events. However, I think a lot of people are familiar with my Halloween Hunt which is the largest event I do on my own. It’s an extraordinarily time-consuming undertaking, which means I can’t
sign up for anything else for the entire month of October and usually the end of September as well, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week, to do such things year round.” She added that when she has spare time, she will create a group gift to show her appreciation to the group members, which she describes as “a really fantastic bunch of folks. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have them behind me, with so many of them being with me since the beginning.” Perhaps it is that intense loyalty and long-lived relationship that makes word of mouth her most effective marketing, “I often hear from new customers that they learned about EarthStones through a friend,” Anatine noted. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 45
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It is not surprising that Anatine is mad for jewelry in her first life. “I’m a complete jewelry junkie in first life,” she stated. “In fact, I’m practically drowning in it. My favorite piece is a wire wrapped quartz that I picked up in an occult shop. I have it on a long chain and wear it almost every time I go out.” That calls the question what is her favorite of her own creations, “Oooh, not a fair question! I don’t think I can say I have just one favorite. I love so many of the pieces I’ve created but to name a few off the top of my head: The Doji Collection, The Hearts & Flowers Bento Rings, The Chavea Bento Rings, The Quetzalli Collection, and the Krishna Collection.” When you look at her work, you can see her inspiration is multifaceted. As she put it, “Inspiration is everywhere for me. I love to pull from nature, but I could be inspired by something as little as a unique shape I happened to see, a customer suggestion, an event theme, etc.” Second Life has had a profound effect on her life. When she began she was working at web design. Now EarthStones is her full-time occupation. As Anatine explained, “SL has been my first life job for more than a decade, so I would say that SL is deeply integrated into my first life. However, working in SL is extremely time consuming as and often requires that I work from the time I get up to the time I go to bed (often 3am) with maybe a dinner break shoved in there somewhere. I’ve often said that working in SL is like working 2-3 full time jobs in RL. So… it has changed my first life in that I spend far more time working than I ever did at a “real job”. She advises anyone considering SL as a full time job that it can interfere with your ability to have a “normal” life. “Looking back over the last decade, I realize that I have given up a whole lot of
real life in order to work in SL and there have been both pros and cons to that.” However, there are benefits to being an SL creator. ”My favorite thing about being an SL creator are the wonderful comments I get from people who have been touched in a special way by something I designed. Those comments fuel my creativity and keep me going.” On the other hand, her least favorite thing is how timeconsuming it is to take a project from inspiration to realization. “I have so many things I want to create but there just never seems to be enough time!” Speaking of time, be sure to check out the companion piece to this article on her creative process and the time it takes to carry a project from the idea to its release and marketing. What this means is that Anatine has very little time for playing in SL. “I stopped playing in SL many years ago. I did play until I started creating, and then I played from time to time for the first couple of years. However, for the majority of the last eight years, I would have to say “I just work here.” When she is done working, after twelve to sixteen hours at the computer, she only has energy for logging off. Because it is her work, when she has free time, she does not want to play at work. (Who does?) “To maintain what remains of my sanity, I now try to take weekends for myself and go play out in the real world. Actually, I guess you could say that SL is my RL and RL is my SL” Let’s raise a glass to her sanity and finding time for herself, so she can maintain the energy, creativity, and inspiration that drives her work, secure that she is, in her own words, “I’m always doing my best and working hard to bring beautiful quality jewelry and accessories to all the residents of Second Life!” ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 47
Earthstone Links: Main Store Marketplace Facebook Blog
So Pe ba co cr de
Full disclosure: I have shopped at EarthStones since 2007. Before I quit working due to illness, I bought fat packs of every release and even now that I cannot put personal money into SL, I will use some of my writing earnings to shop there. It has always been my favorite store in SL and it is a pure joy to write about Abraxxa Anatine and her wonderful store.
St Th Ih a
St D an ite
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ometimes it seems customers think creating items is not much more difficult than buying them. erhaps because we have all made a prim and even tinted or textured a box, because the financial arriers are low, we don’t appreciate the graphic skills and investment in learning techniques and omputer skills that go into creating virtual items. To give a more realistic understanding of what reating involves, Anatine was asked to explain her process and the amount of time each step emands.
tep 1, Decide what to make. his is often pushed in one direction or another due to event themes. When there is no theme, have a long list of ideas that I pull from. For the record, I generally prefer not to have to follow theme. The time it takes to decide what to make varies so greatly, it’s hard to quantify.
tep 2, Mesh modeling. Depending on the complexity of the project and number of pieces included, this can take nywhere from 8 – 60 hours or more. A collection is usually somewhere in the middle. Rigged ems add a few more hours.
tep 3, Texturing. ll the texturing I do is individually baked for each piece. Because I tend to offer a lot of texture ptions, I usually need a full day, sometimes 2, to get all the textures created.
tep 4, Upload and Assemble. his is the fastest step and typically takes minutes rather than hours.
tep 5, Scripting/HUDs or items that don’t require a HUD, the scripting usually takes 30-60 minutes. For items that o require a HUD, this phase takes much longer, usually a day, sometimes two, as I do custom esigned HUDs for each collection.
tep 6, Photos and vendors. his key part of the process usually takes 1-2 days in total. It can take as many as 60 photos ometimes just to get shots of everything I need to design the vendors and posters. Then it’s ff to photoshop for the graphic design work. Once all that is done, all the products need to be ermissioned, tested, and packed.
tep 7, Promote Once all is done and on the wall or placed at an event, there’s the writing and sending of group otices, a mailing list notice, postings on the blog and facebook page, and once freed up from n event, it needs to be listed on the marketplace. As any creator knows, the tedious and slow Marketplace listing process is honestly enough to make one feel like jumping out a window, or t the very least pulling out some hair. It takes me about an hour to list a small collection and a ew hours to list a larger one.
ll in all, I would say that from start to finish, an average release will take 50-60 work hours in otal. Some projects take less, some take significantly more. And that doesn’t count the time pent on customer service, or any of the other tasks involved in running an SL business. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 49
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THE GILD - FASHION
SHOWCASING FIVE OUTFITS PLUS THE CLIQUE EVENT EXCLUSivE. Photography by TAYL
N
LOR WASSEP.
Taylor Wassep [Gild] Jackey Style Hat [Gild] Jockey Style Pants [Gild] Long tank with harness
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Taylor Wassep [Gild] Jackey Style Hat [Gild] Jockey Style Pants [Gild] Half Studs Jacket ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 57
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Taylor Wassep [Gild] Tube Necklace [Gild] Short Boots [Gild] L/jacket with S/harness [Gild] Skinny Pants
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Trouble Dethly [Gild] Double-Breast Jk Pants Set [Gild] WT Low Cut ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 61
Trouble Dethly [Gild] Ribbon Tie Long Jk Suit Page 62 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Trouble Dethly [Gild] Long Loop Leather Top with T - The Clique Exclusive [Gild] Around Rope Pants - The Clique Exclusive [Gild] Crow Feather Necklace [Gild] Short Boots Page 64 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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the art perspect written by oema. photograph
Oema curates the ECLIPSE Magazine art column. Each piece, she discovers, reviews and highlights the work of some of the most creative and talented artists on the grid. She offers a fresh perspective in the vibrant and vast world of the arts. For this month’s feature, Oema showcases the art exhibition “Nativo” by Stefano Mingione, which can be found at Daphne Art Gallery.
tive y by oema.
