AVENUE ultimate style Magazine issue 61 / October-November 2013
AZUL
Photographer ThePierrot
Editor’s note
This has been a whirlwind of a season for so many of us, and this has especially been the case for our AVENUE family. AVENUE is delighted to have hosted our first Autumn/Winter Fashion Week with what we feel was great success! We feel so fortunate to have been able to partner with many of Second Life’s most talented fashion designers and are honored that they selected us to host their new seasonal collections. We at AVENUE would like to thank each and every one of them, and we urge our readers to take a close look at our ads in this issue; many of our esteemed Fashion Week designer partners are highlighted on our advertising pages. Who said Orange is the New Black? This season is definitely all about Shades of Grey. Take a look at our styling spreads for our stylists’ take on a monochrome palette that’s been underestimated for years. From elegant styles for ladies and gentlemen to the silvery details and accents that add just the right finishing touch, you’ll find lots of styling inspiration in the fashion section this month. We are also proud to feature a longtime friend of AVENUE as this issue’s cover feature: AVENUE is pleased to present the divine Mami Jewell of Azul. Get to know this classy lady and creative mastermind behind one of the most popular formal brands on the grid. Emmanuelle Courtois, a name not unfamiliar to those who have
been around the fashion scene for a while, has re-emerged as SL’s newest body art creator. Her shop, The Inkwell, is making ink lovers of many of us! Don’t miss the spread featuring some of her most recent work. AVENUE’s lifestyle section brings you the best of what the grid has to offer this month with special features for good living on the grid. Meet Elle Kirshner of Second Spaces - a lady who wants to help your living space on the grid look beautiful and feel like home. With additional features on One Grid and We’re Closed, we think you’ll be busy making redecorating plans sooner rather than later. If adventure is your cup of tea, then look no further - you’ll find the vampire roleplay community of Wendigo Lake in our lifestyle section, as well as the whimsical and sometimes dark world of Almost Wonderland. AVENUE is also excited for another MadPea adventure opening this month as Unia makes its debut on the grid. We hope you will enjoy all that AVENUE has to offer you in this issue. As always, relax, take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the autumn that surrounds us, and read all of this and more in our pages.
Xandrah Sciavo
Xandrah Sciavo Editor in Chief
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Cover Story
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Featured Designer
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Blogspot
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October/November 2013
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Fashion 24 40 50 62 72 84 94 106 114 122 132 138
Cover Story Azul Fashion Spread The Inkwell Featured Designer Paper Couture La femme Eternal Elegance Homme Contemplation L’Avant Le Sombre Her Details Inner Shades of Gray Urbanized Monochrome To The Nines Gray Matter Blogspot Autumn Fairey Stories Campus Crawl Romy Dash Liv Glam Monthly Contest Glam Girls
Lifestyle 152 164 178 188 202 210 222
Lifestyle Feature Caught In The Act of Living Business Feature Building A Dream Roleplay Wendigo Lake Interesting Sims We’re All Mad Here Architecture & Interiors Contemporary With A Twist Landscape & Gardens Picture Perfect Partnership Perspectives Some More Novel Ideas
Magazine cover Featuring Anna Sapphire Digital Imaging + Art Direction Anna Sapphire
Arts 129 241
Featured Artist Jewel Appletor Arts Feature Unia
Creative Direction Rusch Raymaker
AVENUE Magazine is published and managed by AVENUE Inc which owns and operates AVENUE Models + Academy and AVENUE Marketing + PR. Online issues: issuu.com/avenue AVENUE website: www.avenuesl.com Visit us inworld at: Zenshi East 62.118.26 For exclusive updates, gifts, events and latest releases, join our inworld group: AVENUE Magazine Readers Press releases to: editorial@avenuesl.com Ad queries: ads@avenuesl.com Advertising and vendor requests: Amazon Silverweb, Amita Yorcliffe, Xandrah Sciavo
Staff & Contributors
Publisher Rusch Raymaker
Editor in Chief Xandrah Sciavo Creative Director Leah McCullough
Graphic Designers Leah McCullough Grant Valeska
Fashion Editor Anna Sapphire
Lifestyle Editor Umberto Giano
Marketing Director Amazon Silverweb Marketing Executives Amita Yorcliffe, Leezah Kaddour, Tandra Parx
Writers Cajsa Lilliehook, Cali Karsin, Huckleberry Hax, Isadora Fiddlesticks, Lexie Jansma, Liat Reina, Louise McWinnie Roundel, Prisilla Avro, Spruce Canning, Ziki Questi Stylists Amita Yorcliffe, Angels Milena, Anna Sapphire, Arscene Dubrovna, Asia Rae, Calima Dufaux, Dantelicia Ethaniel, Eira Juliesse, Gabe Bookmite, Hikaru Enimo, Honey Bender, Jax Aster, Josiah Lee Baxter, Leah McCullough, Neva Crystall, Pierre, Syra Hyun, Winter Jefferson
Photographers Annough Lykin, Asia Rae, Arscene Dubrovna, Calima Dufaux, Citta Wiskee, Eira Juliesse, Eve Kazan, Jordan Giant, Leah McCullough, Linda Reddevil, Nariko Okawa, Neva Crystall, Ziki Questi
Contributors Falbala Fairey, Jewel Appletor
Cover Story
The Enduring Elegance
AZUL of
Writer Prisilla S. Avro Photographer Anna Sapphire “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” ― Coco Chanel
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imple, elegant, and sexy… that is how Mami Jewell of AZUL describes her designs. Her creative designs are famous across the grid for their unique fusion of stunning class and beautiful details, making AZUL one of Second Life®’s most popular brands.
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Jewell arrived in Second Life during March of 2007 at the urging of a friend. She soon found she enjoyed the art of content creation in SL® and has never left. Her first fashion spread in AVENUE Magazine was published in August of 2009. “The Allure of AZUL” spotlighted a few samples of her enchanting gowns. AZUL has certainly stood the test of time since then, and as her selection of fine merchandise has grown, Jewell’s designs continue to grace our pages and thrive in places which span the grid. As with many in Second Life, we do in our virtual lives what in real life may not be possible. For Jewell, fashion design is a much needed creative outlet. “It is my passion to express myself and what I like. Designing is a tool I infuse my energy into.” When Jewell first arrived in our virtual world, she knew little about SL and PhotoShop®, and she busied herself with learning and mastering both. Jewell finds a wealth of inspiration in the world around her, as well as in her own personal memories. Her process in creating a piece is a direct one. “Usually, I open a drawer in my head or play with prims in SL, draw it on Photoshop, then go to SL to build it.” Ask any fashionista about AZUL, and you will discover that her creations decorate the inventories of thousands of fashion-forward residents. Her tenure in SL as a fashion designer is decorated with
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accomplishments. Two of Jewell’s highly esteemed achievements were winning VAIN INC.’s Readers’ Choice for Best Female Formal Wear of 2010 and the Best Female Fashion Designer in 2011’s Best of Second Life Awards. Jewell has a humble outlook about her recognition as a top designer, sharing, “It has been an honor to make special dresses for Miss Virtual World and other contest finalists and have a chance to participate in many events. But what makes me happiest is being a part of an SL resident’s life with my creations.” Jewell strives to be an original and to create what she believes residents would like to wear. When giving advice to new designers, she emphasizes that point, as well as the need to have an eye for fashion, a supportive network of friends, and a strong work ethic. Designing comes with its share of challenges, but Jewell welcomes them gladly. She shares that she has no issue becoming inspired to create. Her struggle, at times, can be with transforming her vision into a reality on the grid. Jewell is not frustrated by this, however; it is this very struggle to make her vision real that she enjoys, as well. The success enjoyed by Jewell due to the incredible, longstanding popularity of her brand has not gone to her head. “I’m not special; I’m just a girl from Japan who joined SL and designs
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clothes.” Jewell has spent six years in SL and acknowledges the powerful change it has made in her real life. She expressed an all too common concern shared among many of SL’s residents. “Sometimes I have trouble balancing my real life and my second life, but I enjoy what I am doing in SL.” She credits AZUL for many of her second life’s highlights. “Because of AZUL, I have met many good people, have wonderful friends, and have learned many things. SL isn’t just a virtual world or an online game to me; SL is a big part of my whole life.” What Jewell hopes for most in the end is that many residents enjoy her creations as a part of their virtual world. “I want all of you in SL to enjoy and be happy.” The passion she has for design and for pleasing her customers is apparent. She will soon be re-opening her main store and in the process, plans to provide many specials to her customers. Her store presently is full of her designs, as well as the complimentary designs of others. At AZUL, Mami Jewell has something to offer for everyone. AZUL displays for sale the many formal gowns, cocktail dresses, and gowns she has created for Miss Virtual World, as well as men’s formal wear, eye wear, hair, shoes, nails, jewelry, and bridal gowns. Jewell does what she can to make the shopping experience as effortless as possible for her customers. Residents can not only find her designs at her main
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store, but at SL jazz hotspots such as Sweethearts, Bogart’s, and Frank’s Place. Mami Jewell also has a philanthropic side, designing several gowns to aid those of her homeland after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. AZUL is a brand that speaks of elegance and class, and after spending some time with its creator, it is easy to see that the same unique and beautiful quality found in the designs of AZUL are a true reflection of the talented, elegant designer behind the brand. Mami Jewell and her AZUL are the embodiment of all of these qualities, and we expect her to remain among Second Life’s finest fashion designers for a long time to come.