The Stefano Mingione art exhibition “Nativo” opened in January at Daphne Art Gallery. On the official gallery site, you can find an elegant presentation of the exhibit and the artist: this is an introduction to Stefano Mingione as a painter above all in Real Life and secondarily in Second Life®. For complete information on this Italian artist who excels not only in SL®, I think it useful to visit his website. Speaking specifically of the exhibition opened at the Daphne Art Gallery
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entitled “Nativo,” it is, in my view, a raw view of life, its evolution, and its end. Upon arrival, the exhibition is situated inside a room by minimalist furniture, to give prominence to the drawings of Stefano Mingione. The floor and dark walls bring out the Italian artist’s paintings in the best possible way. The arrangement of the pictures is circular, so you need only cam around to get an overview of immediately visible drawings.
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As on other occasions, Stefano Mingione prefers to explore in his work the theme of the evolution of life from its beginning until its end. On this occasion, I appreciate the way he narrates an explanation with his personal view and his way of creating art to the drawings. When you visit the exhibition, you can see a corridor with colored arrows on the floor that invites the visitor to go on until the end. Reaching the end of the hallway, you can sit in a director’s chair and choose one of three topics covered by Mingione in a narrated recording. The narration is in Italian but was kindly translated by Kiki in English to offer everyone the opportunity to understand its meaning. I believe that this “voice added” to the drawings is a useful idea to allow the viewer to understand better the artist’s intention that he realized in his pictures. Wanting to leave you with the opportunity to form your own impression, I suggest you stop reading, go now to the exhibition uninfluenced by my judgment. . After visiting the show and listening to
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the narration, come back and read the rest, without being changed by my experience. Mingione speaks of life, its evolution, by energy and hope from the start where the child looks towards the future to the adult who nostalgically looks back to the past. There does not seem to be in the flow of life events a time when the person feels “present” in the now.. When one might be happy as a child, a human being projected thoughts towards a future that seems brighter, but when he reaches the condition had been hoping for a child, he realizes that the only truly happy moments were those of childhood. The longer life goes on; the more man sours his soul and his skin dries, showing the passage of time. This idea is manifest through listening to the narration and the seeing the images in the “old” (the third of the narrative section). The young man’s face changes dramatically with age and not just the skin but also as in its overall expression, a serene and joyful visage become increasingly sour, sad and “angry” towards life events.
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A succession of difficulties, loss of people essential to their own identity and history, a series of painful and unjust events a make the experience in this senseless world devoid of logic. Maybe because I’m not young anymore, perhaps because I’ve recently experienced a significant loss I fully understand what Mingione means. As our human perception escapes the sense of life, of its inevitable slide to Nowhere. Maybe, I stress maybe, it does not matter much what we do or what happens to us, what matters it’s how we deal with them ... perhaps, what is important is the wealth of knowledge that we can acquire from living in this inevitable flow of senseless events. Teleport to Daphne Art Gallery.
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Want to be able to take VISIONAIRE Institute of SL Photography can get yo Sign up on our interest list to be notified about Summer 20
e photos like the pros? ou there. Find out more at www.VisionaireSL.com. t when applications are being accepted for our 018 batch!
the proust spotli
photography by jm (freaksh
The Proust Spotlight is our monthly feature where we highlight one of the many creative residents of Second Life®. Utilizing the Proust Questionnaire, whose namesake comes from the late 19th century French writer, we will offer a glimpse into what makes them tick. ECLIPSE Magazine has teamed up with the Blogger & Vlogger Network, so each month the blogger we showcase on the Proust Spotlight is a group member. The group member we feature this month is the talented JM (freakshow.zsun). When asked to share something about himself, he tells us, “I came to SL for the music, and loved dj-ing mixing songs. SL has changed over time with music but I still enjoy doing it. And now learning how to do photos and telling a story with them is amazing, and seeing others photo’s and being wowed each day is cool.”
ght
how.zsun).
What is your ideal of perfect happiness? Me the kids and one day My Lady watching tv or just relaxing outside. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Oh wtf” What do you consider your greatest achievement? My two kids (RL). What do you most value in your friends? Being up front. How would you like to die? Old and many years retired. What is your motto? “Nobody can take away your pain, so don’t let anyone take away your happiness.” Connect with JM on his Soundcloud, Facebook and Flickr.
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things to do
featuring the rooms at the mirage. written by synful aeon. photography by tayl
lor wassep.
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The Mirage is a fairytale like nature sim built by Nicasio Ansar. It started off years ago as an experiment, in an attempt to merge natural elements with manmade structures including bridges, buildings, and adult areas for people to relax. He started off with a quarter sim then that lead to a homestead and a full sim then three sims being used as Ansar needed more room for his ideas. It should be no surprise that when Ansar decided to tackle another building project, The Rooms at the Mirage, that they would be thoughtfully designed and decorated down to the finest detail. The Rooms began as another experiment in building for Ansar. He wanted to develop a system with positional wind light rather than one based on a parcel or altitude. Once he was able to create his first experience and room, The Playroom, the experiment developed more along with The Rooms.
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When teleporting to The Rooms, the lavish and comfortable lobby has seventeen doors for the different themes of The Rooms. There are several signs in the lobby. A black sign labeled The Mirage is a teleport board taking you to a unique music entertainment area. Music events for The Mirage are announced in the Social Light group on Sunday and Monday. The events aren’t as crowded as you find on some adult sims, so there is a chance to be alone with your date. A sign labeled “Rooms” takes you back to the lobby. A large white sign in the lobby asks you to turn on Restrained Love Viewer, a necessary step to fully enjoy the Mirage Experience, and also asks for you to adjust your graphics settings to make your experience more appealing. To use The Rooms a person must grant permissions for the Mirage Experience and use the Restrained Love Viewer must be turned on in the Second Life® Viewer. “RLV and the experience are related. The Experience enables the scripts that are used for the teleports and wind light changes to be seamless without a ton of clicking or continuous confirmations. Then the RLV element is an additional script that changes the wind light settings for you. The reason RLV is used is just because there’s no other way currently to do that in Second Life based on a point in space,” said Ansar. Once permissions for the experience are accepted and RLV is turned on, simply pick a door and walk through to the desired experience. Walking back through the elevator in the room brings you back to the lobby area. Page 96 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Using furniture and building items from different designers such as Death Row Designs, Stockholm and Lima, and Kalopsia to name a few, Ansar offers a highly detailed array of adult interactive environments for photography and roleplay. There are various rooms decorated around urban, home, office, and BDSM themes. Walking into the Youth Center, an Urban room, a game of whacka-noobpon-the-head can be played. (No noobs were actually hurt playing this game.) A skateboard photo can be taken in the empty pool or you could just hang out with a friend sitting on the grunge sofa and crates. If you’re feeling adventurous there is room setup for a provocative solo strip show. The Restaurant room offers a luxe environment to take a special date for a quiet moment or to dance in the rain. For those that want to get down-and-dirty there is a Swamp Room to relax in minus the mosquitoes. If the need to play doctor and nurse is on the agenda there is even a room for that.
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One night when Ansar was working on The Rooms, he showed a friend who is a photographer and builder named Isa Messioptra around. Messioptra asked him if she could contribute to the project and two rooms were built, decorated and named after Messioptra. One is a bathhouse set in a secluded, romantic setting equipped with a massage table, soaking tub, and other adult amenities. The other room is Isa’s Apartment decorated with photos, instruments, and window beads giving it a semi — bohemian feel. “I think of the apartment as that first apartment
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rented after college. The apartment was first designed on my private homestead and I moved it here so people can use it. The best feature in The Rooms are the lighting. In The Rooms I I designed I set up projectors so that when people use the furniture they cast a shadow on the walls,” explained Messioptra. Ansar and Messioptra are happy that people enjoy The Rooms enough to keep coming back and using them for photography and roleplay. “ I love that people keep using The Rooms. Ansar periodically has to go into The Rooms to pick up
items that people h from roleplaying or The walls of the lob with photos taken b people. A Flickr sign in the lobby to click Flickr® group for The someone would like photos to it. “Every d people in The Rooms photos or roleplaying I’ve started to see eve excellent,” said Ansa taken in The Rooms on the Mirage sim a appreciated and lov
have left behind taking photos. bby are adorned by various n is provided k for the online e Mirage. In case e to add their day I usually see s either taking g. A few names ery day. It’s ar. Every photo s or even down are graciously ved by Ansar.
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In the future Ansar hopes to build more rooms, but he is unsure at the moment of what their theme will be. With the way he experiments at building and thoroughly plans every build he makes, The Rooms he built in the future will be ones to watch for. Teleport to The Rooms. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 103
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the world of role
this month we feature “the kingdom of giliath.� written by ahn avion. photography by a
play
alex avion.
Ithil ar Giliath, Elven for “Moon and Stars”, is a fantasy world that is rich in mystical history and legends. Giliath is the home and birthplace of the First Music that was sent by the gods. It is where the first life was created and settled. Legend holds original dragons, then Elves and Fae came to these very lands. The sim opened on May 1, 2014. “Giliath originally started as an idea I had for a book long ago. As many writers can understand, sometimes you get stuck. I didn’t want the idea to die so I started building everything based off what I had in my mind. I started bringing it into Second Life.® Over time, it’s morphed some into what it is now. Through trial and error mostly, we learned what works and what does not work. We took some of the original ideas and made them better. People seem to enjoy the town setting, and love to explore the castle, but it seems to be the nature that attracts the photographers, poets and writers to us,” explains sim owner, Saybera (saybera.drake).
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According to Saybera, when the sim was new it did not take very long to put together. Giliath started as a homestead sim and was mostly gardens and waterfalls and natural beauty. Eventually it became a full sim and grew into the glory it is now. There is a variety of character types who call Giliath home: humans, elves ranging from Moon Elves to Dark Elves, and the winged elves called Avariel. There are fae, pixies, dragons, and even a beloved dryad. The characters, regardless of race, are gypsies and pirates, merchants, healers, druids, and priestesses. More importantly, there are town folk and farmers who keep the crops harvested and the bread baked, and all the stuff of living. Throw a proverbial stone towards the roleplay sims in Second Life and you’re bound to hit a medieval fantasy-themed one within the first few attempts. With that in mind, I asked Saybera what makes Giliath different than the others. “We are not based on a popular television show or anything you have seen at the movies. We are different in that we are original and fresh. From the gods to most of the legends, it comes from my imagination. It is fully up to the player to invest their time and make their own story happen. Sure, you can base a character off Arwen from Lord of the Rings, or play a guard like that from the show “Rome” but take it a few steps further. Do not BE that person. Make it your own. Make it better and with more depth. Have quirks and feelings and eccentricities. If you are not sure how to go about that—we are here to help,” she explains. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 113
Saybera is not your garden variety ruler. She is the Elentari. (that is Elven for “star queen”). She plays her as very approachable, imperfect, and funny. She is sometimes very intense. She becomes another being if protecting those she loves. Most of the time she can be found running barefoot through the lands wearing a wreath of flowers on her head. Anyone in the know knows that she does not stand on title and can be bribed by lemon cakes. Saybera’s favorite part of Giliath is, without a doubt, the people. “Without them this all becomes a beautiful but empty garden. We have some amazing writers here who seem inspired by the world my husband [Jonathan (bio.swindlehurst)] and I have created, and who love it as much as we do. I would have to say, in addition to the people, it would be the enchantment of the place. We are working on a boat tour that will be ready soon and will take you through Giliath and into our other sim, Calendriel. We are also affiliated withanother sim, Rogue Waters, that is owned by Marta Huntress. In the sky we have a jousting list, battle arena and for those times we want to let our hair down—the Kraken Dome Concert hall. These events are usually “OOC” (out of character).” Page 114 | ECLIPSE March 2018
The application process to become a citizen is relatively painless. There is a Welcome Area that allows someone considering joining to go over the types of characters, stories, and clothing that is allowed. There are clickable banners with information. Each banner is marked by a number and is easy to follow. There is a short notecard application to fill out. Once they have the application, the administrative staff will go over the notecard and ask any pertinent questions they may have. They are always open to a new player asking lots of questions. It’s never easy starting out new somewhere and they offer a lot of assistance in this process. Interested in trying out The Kingdom of Giliath? Give them a 30-day trial. As current staff and residents give new players thirty days to show them what type of player you are and if you fit with them, they ask you to give them thirty days and get to know them and see how it all works. Many places have hundreds of players listed in the group but you never have anyone actively playing. Not here. If you are on the list for the group, you are active and are playing. They have a saying here: “Quality over quantity.”
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The Kingdom of Giliath has a FaceBook Page that citizens post their roleplay on. The admin team are working to update their website. There is an option for people who otherwise do not want to be a character to live and rent there, but would prefer to be more or less “set extras” as long as they are willing to wear proper attire for Giliath. Some people, even though they have stores and shops and do an array of other things in Second Life, still love to live in a fantasy world within a fantasy world which Giliath is happy to provide. “I thank my husband, Jonathan for helping me bring my dreams to life. My admin staff: Kiila Blackheart, Machaer Felis Etheris and Bullveye the Bullheaded Pirate. ALL of the players: our story tellers,” Saybera adds with pride. Though The Kingdom of Giliath may look similar to other sims of a similar theme, it offers a refreshing nuance to the world of medieval fantasy roleplay that so few sims can. Take a walk through the forests and waterfalls to discover a world you only thought you knew! Visit them in-world.
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Trending now
photography by Temp
Trending Now is a monthly piece dedicated to showcasing some of the best ready-to-wear fashion found on Second LifeÂŽ. For this issue, ECLIPSE Magazine stylists put together outfits inspired by the hottest trends of Spring 2018.
pest rosca.