Shop AZUL in-world: http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ joia%20azul/129/128/25 Shop AZUL online: https:// marketplace.secondlife.com/ stores/11590/ Blog : http://mamijewell. wordpress.com/ Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/ groups/-azul-/
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Tattoo: Princess of China by The Inkwell
Fashion Spread
THE INKWELL Body Art by Emanuelle Courtois Photographer Citta Wiskee Models Ewan Crumb, Nayomi Gartner, Slowly Bury, & Tadeu Gartner
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Tattoo: Koi Child of Hope by The Inkwell
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On Nayomi: Tattoo: Arabic Bird by The Inkwell On Tadeu: Tattoo: Shine a Light by The Inkwell
"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
On Ewan: Tattoo: Prometheus by The Inkwell On Slowly: Tattoo: Biochemical by The Inkwell
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Featured Designer
Dress: Daphne by Paper Couture, headband: Oversized Flower Veil by Paper Couture, ring: Pearl Flower by Paper Couture, skin: Romance by Paper Couture.
Pa p e r C o u t u r e : A Religious Experience Writer Louise Roundel Photographer Calima Dufaux
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ince the dawn of fashion in Second Life速, there has been one name that has resonated every time haute couture is mentioned. That name is Paper Couture. Established (officially) in 2006, the House of Lu has been in the fashion front, setting the trend for others to follow. Since then, they have been rocking the world of fashionistas from all over the grid with every collection launch. Loved by some, hated by others, the sisters of Lu were never meant to remain incognito, and feeling indifferent to Paper Couture is an emotional impossibility.
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From menswear to skins, the House of Lu has it all, and all is made with nothing but the highest level of style and excellence. Cora and Ava Lu, the two remaining (active) members of Paper Couture might have never had the aspiration to become what they are now, but once they got started and put themselves out there, everybody knew this would be where they would end up: high recognition and fame. Award winners, mentioned again and again in every single important fashion blog and magazine, Paper Couture keeps on marching, setting the pace for everybody else. Although nobody is really quite sure if the mysterious Lu sisters are aware of how important they are in the industry, they keep on blessing our community with their fashion gifts. At least once a year they unveil a full womenswear collection, then ever so often some accessories are released, then other little things… all feeling like a big tease, like an amuse bouche that keeps us salivating until the next collection comes out. For this season’s main course, Paper Couture unveiled their “Timeless Romance” F/W 2013 collection just a few weeks ago, and this goes without saying - the uproar it caused was astounding. Immediately, their Flickr group was bombarded with picture submissions from all over the grid, featuring women wearing their garments in the most elegant
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Dress: Margarete by Paper Couture, earrings and necklace: The Starlet Set by Paper Couture, ring: Pearl Flower by Paper Couture, hair: Slicked Parted Hair by Paper Couture, skin: Romance by Paper Couture.
Dress: Grace by Paper Couture, headband: Starburst by Paper Couture, necklace: Bijou Pearls by Paper Couture, ring: The Envy by Paper Couture, hair: Slicked Parted Hair Bun by Paper Couture, skin: Romance by Paper Couture.
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Outfit: Isabella by Paper Couture, headpiece: Flower Cluster Veil by Paper Couture, earring: Merriweather Diamond Stud by Paper Couture, skin: Romance by Paper Couture.
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and romantic poses. As per usual, the bigger showstoppers are the gowns; the ever so elegant gowns that only the House of Lu can produce, gowns that make every purse tingle. But it’s not only the gowns that caught everyone’s eye - oh, no. There are also a few elegant suit options and cocktail dresses, in the most exquisite fabrics and adorned with the most beautiful detailing. They are simply to-die-for. The pantone for this uber elegant collection ranges from the whites, through to beige and rose pastels, then all the way up to metallics, featuring silver and gold. On the other side of the racks, you are sure to find the jewellery that nobody else can do: the timeless, elegant, realistic, jewellery that every woman needs. There are also new hairstyles, skins and a very a special release: the new headpieces that we believe to have been designed specifically to take our breath away, judging by how incredibly glamourous they are. The bottom line here is that putting on a Paper Couture design might just feel a tad sacrilegious. It is like donning something stolen from the fashion gods, and it will make you feel both blessed and unworthy at the same time… but it is something everybody should go through, this sinful experience should be lived at least once in your second life, so… Go. Go out and shop! Elevate your wardrobe to fashion goddess status.
Visit Paper Couture: http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ Tableau/200/62/23 Paper Couture’s Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ papercouture/
Dress: Kiki by Solidea Folies, pin: Floral Hairpin by Baoba, Tears: Osiri by Posesion, eyes makeup: MK E colors strong Euri by Alge Designs, eyeliner: Couture by Glam Affair, skin: Katya by Glam Affair, nails by Nailed It, hair: Messy Bouffant Bun by Paper Couture.
La Femme
Eternal Elegance By Syra Hyun
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Jewelry: Electra by Gizza, top: Boxy Crop Sweater by Color Me HOF, skirt: Slit Pencil by Ison, clutch: Studded by Glam Affair, hat: Giant Dish by Glam Affair, skin: Katya by Glam Affair, nails by Nailed It.
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Dress: Kiki by Solidea Folies, pin: Floral Hairpin by Baoba, Tears: Osiri by Posesion, eyes makeup: MK E colors strong Euri by Alge Designs, eyeliner: Couture by Glam Affair, skin: Katya by Glam Affair, nails by Nailed It, hair: Messy Bouffant Bun by Paper Couture.
"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
Top: Chica by LpD, pants: Razzle Pleated by Ison, bag: Scout Boho by Ison, earrings: Enchanted Teadrops by Cherry, skin: Katya by Glam affair, hair: Messy Bouffant Bun by Paper Couture, nails by Nailed It.
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Homme
CONTEMPLATION By Pierre
Coat: Trenchoat by Hoorenbeek, shirt: Shirt with tie for coat by Hoorenbeek, short: Mens Cargo Shorts by Mesh Theory, shoes: Formal Shoes by Iruco.
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Hair: Boys Girls47 by Dura, jacket: Muubaa Leather Jacket by Lucien Marcelo, shirt: Loose tie A by Iruco, vest: Vest by Iruco, pants: Patched Skinnies by Pumpkin, boots: Black Ramones by Lucien Marcelo. 76
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Hair: Boys Girls46 by Dura, coat: Jason by Diram, vest: Jason by Diram, sweater: Thin knit high neck by Iruco, pants: Patched Skinnies by Pumpkin, boots: Rebound by Tabloid, neckpiece: NB scarf and necklace by Sey, ears: Steaking ver4 by Mandala.
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"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
Hair: Vincent by Entente, coat: Mods by Chronokit, shirt: Denim shirt by Gabriel, shirt: Dot shirt by Iruco.
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Le Som
L’Avante
On Amita: Dress: Maruca by Celoe, collar: Couture Oversize by Glam Affair, shoes: Hobnails by Remarkable Oblivion, hair: Huh031 by Boon, earring: Steking by Mandala. On Hikaru: Hair: Noan by Cheerno, ears: Steking by Mandala, necklace: Plaisance Uomo by Zibska, makeup: 01 by Glam Affair and v10 2 by Nuuna, gloves: Fingerless Gloves by Shi, shirt: Mr Magic Shirt by Coepio, skirt: Skirt Pants Fit by Cheerno, scarf: Knit scarf by Mr Poet, shoes: Leather Calf Velcro Sneakers by Lucien Marcelo.
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Stylists Hikaru Enimo & Amita Yorcliffe Photographer Hikaru Enimo
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Cape: Wool Cape by Milk motion, shirt: Vintage Sheer Top by House of Fox, skirt: Pleated Skirt by Fashionably Dead, collar: Maleficent Neck Corset by Belgravia, scarf: Lace Head Scarf by House of Fox, makeup: Caviar by Blackliquid, boots: Cult Riding Boots by Ison, earring: Steking by Mandala.