Caesar Langer in Surf’s Up/Hawaiian Shirts Shirt: Legal Insanity - Neil Chinos: Legal Insanity - Hefunky pants Scarf: ::K:: - Bandana Scarf Shoes: Kokoia - Cambridge Sunglasses: Belier Accessories - Enon Shades Bracelet: Mandala - Lustful Ring: Mandala - Lustful Page 128 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Leezah Kaddour in Asymmetrical Necklines Top: Diram - Stella Outfit Pants: Thalia Heckroth - Berger leather pants Shoes: Bens Boutique - Riva High Heels Hair: Tableau Vivant Braidy (curly) Earrings:Supernatural - Leda Earrings ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 131
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Misoindite Romano in Bold Colors Hair: Shi - Gavri’ela Ear: Swallow Pant: Scandalize - Ally Top: Scandalize - Ally Coat: COCO - Shaggy Ring: Elise - Truth Shoes: N-core - Siona ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 133
Silly Avro in Sheer/Transparencies Hair: Exile - Persuasive Poncho: LeeZu - Scarf Poncho Bra: Belle Epoque - Melissa Panty: Belle Epoque - Melissa Skirt: Belle Epoque - Melissa Boots: Empire - Salvia Page 134 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Trouble Dethly in Suits of Every Shade Suit: Gild - Easy Suits Jacket & Pants Hair: Stealthic - Hysteria Earrings: RealEvil - Savage Necklace: Noedition - Zodiac Dog Tag Shoes: Versov - Latiov
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Wicca Merlin in Mixed Prints Jacket: LeeZu - Tasia Top: GizzA - Cordelia Pants: GizzA - Boho Jeans Shoes: GizzA - Pop Boots Necklace: Kunglers - Dulce Rings: Meva - Boho Rings Hair: EMO-tions - VERA Makeup: Zibska - Noir Pack 06
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artist highlight
photography by taylo
or wassep.
Toxie (Toxic Darkmatter) is one of the many talented live musicians with the Whispering Sands Live Promotions management company. She was first featured in ECLIPSE Magazine September 2017, and this month we had the opportunity to meet with her again. She has been with this management company for over two years and even jokingly calls herself the WSL Poster child. She shares with us, “I credit so much of my success to them and their professional ways of handling my musical journey here. Making the decision to seek WSL as my representation was truly, in my opinion, one of the best things I have ever done. Ive never been treated with more respect, love and kindness from this incredible group of people that Jorr has assembled as his team. ALL my events are scheduled thru them.” While she has scaled back on her performances, she still does forty shows a month. For musical inspiration, she is quick to point to her love of many genres; thus, her song list is very eclectic as are her “musical crushes.” When asked how she would describe her sound, “I had to ask some friends what they would say and they said my sound is sultry, eclectic, versatile, smooth soulful, naughty, sexy and funny. I guess I have a lil bit of something for everyone.” As for what the most meaningful song she has sung during a performance, “I can think of quite a few actually that people including myself seem to feel a deep connection to, but I think if I have to name one or two “Imagine” by John Lennon as it reminds me of Second Life, how we have transcended borders and theres so much love on here. “In My Daughters Eyes,” I get requested to do this and I cry every single time. I’ve never been able to get thru that song without getting chocked up and many parents ask me to do that one.” For those who are considering pursuing a career in the SL music scene, she does have some advice. The first is to not be afraid to ask for feedback, as she says there are may who love helping new people. Her next piece is to invest in good equipment, “Theres nothing worse than hearing a powerful voice and have it become distorted on a mic that cant handle its power. A small investment will give you a greater return in the long run.” Her final piece of advice is to “Stay present! Don’t be a performer that signs in, does their gig, and signs out again. Take the time to support the community that supports you. Go to other venues and artists shows and most importantly.....stay humble.” Toxie is someone who is firmly invested in the SL virtual platform. While she does perform often, she finds herself doing other things around the grid. Whether it’s building (which was the first thing she loved to do), shopping and supporting other artists, she tells us, “I love the ability to give back and work for several charity organizations like Feed a Smile, and Homes For Our Troops and RLF, I love going around to other venues and seeing the other performers, as well as dance clubs Like Energy and Wet Willies and Fogbound Blues and I am an AVID Speed Bump game player..lol.. other than that Im just me, friendly, approachable and just a normal average person who is living a bit of a fantasy life at being a psuedo-rockstar :)” Listen to Toxie on Soundcloud and Youtube. Page 146 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Toxie’s Top Five Songs to Sing “Am I The One” by Beth Hart (Favorite Blues Singer) “Bilingual” by Jose Nunez (Favorite Adult Tune) “She Used To Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles (Her life soundtrack) “Possum Kingdom” by The Toadies (Loves the rock vibe) “Imagine” by John Lennon (Reminds her of SL)
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at home with wen
written by wendz tempest. photography by Brent Lo
Wendz Tempest explores the long underappreciated and overlooked world of home and garden design. The flourishing diversity and abundance of choice since the mesh revolution has led to a bold new world of world creation. For this month’s feature, Wendz and Brent showcase “The Bold and Beautiful Spring Arrivals.”
ndz
ockhearst.
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Spring themes abound in everything this season, and your home is the best place to showcase the newest arrivals on the grid. This year, we are seeing a wonderful emergence of bold colors and complementary patterns that will bring new depths of appreciation for design into your spaces. Stylist Brent Lockhearst has designed five beautiful rooms this month, all with a unique focus on vivid colors, patterns and textures. Join us as we tour each room and explore Lockhearst’s personal touch in timeless stylings and decor. Yelo Uriza’s ARIA brand is widely known for making full sets and has been a participant in The Arcade Gacha Events for some time. This March, ARIA has released the Solace Collection which rare prize boasts a Sofa with 7 bonus patterns, sits, poses, and more. The entire collection has a total of 12 prizes this month at the Arcade and is well worth the try. Lockhearst’s main focal point for the living room begins at the Solace sofa. While incorporating her knack for adding small decor touches, her love of eye-catching tones and hues is clearly seen. The Lode Forsythia vase gives the needed yellow pop of color to bring this eclectic living room Page 158 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Any home lucky enough to have a reading room will definitely benefit from a well thoughtout seating arrangement. Here, Lockhearst has a keen eye for book designers from across the aisle. She puts an emphasis on placement using the Loft & Aria Attwell coffee table as one of the room’s center anchor points. The Leona Candles bring a touch of warmth and, in the background, an array of decorative throw pillows permeate the atmosphere with sophistication amongst the cozy reading-room corners.
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A wise author once wrote, “Every person needs to take one day away. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” Lockhearst’s attention to detail is seen in the selection of pieces for this exquisite bathroom, the epitome of elegance and grace. The collections seen here are quite extraordinary. This area of rest is the ideal space for a staycation, where one can take that “one day away” as it were. And there need not be a search for supplies, for this room accommodates even the busiest of residents, including a bit of weekend bubbly, furnished by Kunst and Fancy Decor, as well as a flourishing backdrop of living things; plants from Ariskea, Pilot, Dust Bunny, Vespertine, Apple Fall and MishMish. Page 164 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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A veritable feast awaits us in the dining room, salads and main entrees from O.M.E.N., and a c Roses Anges. Here again we see Lockhearst’s p throughout this
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, with variety of cheese trays, Apple Fall cakes, centerpiece favorite, the Ariskea Petite Paris Les penchant for detail, with abundan accessories delicious scene.
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What good is a Springtime feature without a visit to the outdoors? Here we explore this stunning outdoor patio starting with The Sayo Loungers. The Loungers provide a welcome respite as well as a place for a collection of assorted throw pillows from ARIA & The Loft. Upon closer review, a rich and decadent two tiered dessert spread from Fancy Decor joins barbecue favorites for Bazar’s Morocco Fire Table. Add a refreshing set of Sayo Moscow Mules to set the mood in the waning sunlight, and this outdoor patio is ready for company. One need not shy away from a strong and bold palette. Choose pieces that include optional textures and don’t be afraid to mix more traditional themes with eclectic ones. In this way, your spring decor will be as fresh and new as the waking earth outside.
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Sofa: ARIA - Solace Sofa Floor cushions: Ariskea - [Wild] Boho Pillow Book: Apple Fall - Open Book Wooden table: Soy - Grayish day Wooden frame table Trunk: Apple Fall - Fashion trunk (Teal) Rug: Cheeky Pea - Country Dreaming Cowhide Rug Coffee table: Apple Fall - Period Coffee Table Throw pillows: ARIA - Sunday Morning Decorative Throw Pillows Plant: ARIA - Solace Potted Philodendron Accent pillow: The Loft - Morgan Accent Pillow Plant: Dust Bunny - Areca palm plant Curtain: The Loft - Ikat Yellow Drape Rug: The Loft - Zoete Rug Vase: The Loft - Twig vase Decor: Nomad - Golden Pineapple Deco Books: Fancy Decor - Stack of Books II Tray: The Loft - Serving Board Bowl of blueberries: Apple Fall - Blueberries
Candle: The Loft - Scented Candle (Sandalwood) Candle: Apple Fall - Scented Candle (Apple) Candle: Mudhoney - Bean Candle Tea: Apple Fall - Elvira Rose Tea Flower vase: LODE - Forsythia Vase Deco Box: Mudhoney - Ophelia Box Decor: Mudhoney - Wishbone Sidetable: Nutmeg - Vintage Small Table Lamp: Mudhoney - Stacy Table Lamp Frame: Fancy Decor - Chain Frame Clock: Fancy Decor - Wire Clock Dresser: The Loft & ARIA - Branwyn Dresser Books: Bazar - Stockholm - Bedroom Books Stone: The Loft - Lola Bowl Stone Plant: ARIA - Ava Vase with Monstera Deliciosa Leaf Cloche: Apple Fall - Fern Specimen Cloche: Apple Fall - Unknown Specimen Candle: The Loft - Morgan Stone Candle Hanging plant: Soy - Super long hanging hedera Coatrack: Dust Bunny - Coat rack
Sofa: The Loft & ARIA - Cozi sofa Pillow: The Loft & ARIA - Winslow Decorative Pillow Rug: Junk - animal rug Rug: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Fringe rug Chair: ONE GRID - Frame Chair Green Stool: Dust Bunny - Blanket stool Coffeetable: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Coffee Table Wreath: Apple Fall - Pumpkin Harvest Wreath Candle: The Loft & ARIA - Leona Candles Blanket: Apple Fall - Occasional Table w/ Blanket Books: Apple Fall - Books Frame: Fancy Decor - Map frame Lamp: Apple Fall - Royal Vase Lamp Plant: Apple Fall - Reaching Plant Chandelier: Apple Fall - Strung Branch Pendant
Light Bookshelves: Apple Fall - Mercantile Bookshelf Artwork frame: Apple Fall - Hillside Manor Sketch Books: Bazar - Stockholm - Bedroom Books Tea tins: Apple Fall - Tea Tins & Tea Books Books: Bazar - Morocco-books Decorative cloche: Apple Fall Snowdrops in Cloche Books: SAYO - Book Cluster Heart decor: Apple Fall - Heart (Enjoy the Little Things) Books: Apple Fall - Recipe Books Tea tins: Apple Fall - Tea Time Tins Books: Soy - Old Books Vases: Apple Fall - Stoneware Vessels
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Shelf: Floorplan - basket ladder Bathbombs: Vespertine - pampering basket Bottles: David Heather - Bathroom Bottles Bath supplies: Mudhoney - Cooper His Supplies Tapestry: Dust Bunny - darling string light tapestry Mirror: Theosophy - Beaumaris Mirror (Wood) Mirror: Apple Fall - Copper Leaf Mirror Bottles: Apple Fall - Violet Glass Bottles Bath supplies: Mudhoney - Cooper Her Supplies Sink: Apple Fall - Victoria Washstand Flowers: Apple Fall - Meadow Flowers Vase: Nylon Outfitters - Doll Head Vase - Sugar Cloche: Apple Fall - Natural Sea Sponges in Cloche Bathbomb Jar: Apple Fall - Coral Lid Jar w/ Bath Bombs Bathtub: Apple Fall - Victoria Clawfoot Tub - Iron Caddy: Vespertine - bath caddy linked /wood darker Wine bottle: Kunst - Cabernet bottle Wine glass: Fancy Decor - Merlot Wine Glass Soap dish: Mudhoney - Cooper Soap Dish Candle: Vespertine - green tea candle Petals: Vespertine - bath petals Plant: Vespertine - exotic plants / ficus -rubber plant Plant: Vespertine - exotic plants /sansevieria Cabinet: Zigana - Apothecary cabinet .light Plant: Ariskea - [Succulente] Fox Shy Plant: Ariskea - [Succulente] Cat Dotty Plant: PILOT - Succulent -White/Gold
Plant: Dust Bunny - pink medinilla plant Plant: Dust Bunny - hoya plant Plant: Dust Bunny - pilea peper plant Plant: Vespertine - exotic plants / button fern Plant: MishMish - Ceramic Friend Pot with Succulents Candle: Nylon Outfitters - Doll Head Vase - Gloomy Plant: The Loft & ARIA - Harmon Cactus Plant: Ariskea - [Hope] Succulents Plant: Apple Fall - Cotton Cluster Flower vase: [Tia] - Sylvia Bathroom - Flower Vases Lotion bottle: Apple Fall - Bathroom Lotions Shelf: Apple Fall - Antique Store Shelving Stepladder: Apple Fall - Stepladder Table Rug: Apple Fall - Fiber Rug Lotions: Apple Fall - Bathroom Lotions Mason jar: Nutmeg - Painted Mason Jar White Hamper: Nutmeg - Vintage Laundry Container Bodybutter: Apple Fall - Body Butter Tray: Vespertine - Beautify tray Candle: Apple Fall - Scented Candle (Sandalwood) Decor: Vespertine - Aromatherapy Screen: Soy - Reed Screen Plant: Ariskea - [Wild] Boho Plant Hanger [Foliage] Plant: Ariskea - [Wild] Boho Plant Hanger [Suculent] Plant: Dust Bunny - darling hanging plant Mirror: Nutmeg - French Silver Framed Mirror Cleaning aids: Second Spaces - Bathroom Clutter clean up
Cabana: SAYO - Driftwood Beach Cabana Loungers: SAYO - Viva Lounge Set Table: Bazar - Morocco - Fire table Plant: Apple Fall - Bay Leaf Topiary Plant: Apple Fall - Oxeye Daisy Patch Rug: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Fringe Rug Sidestool: Mudhoney - Leslie Garden Stool Floorlamp: Bazar - Morocco - Candle lamp Pillows: ARIA - Babette Dcorative Pillows Pillow: The Loft & ARIA - Abalone Pillow Pillow: The Loft - Chidi Pillow Pillow: The Loft & ARIA - Winslow Decorative Pillow Pillows: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Floor Sit Pillows Pillows: The Loft & ARIA - Leona Pillows Pillow: The Loft - Roxy Square Pillow Red Spring Wine bottle: Dust Bunny - autumns calling . wine bottle
Desser tray: Fancy Decor - Two Tiered Dessert Tray Lemons & limes: SAYO - Brixton Bar Set - Lemons & Limes Drinks: SAYO - Brixton Bar Set - Moscow Mules Floor cushion: Ariskea - [Wild] Boho Pillow Journal: Dust Bunny - storybook living . researcher’s journal Bag: Apple Fall - Canvas Tote Platter: Apple Fall - Treats Platter Newspaper: Apple Fall - Times Newspaper Tea set : Bazar - Morocco - Tea set Platter: Tres Blah - Summer Fete - Platter iPod: PILOT - MP3 Player Candle holder: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Tea Light Holder Hanging candle holder: The Loft & ARIA - Attwell Hanging Tea Light Holder
Table: 8f8 - Toscana Courtyard Table Cheese tray: Tres Blah - Soiree - Cheese Tray Cake: Dust Bunny - at home baking . lemon cake Placemat: Mudhoney - Priya Rock Placemat Plate setting: Dust Bunny - autumns calling . plate setting Nest: Dust Bunny - robin nest . natural Bowl: Dust Bunny - sweetheart lunch . strawberry salad serving bowl Flowers: Ariskea - [ Petite Paris] Les Roses Anges Cake: Apple Fall - Fig & Blackberry Cake Cake: Apple Fall - Blackberry Bundt Cake Candle: Apple Fall - Plaster Candles Wine glass: Fancy Decor - Merlot Wine Glass Centerpiece: Dust Bunny - autumns calling .