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Hair: Danny D by Cheerno, necklace: Alcmene by Zibska, bracelet: Alcmene by Zibska, overcoat: Tribute to Galliano Mantle by AD, skirt: Long kilt by ASS, shoes: Leather Calf Velcro Sneakers by Lucien Marcelo. 88
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"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
(Hikaru) Hair: Dario by Cheerno, collar: Choke Collar by Aesthetica, ears: Simple Ears Hutuu by Mandala, earstuds: Ero Sensei Pierce by Mandala, makeup: v7 4 by Nuuna, bracelet: Riu Spiked Leather by Pure Poison, metal skirt: Danielle Haute Couture Dress Metal Skirt by Pure Poison, skirt: Long kilt by ASS, body band: Guigu Fiesta Body Band by Cheerno, shoes: Black Ramones by Lucien Marcelo. On Amita: Blazer: Oversized Wool Coat by Ison, shirt: Karrie by Bliss Couture, leggings: Mceht by Maitreya, collar: White Ruff by Milk Motion, hair: Tana01 by Boon, hair: Swish by Lelutka, earring: Steking by Mandala.
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Her Details
My Inner Shade of Gray By Angels Milena
Hair: Pompadour by Boudoir, earrings: Pyramid Earrings by 1992, collar: Hydra by Rozoregalia, necklace: Organic by Finesmith, cape: Mink Princess Stole by Ryolter. 95
Hair: Sexy Kitten by Vanity Hair, sunglasses: Mom Shades by Yummy, lipstick: Lucious by Mons, collar: Electra by Gizza, necklace: Kagetora by Mandala, sweater: Angora Sweater by Ison, bangles: Milky Way by Mandala, pants: Pleated Shorts by Ison.
Hair: Baiksatara by Loovus Dzevavor, necklace: Agate Bib by Paper Couture, earrings: Oxidized Silver Hoops by Paper Couture, bangle: Owl by Erratic, dress: Geometric Chiffon by Chic Zafari, shirt: Ruffle Jacket by Coco, lipstick: Cinema Muto 1 by La Malvada Mujer. 98
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"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
Hairbase: Dita by ItGirls, eyeshadow: Eyeliner Print by Mons, lipstick: Safari by Censored, earrings: Hydra by Rozoregalia, collar and cape: Bel Envol by Champagne.
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Urbanized
MONOCHROME By Honey Bender and Gabe Bookmite
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On Honey: Skirt: Vintage by Sugar, top: Vale by Cynful, harness: Defiant by Shi, gloves: Elegance by Domina, shoes: Moxie by Maitreya. On Gabe: Shirt: Iceland by Aitui, pants: Meggings by Shi, shoes: Spectator by Lassitude and Ennui, gloves: Dexter by Fatewear, earring: Journey by Shi, piercing: Septum ring by Sugar Heart.
On Honey: Top: Vale by Cynful, skirt: Slit pencil skirt by Ison, top: Aristotle harness top by FAD, gloves: Elegance by Domanica, boots: Studded by Js, necklace: Tied by Amorous. On Gabe: Hoodie: Pegg by Fatewear, shirt: Pleated by Mr Poet, pants: Grandfathers pants by 22768, shoes: Wolf by Blackfeet, piercing: Septum ring by Sugar Heart.
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On Honey: Pants: Milano by Baiastice, vest: Couverture Drape by Shi, top: Vale by Cynful, shoes: Little Diva by Gfield. On Gabe: Shirt: Hoody by Gabriel, shirt: Loose Tie by Iruco, shorts: Capri by Cheerno, leggings: Folklore by League, boots: Some by Deco, collar: Neo Classic by Epoque, piercing: Septum ring by Sugar Heart.
"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
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On Honey: Jacket: Luxe Fur Leo Polar by Mimikri, shorts: Culotte by R2, tights: Crusader by Q, socks: Scrunched by Maitreya, hat: Unisex Beanie by Maitreya. On Gabe: Pullover: Deconstructed Jumper by Ladies Who Lunch, top: Tank R F by Emery, pants: Malebaggy shorts by Balkanik, shoes: Wingtips by Deco, gloves: Dexter by Fatewear, earring: Journey by Shi, piercing: Septum ring by Sugar Heart.
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To The Nines
GREY M
Photographer Linda Reddev Models Chirzaka Vlo & Yeriak Cou
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MATTER
vil
odovic, Annough Lykin, uturier
Skirt: Eleganza by CIA Designs, collar: Atlas by Kooqla, hair: Maria by Amacci, flowers in the hair by Amacci, bracelet: Rock n chic by Me, makeup: Spotted Owl by Madrid Solo, brows: Baroque by LaGyo.
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Skin: Margot by Glam Affair, makeup: Chic by Blackliquid, hair: Parted hair by Paper Couture, hat: Melancholy by Lode, bracelet: Electra by Gizza, necklace: Regina by Kunglers, dress: Kiki by Solidea Folies, stole: Mink Princess Stole by Ryvolter, shoes: Grace by Gos.
"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
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Hair: Layla by Diva, earrings: Bodza by Donna Flora, ring: Irina by Donna Flora, gloves: Fine Gloves by The Secret Store, shirt: Bow Shirt by Coco, jacket: Nathalia by Diram, pants: Linum by Molichino, shoes: Mae Platforms by Gos, umbrella by Trilogy.
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Blogspot
Autumn Fairey Stories By Falbala Fairey
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s Skirt: Maxi Herringbone Tween Skirt by Chantkare, parasol: Dahlia Blanc by Mon ChĂŠri, shoes: Ankle Boots by BAX Cohen, pullover: Fall Pull by Baiastice, jacket: Mesh Blouse Wool by Gizza, hair: Natasha I by Eskimo, ears: Sylph Ears by Illusions, hat: Lady Hollow by Wretched Dollies.
Vest and leggins: License to Thrill set by The White Armory, gloves: Fingerless Glove by Shi, wrap: Sari Wrap by Shi, shoes: Kira boots by Ten, hair: Misunderstood by Illusory, ears: Sylph Ears by Illusions, earchains: Mystic Chains by Illusions, tattoo: Cailes by White Widow, lipstick: Jade by Oceane Body Design, earring: Indian summer in swan by Glow studio.
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"To me you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me, but you just can't see..." -- Aqualung! (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwGWRrIlz68) j'addore
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Shoes: Kimiko II by Dirty Lynx, pants: Lela Skinny Mesh Jeans by Countdown, top: Manuri by Baiastice, face tattoo: makeups v7 by Nuuna, jewelry: earrings and bracelets Copacetic Tallulah by Maxi Gossamer, mask: Mask 1 by Solidea Folies, ears: Sylph Ears by Illusions, earchains: Mystic Chains by Illusions, hair: Reptilia by Wasabi Pills.
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Skirt: Memoire by Indyra Originals, leg harness: Leg Harness by Shi, shoes: Etoile by Ncore, hat: McQueen by Baoba, earrings: Soldier of Dreams by Chop Zuey, ears: Pixie Ears by Illusions, earchains: Mystic Chains by Illusions, hair: HSO388 by Boon, top: Lia Grey by Alanis.
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Campus Crawl
Campus Crawl W
Romy Dash
Top: Chic Top by Marshmallows, pants: 70s Elegant by Marshmallows, skin: Anais by Glance, hands: Vrsion Mesh Hand with Glove by Vrsion, lips: Muse by The Skin Shop, hair: Scarlet by LeLutka, shoulders: Spiked shoulder pads by Glam Affair, boots: Peeptoe Ankle Boots by Leverocci, hat: Fedora Hat by *ARGRACE*, necklace: Pearl Rain necklace by Mandala, watch: Sitenoah by Mandala, sunglasses: Holly by Redgrave, pose: Mellow by Del May
Winner:
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Photographer Romy Dash, Owner of Marshmallows: http://marshmallows-design.blogspot.com/ Producer Vain Redrose, EIC of Fashion Feed of SL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vainredrose/ Shot in New York City: http://newyorkcitysl.com 133
LIV Glam Contest
Writer Liat Reina Photographer Citta Wiskee
Glamming the Grid
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all is officially upon us, and with the changing of the season comes changing styles, as well. Yet not even the chill in the air or bustle of the approaching holidays can slow down SamanthaSJones and the Liv Glam team as the search continues for those women out there who embody Glam. This unique customer appreciation event provides devoted followers of the Liv Glam fashion house the chance to become a representative of the brand itself. The expectations are high, however, and those chosen must prove that they can truly handle any situation with elegance and style. Featuring a design by Liv Glam, contestants showed their interpretation of Casual, Business, Cocktail, & Club glam. Initially selected from the submission pool on Flickr, the semi-finalists were able to strut their stuff on the catwalk before the panel of judges and an eager audience. The finalists will go on to compete with other winners from each month in the grand finale taking place on December 20th, 2013 where THE
GLAM GIRL will be selected. Each of the finalists for the month will walk away with a prize bundle including Linden™ dollars, a Liv Glam gift card, an outfit named after them, the chance to model for an upcoming vendor display, and a $1000L voucher for AVENUE Models Academy. Last but not least, each of the finalists will have their own spread in AVENUE magazine. Now, without further delay, Liv Glam and AVENUE are pleased to present the GLAM GIRLS for August 2013. CONTEST INFORMATION & RULES http://www.avenuesl. com/2013/05/23/avenuepresents-liv-glam-glam-girls2013-contest/ SLURL: http://maps. secondlife.com/secondlife/ zenshi%20east%20 two/125/175/28 FLICKR: http://www.flickr. com/groups/2038164@N25/ pool/
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Casual Glam:
YeriakTH Couturier
A fashionista shines wherever she goes, and she knows that even the simplest occasion just needs the right look to become a sensation. Yeriak Couturier (YeriakTH Couturier), September 2013 Club GLAM GIRL can walk this walk effortlessly and did so in [LG] Boutique-[Summer 13] Turning Japanese. “My outfit of two pieces, blouse with Mandarin collar and the short skirt, are the perfect combination with trendy textures and a very independent urban style, ideal for the city or to go shopping with friends. My inspiration has been based on Japanese street fashion but giving it a touch of baroque, minimalist, and gothic flair.” Since entering Second Life® in 2010, she has found the experience to be both rewarding and engrossing with something new each day. The people she has met along the way have impacted her both professionally and personally. “My decision to become a model came when I thought more of my future. I’ve always been a person who will not only settle for achieving one thing, but many things, like setting goals as you do in real life. I have always been a traveler in Second Life. I love the diversity of cultures. The modeling world has been a world full of so many colors for me that I love what I do every day; there are often hours of work and effort but every minute is worth it.” 140
She finds inspiration through information. “I love to keep up-to-date by reading fashion magazines and viewing collections of my favorite designers... I am a devourer of information.” From real life, she looks to designers Elie Saab, Bill Blass and Chanel as well as Japanese culture on the whole to keep her creativity fueled. Liv Glam has been able to do similarly for her, also. “Each collection has a very definite concept, has a very personal touch from the most casual to the most glamorous, featuring every woman in a natural concept and sophisticated way. I love the textures and lines. Liv Glam is pure creativity.” She shares, “For me, Glam is based on a ritual of elegance and sophistication in every person; each instrument of dress transforms it into something unique and perfect. It represents everything that surrounds a woman’s personality defined by unique style, shining with its own light and innate personality full of charm and naturalness.” To the potential GLAM GIRLs, she gives this guidance: “Be themselves, always be natural and unique, to retain their own testament to style and be true to what they believe and always do so with great strength, optimism, and be accountable and professional with everything around them. Do this always with the heart and feelings on the surface.”
BUSINESS GLAM:
Kaciee Resident
Continue to be a sensation even while on the clock like September 2013 Business GLAM GIRL Kaciee (Kaciee Resident). Her look came together utilizing the jacket from [LG] Boutique-[Summer 13] BREGAZZI Outfit and {LIVGlam}.:Spring-2013:.Wanda Monochrome Dress. “Power dressing starts with the perfect clothes and a confident attitude. This black and white ensemble is what I call business elegance. I chose this outfit to show a woman who is dressing for success, professional but still feminine. The tailored jacket shouts to those who can hear, ‘See me. I am a woman on the way to the top!’” Her discovery of Second Life was an indication of things to come, as a friend who favors fashion encouraged her to join. She fell in love with the concept of recreating oneself in the virtual world and all the possibilities offered on the grid. “I love exploring all the different places, finding new musicians, and, oh, the clothes! I love wandering around the great fashion stores, especially Liv Glam. I have taken photography classes and writing classes, and I’m going to take modeling classes soon. I always strive to be the best that I can in any venue. I plan to work hard and become a model that people respect.”
In a recent runway experience that she describes as a dream come true, she had the chance to really clarify what sparks her creative side. “My fashion inspiration comes from watching the models in SL. The great models mix and match in a way that inspires me.” She goes on to share her feelings about Liv Glam fashion house. “I love the design of the Liv Glam store. The open space allows you to really see the clothes. All the outfits I loved and bought fit perfectly which is something that really means a lot to me.” She has an equally clear vision of what Glam means to her, which she shares openly. “Someone that has that Glam look has panache. She has that look that people will turn around and say, ‘Wow!’ Her look is understated, but she has that extra dash of Glam. She always looks fabulous and is perfection in her chosen outfit.” To the ladies ready to follow in her foot steps to the grand finale, she offers her own perspective. “Wander through the store and find an outfit that is ... You. Let your mind roam and think of a scenario that fits your outfit and the story you want to tell with it. Style with your story in mind, find a great spot for your picture and you are on your way to being a ‘Glam Girl’.”
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COCKTAIL GLAM:
BloodyMistress Serenity
When the occasion calls for a little something extra, that’s when you slip into a bit of semiformal cocktail wear. Serenity (Bloodymistress Serenity) stole the focus doing just that in [LG] Boutique-[Summer 13] Regan Silk Gown to become September 2013 Cocktail GLAM GIRL. It’s easy to envision her sauntering into an afternoon tea, an evening at the theater, or a company dinner in this gown. With its classic cut and elegant ivory tones, this dress provides perfection and versatility. Lace inserts at the neck and echoing the line of the hips add just the right amount of sensuality which any glamorous woman loves to display. As a professional model in Second Life® since 2010, she’s had the chance to work with several prestigious agencies. Consider this in conjunction with an illustrious list of competition placements and wins, and it is clear that she loves her work. “I’m also a blogger for some well-known brands, and I’m INMONSTER marketing manager. I’m a creative and versatile person as well as hard working and responsible, and I take every challenge with all of my heart. I can feature different styles, whether they are avant garde, out-of-thebox, classic, casual, elegant and have the capability to work with every kind of model and designer.” For inspiration, she looks to such real world designers as Christian 144
Lacroix, Emili Pucci, and Elie Saab, just to name a few. “I love the bizarre and the unusual fashion creations, and I want to make the difference in the fashion world by showing my irreverence and my creative state of mind. However, that doesn’t stop me from showing my more feminine, elegant and glamorous side.” When it comes to Liv Glam, she simply couldn’t pick a favorite feature. “I love everything about it: the concept, the designs, the team is awesome, and (so is) the way that they are always trying to improve the store for the customers. I think Liv Glam, as one of the most wellknown brands in SL, is constantly impressing everyone, and I would like to congratulate all of the team, especially the designers, Sam and Kim.” She describes what she feels Glam is best in her own words. “Glam, for me, is about your attitude, personality and believing in yourself and that should reflect in what you wear. We accentuate our best features and we strive to be elegant, charming and interesting among other people.” To those who feel the calling to become GLAM GIRLs as well, she has valuable insight to share. “Keep trying, because that’s what I did. I never give up. And choose that favorite outfit you saw on the store, pick the right accessories, makeup and hair style and be glamorous. Walk that runway like a diva and shine.”
CLUB GLAM:
Jamee Sandalwood
An evening out on the town is the perfect chance to steal the spotlight and make an impression. September 2013 Club GLAM GIRL, Jamee Sandalwood demonstrated exactly that kind of presence in her styling of [LG] Boutique-[Summer 13] Counting Stars. She selected this dress “with the urban, metal trim styling and Oh-so-short skirt because it not only makes me look Glam, but has that flashy styling a Club-hopping girl needs to be noticed. What girl doesn’t like to let her hair down and party the night away, and I know just the perfect look to wear when doing so!” Sandalwood began her Second Life® experience in 2009 thanks to a real life friend’s introduction. From day one she has been enthralled by the people she met and the opportunities SL provides. In fact, she met her husband in world and is thrilled to share this experience with him. Her introduction to modeling came when a designer chose her as a last minute substitute for a runway show. Now after four years of experience and with multiple academy graduations behind her, she still loves it all. “It’s the fashion and modeling that has become my niche in Second Life. I’m so thrilled that I can use something virtual to do good in real life. As CEO of Models Giving Back, I help to raise funds for charity and am so proud of that. That is what drives me in this journey.”