pumpkin centerpiece Drapecloth: Apple Fall - Throw Cloth Salad: O.M.E.N. - Family Dinner - Salad Ham: O.M.E.N. - Family Dinner - Pineapple Kiwi Glazed Ham Wine bottle: Dust Bunny - autumns calling . wine bottle Chair: Apple Fall - Impact Throne Chair (Meadow) Pillow: The Loft - Roxy Square Pillow Red Spring Candle: Dust Bunny - autumns calling . candle cup Cabinet: Apple Fall - China Cabinet Plant: Dust Bunny - fiddle leaf tree Wreath: Apple Fall - Blossom Wreath Ribbon decor: Apple Fall - [Cupid] Ribbons & Festive ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 173
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ask noey: the advice guru
send your questions to noey here, and it might be in our next issue. written by noey ivy london fl
lower. photography by TAYLOR WASSEP.
Dear Noey, I have a group of friends, and they constantly talk about each other to me. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to log on SL. My friends have noticed too but I’m not sure what to say to them. Our group has been together but the constant sh*t talking is so awful. What should I do? Stuck Suzy Dear Stuck Suzy, Well for starters, when they ask you why you are not logging on, you need to tell them that you love all your friends so much that you just dont want to be put into situations where you are made to feel uncomfortable. Not only that....but what are they saying about you behind your back? Who wants a group of friends like that? Honestly, this is something they should have left behind in high school. You should ask yourself why you surround yourself with those type of people. Friends are suppose to build each other up, not be two faced every time another turns a face. Perhaps maybe its best you hang out with them individually and not as a huge group. Or take a few of them at a time. And if they contonue to do the same behaviors, then you need to start making some new friends and connections. None of us need to come into SL and invite that kind of behavior into our lives and waste our time with juvenile actions like that! Sometimes taking a break from particular groups of friends and hanging out with others is in our best interest. Just remember to always be the bigger person and never find yourself falling into that gossip pit. If they are people you want to continue to be friends with, then when they start on their rampages of talking trash on people find a reason to excuse yourself and watch something on TV or step into RL for a bit. That way you remove yourself from being put into a situation that might bite you in the behind later on. Go with whats right and follow your intuition.
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Dear Noey, A few months ago I made my Facebook status about a certain designer who will go nameless. Obviously, I had some not so nice things to say about them. They got word about it and now I can’t go shopping on their sim because I’m banned. I’ve tried contacting them and apologizing, but I’ve gotten no response. How can I fix this? They recently released a really nice outfit, and I want to buy it. Signed, Banned Bobby Dear Banned Bobby, I’m going to go ahead and insert the popular phrase here... ”You made your bed, now lie in it.” You made the conscious decision to be “that” person and take the lower road and trash someone on social media. What do you expect? You think you can have that cake and eat it too?? Don’t expect to be rewarded for adding to a problem that seems to spoil SL everyday. That’s terrible. Time to suck it up and realize that you just cant go buy that “cute outfit.” Sure you apologized, and that was the correct thing to do. But apologies dont erase what you did. I do have one suggestion for you. Why dont you try using the power of social media for good. Build on peoples strengths and not preying on their weaknesses. Put yourself on a post publicly apologizing. If you want to make things right, you do it for the right reason. Not the reason of needing to buy some cute stuff they made. Time to grow up and make that bed properly.
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Dear Noey, My girlfriend and I voice sex on Discord. She sounds awful when she climaxes and she doesn’t talk much either. I’ve tried giving her suggestions, but I’m so turned off by her. Besides that, she’s an amazing woman. I really want to fix this, but I’m not sure how to approach her. Advice please? Signed, Complaining Carl Dear Complaining Carl, Get over it or move on? You can’t really fix how someone sounds at a moment of intimacy. Talking during sex may not be her thing either. Being a couple means you need to be matched well in most departments. And sometimes you just dont mesh well. Attraction is super important in a relationship. You feeling not attracted to her will ultimately ruin your relationship that you two share. Sex builds that bond between two people. I’m not sure which suggestions you have tried tossing out there, but maybe watching something together before hand will get some things going before hand. Creating such a turn on for you and that her moans and climax might add some fuel to the fire? In the end, these might help for a short period of time, but if you dont find yourself attracted to her , its going to end up coming to head sooner than later. You need to fix it by listening to what your own needs might be. If shes an amazing woman then maybe a friendship may be better in your future. And that’s a whole separate issue that will come up there. So be prepared for layers here. I think its fair to be truthful to yourself and to her. Good luck!
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Voices from the g
Voices From the Grid is a monthly survey of opinions and ideas of Second Life® residents on the salient issues of the day. For this issue, ECLIPSE Magazine asked residents, “If you could travel back in time to your first day in Second Life, what advice would you give your avatar?”
grid
Photograph by Psyche Scribe. Page 188 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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Psyche Scribe
syche Scribe hatched into Second Life one random mid-October evening about a decade ago. It was probably raining, or at least windy and cold. Psyche dabbled in a bit of mythological frippery, and briefly attempted to embody their namesake. He realized that did not quite fit shortly thereafter, and shifted to a more earthly state, namely that of an extremely gangly young man, along with an alter ego who fancies themself the glitter-soaked lovechild of David Bowie & Tilda Swinton. Psyche takes a lot of pictures, works about a third of them, hates a great many of them once they are done, and overworks himself on a very regular basis (he’s very happy his husband takes pains to make sure he does things like eat and sleep). He can be found blogging under the moniker Narcissistic Rockstar, and is starting to dabble in stage and live drag performances – may the gods help him and his already overstuffed schedule. This world will change your life. You can’t possibly comprehend where you will end up in the next decade, and what joy finally being true to yourself will bring. Without Second Life, we never would have gotten as close to our RL (and SL) partner in crime, love of our life, who embodies so many amazing things. You will find yourself, and you will get your feet under you, and you will become a force, an utterly manic whirlwind of activity. For someone who tends to eschew socializing – you end up knowing a LOT of people. You will find the outlets you never were able to truly have in other places, and they will bring you stress, and joy, and at points, a lot of frustration. You will end up pushing yourself creatively in new directions, and collaborating with other brilliant minds. There will be days you hate it, and don’t even want to look at the world outside of your home, but there will be days you fall in love with Second Life and yourself all over again. There will be crisis moments – most of them directly related to your identity. Don’t worry. They pass, as moments tend to do. You will find yourself. You will lose yourself. You will discover yourself again, but at your soul? You will always, always be you. Don’t hold yourself back so much. Push yourself outside of your comfort zones. Try new things. Interact. Create. Let yourself be happy. Stop looking for the cracks all the time. By the way - mesh is on the horizon. Prepare yourself for that. You won’t be ugly forever, but you’ll always be an alien, so take heart in that. Good luck. Check out his Flickr.