She finds that she is continually feeling her creativity sparked by something new. “It is the amazingly talented designers here in Second Life that inspire me the most. Their creativity, drive and creations are truly what get my attention. I see them and think, ‘Oooohhh… I know what I can do with that!’ Being in fashion is about evolving with the trends, and that is what inspires me most.” For her, there’s no end to the delights of Liv Glam, and she may one day own every design they offer. “I love the modern, up-to-date designs, and the fantastic textures each outfit has. No matter what I go into the store for, I always seem to come out with more than I had intended. But isn’t that what makes a good brand?” In reflecting on what she considers glam to be, she explains that it’s really a personal fashion statement. “Glam is about an attitude as well as a look. It’s about being fun, flirty and uniquely you while being marvelous, divine, fabulous and beautiful always.” To all the GLAM GIRL hopefuls out there, she has this to share. “Don’t be afraid to take risks. Playing it safe is not what the feeling of a Glam Girl is about. Get noticed, yet still be fashionable, elegant and in good taste. But most of all do not give up. Keep trying, keep improving and be open to suggestions and take them to heart. There is always more to learn and improve upon.”
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Lifestyle Feature
Caught In The Act of Living Writer Cajsa Lilliehook Photographer Zazie “Serious is a word that must be entirely avoided when it comes to decoration.” —Designer Kathryn M. Ireland
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ave you ever noticed how very little living goes on in our living rooms?
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Friends come over and we settle down at the kitchen table over our cups of coffee or tea. We watch television and play games in the family room or the great room. The living room, like the parlor of old, waits, so neat and tidy, for the infrequent visitations of “company,” those guests who are not invited into the heart of our homes, but merely into the “frontispiece” if you will. Our homes are the stories of our lives in three dimensions, and like most stories, we have a bit of fancy decoration at the beginning that may or may not reflect the rest of the story. Trained by dozens of home decorating shows and articles to edit, edit, edit, our living rooms are neat, sparse and easy to clean - and no place to live. We are a nesting species, and since Paleolithic times, we have cozied up our homes with pictures, objects and other things that feather our nests with comfort, beauty, whimsy and most importantly, memory. Sure, we admire those pristine living rooms with their sleek lines and spotless discipline, but we don’t really want to live there. Living happens where there are loose papers lying on a desk, an opened book resting on a side table, where there are some ribbons and scissors from a recent craft project on the coffee table and even an ashtray by the easy chair.
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Elle Kirshner of Second Spaces understands that nesting need of ours and serves it beautifully, creating the paraphernalia that allow people to create homes in Second Life® that are caught in the act of living. As Kirshner explains, “Ten, fifteen years ago, I was all about sleek and modern decor. Somewhere along the line, I just started drifting more to the shabby side of design. I’ve become very drawn to rooms that are cozy and welcoming, that feel very lived-in and comfortable, and that are filled with unexpected touches. In these past few years, I’ve also become very interested in refurbished and repurposed pieces - I love the idea of giving new life to an old piece.” This translates into her real life where she lives in an older Cape Cod cottage that she is slowly, over time, filling with refurbished pieces and whimsical accents, flea market finds and of course, the memorabilia of life. In real life, it may take years of finding and refurbishing the perfect pieces, but SL® offers quicker gratification. As she says, “Making pieces like that in SL takes time, too, but always seems more attainable. I suppose...I’m partly living out my real life decor dreams with my SL® creations.” Like all creators, there is a degree of back and forth between first and Second Life influences. While she uses SL to realize her real life decor dreams, her years
in SL have influenced her tastes in real life. Much of the impetus in her shift toward shabby design came from the influence of Second Life creators whose work she admires, or as she expresses, “They’re the designers whose stuff I hoard like crazy.” She has a lot of favorite decorators. An admirer of Neva Crystall, Tab Tatham, Journey Lorakeet, and Annan Adored and other decorator/photographers, she is particularly inspired by their decorating. “They each have a knack for putting together a room - they make them feel livedin, they use items creatively, and they bring life to their rooms. It is one thing to have a room full of lovely pieces: a couch, a few chairs, a coffee table. It’s another thing to have a room with those pieces AND books, board games, decorative elements, great wall art, creative lighting, knick knacks, drinks, food... a room where it’s easy to imagine that someone has only just stepped out before the picture was taken.” “If you can’t recall an item’s origin, then maybe it doesn’t belong in your world. When your eyes scan your living room, you should be reminded of pleasant experiences, not the feeling of ‘this room is filled with furnishings of unassailable taste. They exist and I own them.’ That’s no accomplishment.” Kathryn M. Ireland Kirshner joined SL in October of 2006, long enough ago that her
memory is hazy. She remembers she did a lot of roaming around, seeing people who looked better than her ready-made avatar and figuring out how to make that happen for herself. Like many of us, camping was her first career. After a few months, though, she began to get into houses and interiors and things took off. She founded her Second Spaces blog - one of the first home and decor blogs to challenge the hegemony of the fashion blogs. It made sense for Kirshner to strike a different path. Houses and interiors were always a big interest in her own life. While she enjoys fashion, especially in SL, she says, “It’s homes and decor that have always captured me the most. I can’t give a reason for that - maybe it’s just inherent. Like most of us, she earned her first decorating chops in childhood. Fortunately, her tastes have matured since then. As she describes it, “I had gotten a waterbed for my birthday. Hello, 1980s! And it had a black leather frame and headboard. So to go with it, we painted three walls just plain white, but then the fourth wall, behind the bed, was painted a seriously bright red AND we swirled gold paint all over it with a feather duster. Seriously. Then a zebra stripe rug and zebra stripe bedding to complete the look. Oh, and my existing dressers and desk stayed, and they were a pale yellow. Again, seriously. Was it a success? No, not to anyone who actually knows design. To a 16
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year old girl in 1988, though, it absolutely was.” Perhaps her bold zebrabedroom was inspired by going to junior high with rapper Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott, or maybe not. “That has no bearing at all on my SL or my shop, but it’s my most exciting piece of personal trivia and I trot it out whenever I have the chance,” she says. Since Kirshner’s home and decor career began as a blogger, she was already attuned to what people focus on in terms of convenience and quality. She believes that experience may have helped her set higher standards for her creations. Wryly, she continues, “I’m not saying I met those standards, but I did have a very specific idea of what I wanted my shop to be, based on the shops I had come to love from blogging.” Kirshner is less certain that her blogging experience helped her in marketing her store. “I launched the shop in early 2008, and really didn’t get much attention until mid-2009, and even then, I’d say Second Spaces was a minor player in the world of SL home and garden.” In a self-deprecating aside, she added, “I’d say I’m still minor league, so I must not have learned much at all from blogging first.” After seven years, Kirshner is still in love with Second Life. “Really, SL is just like a gorgeous virtual dollhouse for me - I can decorate and redecorate and then decorate some more, and
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I’ve got a pretty doll that I can dress up over and over again.” She is inspired by Second Life’s cultural diversity. “SL is a big ol’ melting pot, and I like that. I like that people from all over the world, with all sorts of different backgrounds, contribute to this virtual world. Let’s keep doing that.” She loves the increased flexibility and detail that mesh has brought and is ready to adapt to whatever new technological developments may come. “I don’t know what might come after mesh, if anything, but I’ll roll with it when and if it comes… I know we will always have trends in SL, just like in RL - whether it’s a trend in types of creations or in how and where those creations are presented... and we’ll always have debate on whether the current trends are good or bad. That’s all fine - just as long as people still want new creations. As long as we’re still progressing in quality, then I’m happy. Keep moving forward, SL!” Keep your eyes on Second Spaces. She makes fun things that can feather your nest and make your house into a place that looks like it was caught in the act of living. Check out Second Space inworld! URL: http://secondspacesblog. com/ Marketplace: https:// marketplace.secondlife.com/ stores/16891
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Business Feature
Building A Dream Writer Cajsa Lilliehook Photographer Ziki Questi
W
hile in real life, many of us can rattle off the names of famed architects who have designed the great public spaces and buildings that shape our cities, we have no idea who designs the homes that populate our neighborhoods. In Second Life速, it is just the opposite. The home builders are well-known and widely admired, while the architects of public space are usually unknown.
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Many public spaces are made by custom builders who gather the nebulous ideas of their clients and concretize them into something solid and functional. Ideally, working with a custom builder is a synergistic process where the client’s ideas meet the consultant’s aesthetic sensibility and expertise and realize something greater than the constituent parts Such consultants are not building castles in the air, they are building dreams. Rix Spyker is one such builder of dreams. If you attended AVENUE’s Autumn/ Winter Fashion Week, you would have been awed by the gritty, urban environment he created. He has built clubs and photo sets as well as retail stores and homes. You may have seen his work many times and never known it. With no store in-world, his work and reputation speak for him. Spyker likes to go beyond simply building something. He wants to help clients achieve their goals and vision - in essence, their dreams. That begins with understanding what exactly they are trying to do from not just the builder’s viewpoint, but also through the lens of marketing, retailing and from the perspective of the customer. Spyker likes to pick his client’s brain before he starts working so the he has a clear idea of what is wanted. Sometimes clients are better able to define what they want when questioned than they can on their own. His favorite type of client will give him their concept or theme and ask him
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to run with it. On the other hand, working with several clients who all own part of one project can be difficult since while many people may share the same space, they seldom share the same dreams. His process is systematic. He describes it as the Sun Tzu approach of divide and conquer. First, he decides on the grand themes, the look, feel and tone. He then develops his layout, balancing sim load, traffic flow and the client’s needs. He then constructs the main areas, placing the big elements before moving on to the more detailed items. He focuses on building in as modular a form as possible. As he explains, “Most people say taxes and death are the only sure things in life. As a builder, I’d add changes to that; they are sure to come. It’s best to accept them and build with them in mind.” His aesthetic veers toward warmth and depth, a multilayered build that is familiar on the surface with little twists and surprises that reflect his wit and creative direction. It’s no surprise, then, that Herman Miller, Frank Lloyd Wright , Victor Horta, Otto Wagner and Antoni Gaudi are some of his favorite architects. While Spyker is not a fundamentalist in creating buildings that comply with all the laws of physics in the real world, when he is building for himself, he prefers to keep to the laws of physics and perspective as we know them. “In retail spaces, especially, I will
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stick closer to what is expected. When serving a larger audience it is important to keep to the lowest common denominator. We see it with many products, even lines like the Apple lines where familiar design is a strong point.” There’s a lot of cross-pollination from his first to his Second Life. Working in content creation, CGI, web development and marketing give him a skill base tailor made for SL® content creation. His abiding interest in architecture finds an outlet in a photographing the architecture of New York City. “Coming from the Midwest to living and visiting in different parts of the U.S. to living in NYC has offered a wide range of visual candy to reach into; just by taking a walk almost anywhere one can gather inspiration from forms to add into one’s own creations. My favorite pastime is photography, and lots of my style is reflected through what I capture with my lens. It’s a wonderfully creative endless cycle.” Spyker was hooked as soon as he arrived in SL. He had a lifetime interest in architecture. Add that to an enthusiasm for 3D programs and MMORPGs and Second Life is a natural fit for him. As he says, “While SL has had its issues over the years, it’s been the most creative platform in my opinion... SL has evolved quickly enough for me to keep my interest and will for the foreseeable future with the arrival of mesh to the mainstream. SL should keep me busy for some time to come.”
When asked if it is difficult to find ways to be innovative within the constraints of function and convention when designing venues for fashion shows, it seemed as though that had never occurred to him. In his eyes, there are so many themes and possibilities that it is not difficult to design something fresh. “Each client is different, has a different style, has different requirements. It’s the beauty of SL. There are no limitations. I’ve been involved in builds with scenes like the Capital Sins, Las Vegas, Circus, post-apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, urban streets complete with Brooklyn Bridges to venues with a tiny city underfoot. Each has their own challenges and limitations, but they also provide a fresh and different look to each build, and this is one of the things that keep my creative SL buttons pressed.” Building in SL has special rewards. Spyker has total control of all aspects of his builds. He is free to stretch his creative muscles in Second Life without the kinds of client restraints that can stifle creativity in real life. There are frustrations, of course. Most frustrating is the limits placed on build size and detail. As he explains, “Limits to the detail are possible, things like prim limits, physics collisions, very low poly mesh, land impact. For industry standards, SL lags way behind in that. It can be frustrating, but it also opens up new ways one can be creative. Though in saying that, one needs to think outside the box while being constrained considerably.”
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Spyker finds custom work very rewarding. He likes the “process of taking a hand drawn design or even conversation and making it a reality.” He also loves to see his buildings in use. “I’ve been doing fashion venues some years now and to see a sim packed and people sitting and enjoying an event in a space I had a hand in making is a nice feeling.” On the down side, event venues are here today and gone two weeks after tomorrow. Of course, there are always more events and the twinges of loss when his venues are packed up forever are balanced by working with creative people and, as he puts it, “building friendships that long outlast the pixels.”
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Roleplay
Wendig
Still Water
Writer Prisilla S. Photograph Eira Julie
“Evil is alway goodness is eterna ― Anne Rice, the Vampire
O
n the su Lake is a s in the Pac untouched by urb the noise of mod residents there li and have fought a to keep it quiet an despite the rivalr that exist among th
go Lake
rs Run Deep
Avro her esse
ys possible. And ally difficult.� Interview with
urface, Wendigo sleepy little town cific Northwest, ban sprawl and dern living. The ike it that way, a very long time nd undisturbed, ries and secrets hem.
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Jon Vetinari (Effluvium Resident) brings us another wonderful stage on which to let our stories unfold with Wendigo Lake. Stunning in its beauty and thoughtful in its layout, residents will find no shortage of inspiration to let their imaginations and their role play run wild. Wendigo Lake is one of the newest role play sims in Second LifeŽ. It opened for beta on August 24th, and it already has quite the population of experienced role players beginning their stories, or perhaps continuing them. Wendigo Lake is modern and supernatural, and it is based on the lore of World of Darkness (WoD). WoD is the fictional world created by Mark Rein-Hagen and further developed by White Wolf Gaming Studio. WoD is comprised of three separate but distinct universes – vampire, wolf, and mage. The depth and breadth of the WoD franchise and lore is significant, and many role players in SLŽ already have experience with it. Many of those role players came to Wendigo Lake after learning it would be WoD based. The challenge Vetinari currently faces is deciding which parts of such a detailed and distinct knowledge base will be feasible and promote role play. He is presently working with his team on a character creation tool that will aid role players in weaving their stories as well as with interacting with one another. As the man behind the magic, Vetinari is always on sim, building,
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creating, and interacting with the residents who populate Wendigo Lake. He is a role player at heart, and like many who role play in SL, he started out in a text-based forum at first. “I was doing textbased role play on the Internet and a friend convinced me to try Second Life as the same thing with a graphical element. Of course, it wasn’t - but I became interested and several years later, am still here.” Vetinari had previously created Shady Falls, a 1920’s themed role play sim in SL, and one AVENUE featured on our pages in December 2012. “I’ve been playing in role play sims here since 2007. There probably isn’t a popular sim I haven’t at least tried out. I am at heart a text role player, though. I enjoy working with other players who enjoy writing as much as I do and crafting a communal story with them. To me, that is the heart of what owning or playing in any role play sim should be. As an owner, I see myself responsible for creating a unique framework, even when working with a familiar genre.” The genre of Wendigo Lake is quite different than that of Shady Falls. When asked what inspired the creation of Wendigo Falls, Vetinari replied, “I spent a few months mulling over the idea of starting a new sim before I committed to it. As much as I loved my previous sim, it was far too ‘niche’ to succeed in the long run. I wanted to build something as compelling, but with a theme
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that was more accessible to a larger audience. I started looking for images that inspired me - and found that the Pacific Northwest was what I wanted to build this time. It wasn’t long into building that I began to realize what my theme needed to be. It was a bit backwards from how I usually build - with the theme first and then the image, but it was very enjoyable to build this way. It was almost as if the sim’s story revealed itself to me as I went along.” Vetinari elaborated on his vision: “Wendigo Lake is the most intricate and detailed community I have ever built, both in the physical build and the character creation process we are creating. But, all that detail and effort is aimed at creating what will be a community that is simple to join and become a part of. I hope that people will come and look at what we’re doing
here and that they will find it easy to become a part of it - and that the play will be entertaining and rewarding - and if we’re really doing it right - mysterious and addictive.” Just as with Shady Falls, getting started in Wendigo Lake is not a challenge. Any interested in joining the Wendigo Lake community should certainly stop by for a visit, as well as join their forum. You will find the people of Wendigo Lake to be quite welcoming and helpful. Visit Wendigo Lake: http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ Wendigo%20Lake/121/139/39 Website: http://www. wendigolakesim.com/ Forum: http://wendigoforum. com/
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Interesting Sims
We’re All Mad Here Writer Liat Reina Photographer Eira Juliesse
F
rom the very first tumble down the rabbit hole, it is clear that Almost Wonderland isn’t just another tea party. Visitors will feel the difference from the moment they arrive in the perpetual twilight of this environment. Immediately faced with a choice, guests can either slip through the door to arrive at the relative safety of the store or accept the same temptation Alice did and follow the white rabbit. For those brave, adventurous, foolish or mad enough to approach the gnarled old tree beside which their guide awaits, it’s a sudden drop that begins the journey.