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Photograph provided by Slowness. Page 190 | ECLIPSE March 2018
SLOWNESS RESIDENT
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lowness Resident joined SL on 26th of February 2012, she was invited by a couple who had met in SL and also became a rl couple. They gave her some advice and 100 linden to start. She also had a linden Home to use. She was very grateful for the landmarks for free stuff. After some serious shopping (which she still enjoys a big time) she started to explore SL and some adult beaches (winks). But she figured there must be more than that .... She learned how to build little things, how to decorate, and how to shop for great group gifts. She always tried new things and became a hobby photographer. I would first of all not tell her that the way I look now is ib the future of Second Life because she would be not patient enough to wait for that day :-) I would tell her not to look for a partner for RL in SL or at least not to expect it could happen. That was the reason I first tried Second Life, since I saw that can happen. And I would probably give her some landmarks for shopping and exploring. I would also give her a notecard with instructions how to make great pictures in SL. Tell her some names of people she should run away from as soon as she meets them :-) and the names of the ppl who will be a big part of her SL later on. Here a few of the Names of the second group: Venora Magic, Misty Redyard, Rose Rosewoood, Adam Lavell, Halbwelt, Cheevy Carnell, SusieBoob, Pickles, Kristi Renae, Charlies, and last, but not least, my Sweetheart Ben Johnes. I would tell her to be patient and just wait for Mister Right. He will come even it will take a while and will only be in SL. That way she could concentrate on her hobbies which is landscaping, photography, helping people, and shopping lol. She should never give up helping people even if they do not say thank you. Each avi has his flaws just like in RL, and you never know why people act as they do. Everybody has his own bags to carry. Check out her Flickr.
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Photograph provided by Sunny Difference.
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sunny difference
unny Difference was born at the end of 2008. In her first month of wandering around aimlessly (not quite, but without a specific purpose since she didn’t know what she was able to do in-world), she learned a lot since her handler wasn’t new to gaming. Through this first month, passing the vampire noob hub phase, exploring few places that she heard about, she got to the point of asking herself “What am I doing with my SL life from now on? Is that all?” At some point, she discovered a more active and dynamic way of enjoying her SL life : the role playing part of this world. As anything related to ancient times has a big and very special place in her heart, she picked up the Ancient Greek role playing where she remained fully active for around four years–specifically The Spartan Empire sim that was born right after the 300 movie became a huge hit in 2007. There was even a press conference with the real actors of the movie here in SL. In the meantime, she loved exploring other people’s creativity, the sims and the art they created. Role-playing demanded so much of her time, she was looking for a more relaxed and free way of expressing herself artistically in SL. Being an avid photographer in real life, she always tried to find ways of fulfilling it in Second Life too. From then on, she started concentrating her attention mainly on exploring places and catching the moment in her personal way, doing so ever since (participating in various events as blogger, admirer or simply being an enthusiastic about everything beautiful). She is always amazed by the on-going dynamic that is happening in Second Life everywhere, by what people can do with it creatively! Every time she logs in she immerses herself in the mysterious and complex worlds that so many people are “painting” together. She will continue wandering from place to place, with a camera in her hand, trying to capture the soul of so many beautiful people! “Watch out for the sim crossing, it will eat you up!”
In my first days at the welcoming hubs for noobs, I was just walking around like a kid, in electroshock mode walking–I like to call it this way (I love this AOless walk, it’s so hilarious, I still do it many times). I didn’t understand why at some point my avatar was sinking dramatically in the ground and everything around me going crazy, I thought that my avi would be lost forever or something. Though I tried asking people around about this, usually no one was bothering answering me back (back then a lot of people was flocking around the noobs hubs to fish “clients” for the bloodline games/vampire. Check out her Facebook, Flickr, Blog, Golden Age CINEMA Redux, CINEMA Redux and Real Pantings&DrawingsRedux Flickr Group.
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Photograph provided by Raenafelle CorpseGrinder.
Photograph provided by Freya Cromwell. Page 194 | ECLIPSE March 2018
raenafelle Corpsegrinder
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aenafelle CorpseGrinder has been lurking around the grid since August 2011. Over her tenure in Second Life, she’s done a number of things running the gamut from helping manage a number of mixed and furry clubs, to event planning and finally her foray into SL photography. Her interests mainly revolve around modding, modeling, roleplay and the aforementioned photography. Really the biggest piece of advice I could possibly give my first day self would be finding a means of delving into the various avenues of self-expression here on the grid much sooner than I had. For the longest time I tried to “blend in” with the crowd, fall into the very cookie cutter aesthetic that seemed to be the norm back then when I joined...back in the “dark ages” before mesh bodies, before the prim breast freakout, when it was just the blocky LL body, prims and sculpts, and the limitations they offered. Branching out and away from my comfort zone and eventually finding a deep love for modding and tinkering around with nonhuman avatars has made Second Life so much fulfilling than I could have ever thought a social platform could be. Honestly, it’s advice I’d give to any new person to the grid. Go and find something on here you’re passionate about and just run with it. The only real limit is yourself. Check out her Flickr and FurAffinity.
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Photograph provided by Tiptoe. Page 196 | ECLIPSE March 2018
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iptoe has been exploring the grid for nearly a year and a half now, though it feels more like ten! Doesn’t it seem like the grid keeps time in dog years?! With her partner Jaycee, their very clever piglet Francis and so many beloved friends and playmates often along for the shenanigans, Tiptoe spends her time scampering from one laughter-filled misadventure to the next all across the grid. She keeps a running visual diary of their fun on her flickr.