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Almost Wonderland leads intrepid explorers through a familiar adventure of tumbles, potions and doors of all sizes, but there’s something distinctly dark about the experience. Several aspects of the various works inspired by the Lewis Carroll books are blended to provide a unique interpretation. Any who manage to find the door of just the right fit and can navigate the space where chess and the laws of physics have collided will be rewarded by the entrance to Wonderland proper. While wandering through the fascinating landscape, visitors will discover oversized cakes begging to be eaten, caterpillars enjoying a relaxing smoke and card soldiers painting the roses red. A closer look, though, will reveal that it’s not just paint being used for the crimson stain and one might wonder just what happened at the end of the Hatter’s tea party. Even the tea cup ride looks a bit suspect, but fun, too! The sim was created by AlmostWonderland (Almostwonderland Resident), who has ample experience with Second Life® commerce. Already a successful store owner on another avatar, she first had the inspiration to craft her version of Wonderland when she joined a fairytale themed hunt. “My other store is gothic and a little dark, so I ended up making an Alice in Wonderland type of item with a dark twist to it. I fell in love with the concept, and I
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have always been a huge fan of the various Wonderland movies so started adding more Wonderland items to my store. After a while, people seemed to respond to it so well that I ended up creating a whole line of products, moved it all to another avatar since some things really didn’t fall within the realm of my original store, and the rest, as they say, is history.” She’s by no means a stranger to the world of Wonderland, either. Almost Wonderland reflects its creator’s preferred spin on the classic tale. “Alice has always been a favorite character of mine. There have been quite a few variations on Alice over the years, but I played the original American McGee’s Alice game and also their latest Alice game: Madness Returns. That version of Alice - the crazy, demented and rather dark Alice is who I just love. One of my very first Wonderland themed products was my Bloody Mad Hatters Tea Party that I based largely on how I felt while playing those games.” When she first came to Second Life in 2006, it was basically because she was looking for something to do. That ended up being role play in the vampire genre. “I’ve since left that activity, and now I stay to create and enjoy my friends. I’ve made some great friends that I have grown quite close with, but that list is very small and tight.” She’s grown so close to one friend, in point of fact, that she married him. She shares their story best in her own words.
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“My biggest passions right now are my husband and my brand new baby girl. She isn’t quite brand new anymore, I suppose. She’s nine months old. But my husband and I actually met in Second Life five years ago. We ‘dated’ in the game for just a few short weeks before he flew across the country to come and meet me. I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary on September 21st, and our daughter’s first birthday is on December 3rd. They are my biggest passions outside of Second Life, but they started in Second Life.” Even with her own fairytale in her real life, she continues to create items to share in SL®. “My main focus is creating for the two stores that I own and creating items that you don’t find anywhere else and that spark your imagination... I really hope they just walk away thinking ‘I had a good time there and want to go back soon.’ I try to create things that while may be on a darker side, still make you feel good.” Of course, if they happen to walk away with a little piece of Almost Wonderland from the store and help with the tier, that’s good, too. So where does the ongoing inspiration for it all come from? “I watch a lot of Alice in Wonderland movies. Everything from the original Disney movie to the Tim Burton movie to the old knockoffs with bad acting jobs. They are all fun! When I get into a creative mood and want to create
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a Wonderland item, I go fire up the Bluray and watch something. At some point during the movie, something will catch my eye and give me an idea. I add it to what my assistant and I refer to as ‘the ipad list’ and work my way through it. I typically try to create something that people can roleplay with and interact with. I want them to have fun with the things I create.” “A lot of merchants have fantastic products to sell to the world and put them on display by just slapping a store down and calling it good. This is Second Life and the world is our play thing. If you give people a place to enjoy, to have fun and to explore they will stick around. Almost daily, I will get at least one person who sends me a message to tell me how much they love my sim. Rarely do they mention just one product. It’s usually the sim as a whole. So I would have to say my favorite part is hearing from the people who visit Almost Wonderland. To have it truly be appreciated is a great feeling.” In reflecting upon her greatest accomplishment with Almost Wonderland, she has to say it’s the fact that the endeavor has not only supported itself but has been profitable since the first month. “It was completely unexpected, but I’m very proud and humbled that people love the items enough to buy… my favorite part is actually the time you spend getting to the main sim. The first fall when you go down the rabbit hole is a quick
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fall down into the room of doors where the confusion starts. The effect going from big to small is also something I rather enjoy and get quite a few comments on. The giant chess board that is falling apart in the sky is the last room you hit before you take the door to the main sim area, and it’s simple, but it’s surreal. I have actually gone up there to greet people coming in and it’s a lot of fun.” SLURL: http://maps. secondlife.com/secondlife/ Mandi%20Isle/167/119/826 Blog: www.AlmostWonderland. com Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/AlmostWonderland
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Architecture & Interiors
Contemporary With a Twist Writer Cali Karsin Photographer ChooChoo Sierot
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t’s freshly vibrant, modernistic and contemporary, and full of detailed tasteful pieces; we are talking about One Grid, the upcoming brand you need to know about.
With clean lines, funky shapes, bright hues of greens, blues, reds, yellows, pinks, and wacky, artistic geometric furniture pieces like the Lowpoly Chair, One Grid is full of diverse items to choose from for all areas of your home, from the kitchen, to the dining room, bedroom, living room, and office. Some of the newest releases this season include The Adam Head, a unique geometric potted plant, The Vintage Lamps, which are brightly colored, with cone shaped lampshades, complete with a retro style, and a modern white tasteful buffet set. This was a quaint kitchen/dining area released in the Arcade Gacha event which would be just the perfect thing to touch up your kitchen area to make it your favorite hangout place at home. The designer behind it all, ChooChoo Sierot, says, “I’ve been creating since I rezzed here in Second Life®, and the opportunity to be creative is what motivates me to be here.” Seirot, who describes her brand as “unique, modern, and clean,” has created an array of products teeming with a modern decorative zing. Her recent projects include a custom shop build with simple yet detailed beige textures and lots of shop space, complete with a kooky geometric ceiling featuring pyramid shaped designs. Sierot is also in the works with her very own skybox which she describes as “a cozy home to hang out in.” With the release date still up in the air, she’s working very hard to make it perfect. The skybox
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features a rustic homey fireplace with worn bricks in the shades of brown, tan, and grey, and bright lime green as well as brown walls and ceilings accented with clean lines and finishing. The tan rugs display lots of detailed shading and realism, the ceiling sports uniquely shaped hanging lamps, and the puffy grey couch fills and completes the room. This is one release you don’t want to miss! Sierot uses baked-on textures created with Blender and Gimp and tries to stay away from premade mesh templates as she loves to work out problems of creating something entirely new and original. “I love the challenge to build and work it out - it keeps my brain running!” She loves using shadow texturing but understands that sometimes it can look odd with the different angles of lighting and shadows seen by residents in other viewers, so she is very mindful of that. Sierot is most proud that she always keeps One Grid going and that she is working on improving her craft day by day. When many other shops tend to come and go, One Grid stays and only keeps getting better. One of the best perks is that Seirot’s products are all reasonably priced, with a price range between L$50 to L$499. Considering One Grid’s high quality, uniqueness, and low primitives for premium land impact, Seirot’s creations area a steal! With contemporary style offering a twist of its own, One Grid can only move upwards and
onwards. Stay tuned about the new skybox release by joining the group, and stop by her shop on the Apple Fall sim to gain fresh artistic ideas to revamp your home and give it that fresh, modern and contemporary zest you might be missing. Visit One Grid: http://slurl. com/secondlife/Fall/213/65/24
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Landscape & Gardens
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icture erfect artnership
Writer Liat Reina Photographer Zazie
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visit to view the delights of [we’re CLOSED] plunges guests into a sensory experience right from the start. With a store design that utilizes minimalism, negative space and quaint country appeal, there’s little to distract from the quality on display. The design team of Wendy Xeno and Mandingo Quan didn’t initially begin their work together with visions of a store front, though.