TIPTOE
‘Don’t wait to buy a blouse!’ On my first night on the grid, I hit the ground running. It was time for an immediate newbie makeover shopping blitz! Maitreya, Lelutka, Wasabi Pills, Oracul, Letis, KC Jewelry, Blueberry and Essenz. Body, Head, Hair, Animation Override, Tattoos, Piercings and finally Clothes and Shoes. My old friend Sil had given me a shopping list and I was executing it mercilessly. Everything was going splendidly. The new welcome experience had been really well done, my Daisy starter avatar was at least presentable enough for public consumption and I was braving the crowded shops just fine collecting my loot. Body, Head, Hair, it was all coming together beautifully. And then I ran out of L$ and couldn’t seem to get any more. Uh oh. Perplexed, I stumbled into the first newbie welcome center I could find. I was looking very cute if I do say so myself; my hair up in a lovely pair of side buns, gorgeously elaborate tattoos spilling down my slender limbs, glittering piercings and jewelry accenting a rather flattering pair of Blueberry yoga pants, and....ah, also very topless. I’d run out of funds before I could purchase a blouse! I went to the help center hoping for advice on how to get more spending money but was almost immediately tackled by an angry bouncer and wrestled into a big stinky man-sized fur coat with NUDITY in a red circle with a line through it on the back before I could learn that there are apparently spending caps in place ($30 for the first day, $100 total until the seventh day, $300 total until the 30th day and then $1999 per month after). Hahaha, oops! I staggered away from that confusion, stumbled into a warm welcome at NCI Kuula where a kind helper pointed me to a free top I could tug over myself so I could lose the stinky fur coat (wish I could figure out what happened to that coat!) and almost immediately met my first friend Riley, who very shortly later introduced me to her sister Jaycee, and the rest is...well, a very jumbled and chaotic, topsy turvy, hedonistic mashup of laughter, shenanigans and misadventures ever since, hehe. In all seriousness, I don’t think I would have anything foreboding or deeply personal to share with my newbie self if I could do so. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about my experiences here, especially as a lot of my adventures have been the direct result of my brute force and ignorance learning style, haha. I’ve had a total blast and am looking forward to many more years of fun to come. The only advice I think I’d share would mostly be logistical or organizational suggestions, such as how to efficiently setup my closet and outfits in a sensible way from the start so that it is easy to manage and find things quickly. Or suggesting that I should take pictures in the maximum resolution that Second Life allows (roughly 6200 by 3300) and save them to my desktop for cropping and upload later. They just come out so much more crisply that way. Oh, and also, ‘don’t wait to buy a blouse!’ ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 197
Photograph by provided by Mila Blauvelt.
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mila blauvelt
ila Blauvelt (13mila13 Blauvelt), joined Second life on 01/30/2009 after some friends told her about it. The first time Mila logged in the impact was stunning, everything seemed amazing. Se she spent a lot of time exploring several sims and realized that there were some other avatars looking great. One day she overcame her shyness and opened IM to a girl, who was very beautiful and did not hesitate to ask her for information on how she could improve the appearance on her own avatar. During the conversation, that girl explained her there were existing schools for models, and as fashion has always been her passion she ran to join an agency. Since that moment she did not hesitate and Mila enrolled in a model school where she acquired her first experiences, but she did not stop here and continued to enroll in several other schools, and walked as a model in many shows and fashion events. She has done well and holds several competition titles. She is passionate about fantasy and avant garde fashion and has been features in several fashion magazines. That made her learn about photography too. In time, the student became the teacher, working for modeling agencies as an instructor and stylist. After modeling for several agencies, highlighting fashions from many brands, it was natural to turn to blogging with an emphasis on avant garde. She also blogs for several events. Model, instructor, stylist, blogger, she does it all and loves it all. When you log in SL for the first time you believe that it is in a wonderful and distant place far from all the difficulties and problems that we have in RL. As time goes by and especially in certain closed circles, such as the fashion world where after years everyone knows each other, you realize that there may be people even more ruthless and perverse than you can find even in RL, just for the simple fact they feel “protected” behind a screen. Persons who for years have shown their friendship, suddenly turn their back on you, for banal reasons, meaningless arguments; essentially for lack of communication or bad intentions from their side. And then, you realize that this fantastic world is not so great because it can be even more cruel than real life. It’s also true that I have had the fortune to meet authentic and wonderful people that I have enjoyed and still enjoy their friendship. Some of them left for different reasons, some are alive, some no longer anymore; but all of them left a deep mark inside me full of love and affection so deeply I will never forget them. If there is something of magic in SL ii’s that feelings, friendships, disappointments, dreams and illusions are as real as they are in RL; as the heart is always the same. And as in RL, it is better to have a few good friends than many who cannot be counted on.. My recommended stores probably are not the most famous in the grid, but I can assure you that their designs are very creative, trendy, fashionable and with such exquisite taste and, most, also with very affordable prices: GHEE, GIULIA DESIGNS, GLITTER, LAMU FASHION, and TIFFANY’S DESIGNS. Check out her Facebook, Flickr and blog. ECLIPSE March 2018 | Page 199
Photograph provided by Calypso Applewhyte. Page 200 | ECLIPSE March 2018
CALYPSO APPLEWHYTE
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alypso Applewhyte joined SL in February 2010. After a few months without any specific goal, she began exploring and decided to share her favorite places by photographing and sharing them. Her leitmotif was “All is not necessarily beautiful in SL, and what is, deserves to be shown whenever possible.”
She is passionate about the avatar as a means of expression. Self-taught on Photoshop, and passionate about avant-garde and dystopian fashion, she stages her own character in minimalist settings to keep only the essential ... the emotion. You enter an open world without borders. So do not stay there watching and listening to people who do not communicate with you ... Save yourself now and go through this immense and limitless virtual world. Do not wait for someone to come take your hand and find out for yourself. And by the way, it’s when you expect it the least you have the happy encounters with good people. It is true that a first day on SL is quite confusing, and certainly much more a few years ago. If I were starting again, I would not wait to be guided, I will leave the next day on the adventure. There is so much to see, discover, admire. All the modes of expression are represented, what we like or do not like is not the most important thing, What matters most is to discover what others have wanted to communicate through SL. That’s the true value of SL. It is only after these many visits of exhibitions, art sims, RP sims or not, that we feel enriched and that we can finally ask the question serenely: what would you like to do on SL: to remain simply a spectator (which remains exciting) or to become an actor of this universe, all doors are open. Check out her Flickr.
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Photograph provided by Eloen Maerdrym Page 202 | ECLIPSE March 2018
ELOEN MAERDrYM
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loen Maerdrym is a fashion SL blogger, friendly and with a peculiar sense of humor. Her SL life started back in 2007 with a previous avatar and found her love for blogging in 2014. Her blog, Eloen’s Other World is a journey into her creativity, her love for fashion and decorating, and a way to express her love to this amazing virtual world. You can see her work in Flickr or follow her in Facebook. More recently starting to take her first steps as event manager at The Avenue White Nights. Her SL is filled with laughter, amazing friends and family and good vibes.
If I could go back I would say to enjoy every moment and always follow the heart and just let it flow. Sl is a place of discovery and magic.
When I started SL I thought it was just another game, like Sims. But I found SL is so much more! It Is a true interaction with other people than can be in your country or all around the world. I learned so much for so many friends, so many cultures. Using SL improved my English since it daily use it (I’m a Portuguese native.) I learning Photoshop skills for my first time! My creativity just bloomed and made me appreciate every moment.
I would not say “don’t do this or that” because mistakes and learning from them is what made my SL such a rich experience, and I wouldn’t do it any other way. Just a small warming to my young me “You may wanna stay in the welcome area for more than 2 minutes” because -funny fact- I created my avatar started on the HUB like all of us and I didn’t know what to do. So I saw the search and tped away even without knowing what was expected me. That and how to run, voice, take snapshots and all that :P But I have met the most amazing people and guided me who took part of their time to make me understand how to work my way in SL and turned out to be so much fun!. So noobie Eloen, just relax and enjoy this amazing adventure!
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THE wayfarer...
photography by taylo
“The Wayfarer” is a monthly feature by Taylor Wassep showcasing some of the most aesthetic places in Second Life®. Still in the final days of winter, the Garden of Absentia is a place of solace and undiscovered beauty. No matter how the seasons may change, the garden boasts many subtle treasures for those to forge their own path. It is a place of awareness, hope and remembrance. A place to find your own peace.
or wassep.
Discover the Garden of Absentia.
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Est. 2015 | Issue 37