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“It started with the sim, Hazardous. The idea for the sim was very specific and unique and due to that, we found that the items we wanted for the sim weren’t readily available in-world, which forced us out of our comfort zone of basic sim design and rezzing other creator’s products and making them look ‘pretty’, to having to learn to create and upload our own. Visitors to the sim often asked if any of the items were for sale, and we already had the idea of starting a brand together. It was a natural progression in our minds” The duo, who have each been in Second Life® for more than five years, don’t consider themselves artists. “We simply like to create and bring our ideas to life in Second Life, whether it is something that resembles real life or something that is seemingly impossible in the real world, making Second Life the perfect place to make that happen.” They take their inspiration from many sources in terms of the items they create. “Photography, traveling, movies and random things we both come across in our real lives (are things) we use as inspiration. We both believe that it’s important not to limit ourselves to a single direction but rather to ‘think outside the square’ and stay open to new ideas.” Indeed, even the name they selected for their business reflects their ability to remain open to ideas outside of the norm. “Hazardous was a very different sim when it
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was first opened, and we closed it down after about six months purely because I (Mandingo) wanted something different. The rebuild, which included a huge learning curve, had taken almost exactly twelve months to the day before we reopened it in February. During that time, friends and members of the group often asked when the sim would be open again, and after throwing what seemed to be hundreds of name ideas at each other, the answer was pretty obvious; the answer to that question was always ‘we’re still closed’. It’s how we came up with the now slightly shorter name of [we’re CLOSED].” Between them, they have steadily been building an eclectic range of items to enhance both the interior and exterior of any home. Their work has been tempting photographers to Hazardous, Humanoid and Neva River, just to name a few sims. So how does all this magic come about, you might ask? “Often, our initial ideas are just a starting point. The process of working out that idea usually leads to new ideas. Mandingo is the one who is good at sticking with an idea and Wendy often gets ahead of herself with new ideas, but we both like a challenge and enjoy seeing something through.” The initial draws for each of them to come to Second Life were just as different as the reasons they maintain residence. For Xeno, it was curiosity that drew her in; “The endless creative possibilities are what keeps me here.” Quan
happened across this virtual world by complete accident and adds, “… and often wonder why I stayed, but I certainly have no regrets.” Yet despite these two varying view points, they have formed a truly productive partnership. That, more than anything, they consider to be their greatest accomplishment. “The fact that we are two people living in opposite parts of the world with a different background, different lives, who can bring their likes, thoughts and ideas together into their creations is our greatest accomplishment. Perhaps the ability to combine that is our strength.”
Of course, there are other joys they have found through their work and a few frustrations they were willing to share. “We enjoy coming up with ideas and bringing them to life in a virtual world, working with 3D programs and Photoshop. We don’t enjoy the whole logistic side of having a store, keeping a massive inventory organized, managing requests and questions (sorry guys, we don’t always make that a priority), rude customers or visitors who sometimes forget they are visiting our homes when they visit our sims.” When asked to share some of their individual passions in their real lives, they again gave some ideas of the ways they differ. Quan explains, “A no brainer for me ... my family and all the time and experiences I have with them ... everything else is incidental.” Xeno elaborates on her own passions, stating, “Friends, traveling, photography, outdoor living, interior design, architecture and my brown Labrador dog are my passions.” Yet they both agree that in-world, they find their partnership and all that it has brought about to be of greatest value.
dynamic duo? “We’ve had an idea for another more abstract sim for a while now, and we have too many ideas for [we’re CLOSED]. And perhaps it’s about time to redesign Humanoid. But our time is limited at the moment.” While it may involve a bit of a wait, one only needs to take a stroll through the fantastic and evocative environments they have crafted to know that it will be worth it. In the meantime, there are many nooks and crannies just waiting to be discovered on the grid that have been enriched by pieces from [we’re CLOSED]. Whether a visit to one of their sims is meant for taking a new photograph, appreciating the scenery, or sharing a quiet moment with someone special, Quan and Xeno are certain to continue to deliver quality products and beautiful spaces. SLURL: http://maps. secondlife.com/secondlife/ Clapton/32/228/907 Marketplace: https:// marketplace.secondlife.com/ stores/140470
“The process of creating the store has been a challenging process with lots of highs and lows, mistakes made, and feelings of triumph when we learn, succeed, or create something new. What’s important to us is we are very proud of the store and even more so, what we have achieved together as a team.” So what is on the horizon for this
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Photography by Leah McCullough
Perspectives
Some More Novel Ideas Writer Huckleberry Hax
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ovember is with us again, the month in which hundreds of thousands of people each year turn their backs to orange-coloured October and sink all their free mental capacity into the writing of a fifty thousand word story. I’m talking about National Novel Writing Month, of course: a cocoon-like period of time out of which one emerges bleary-eyed and startled to find that Christmas has somehow arrived. I started in 2006, and I’ve only missed the finish line once since then. Actually, last year I was ten thousand words short by 30 November, but I did at least go on to finish that title and ‘AFK, Again’ – my fifth novel set in Second Life® – hit my virtual bookstore in March of this year. That’s a plug, by the way. You can buy it. Last year in this column, I had a lot of fun dreaming up potential SL® storylines for
novels. Unashamedly, I intend to do the same again here. I’ve long believed, after all, that the potential for metaverse fiction is vast (my meagre offerings are but a scratch across the surface). Here are just a few humble suggestions. Occulus Thrift. As the global financial crisis deepens, more and more people turn to the metaverse – now reborn through virtual reality headsets distributed through a government depression reduction initiative – to escape the poverty-stricken decay of their real lives. Bit by bit, society transfers itself into this second world: physical schools are deemed too costly to maintain and teachers face obligatory transfer to virtual equivalents; public transport is closed down in line with new policy that actually seeing in real life your friends and relatives is now a luxury activity. Finally, even, parliament itself is shut down as an unnecessary expenditure, 221
elected officials moving into a dedicated sim custom-built to include a 1000 square metre debating chamber and a 5000 square metre lobbyist parlour. Into all of this enter Aramatter Fisk, a young student of domestic history (specialist subject: Tupperware) who accidentally discovers a whole extra hidden world being developed by the wealthy elite. Thinking at first that he’s stumbled across a 1950s cold war experiment (a hypothesis that fits absolutely none of the available facts, but which appeals to him as a fan of the pre-1958 Tupperware sale to Rexall), Fisk attempts to open peace negotiations with the first residents he encounters. The Overlords – as they call themselves – take him immediately into custody and charge him with treason, but Fisk escapes by taking a plane to a rival faction within the same metaverse. Granted asylum, he then sets about the task of revealing to the world the true nature of its digital government; meanwhile, the Overlords impeach their President on the grounds that he didn’t do a good enough job of making the rival faction scared of him. Following a thrilling chase scene, the novel ends on an anticlimax when The People respond to Fisk’s news with a nonplussed shrug and comment that they’d pretty much figured something like this was going on anyway. Far from the Madding Prim. A novel set entirely in a single region called Wessex. Although a walk along the country lane that connects up East Wessex with
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West Wessex would take in real time about a minute, the narrative is padded out into a seven hundred page volume through the protagonist’s description of every prim he observes along the way. Every. Single. Prim. You’ve Got IMs. This metaverse RomCom (alternative titles: Sleepless in Second Life or Love Virtually) telling of the clichéd boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy runs into girl by accident a few months later at a hair fair and she can’t slip away because of the lag, girl turns out to be boy, boy turns out to be girl, boy(girl) and girl(boy) get married tale lulls the reader into a false sense of security four fifths of the way into the novel, then plunges him/her back into uncertainty at the shock revelation that both boy(girl) and girl(boy) are in their nineties. Somehow or another, through avoiding too many age-appropriate cultural references and by throwing in the odd mention of iPhones and Miley Cyrus, they have successfully given the impression that both are professionals in their twenties involved in IT startups. They arrange to meet in real life, choosing Brighton Pier as their rendezvous. When Adam(Felicity) realises that the chosen date clashes with his(her) scheduled hip operation, he(she) cancels the medical appointment, only for Mary(Bill) to then get offered a date for her(his) own hip operation because someone else cancelled at the last minute. In real life, Felicity hobbles painfully along the pier and eases herself down onto the empty
bench they were supposed to meet at. With just two paragraphs to go, the reader assumes all is lost, but then the agreed pass phrase is whispered from behind her and Felicity closes her eyes and smiles. The book closes on this happy, tear-jerker moment, although the astute reader will note that Felicity is still expecting at this point to open her eyes and see a man seventy years her junior. Possibly, this intellectual cliff-hanger will be debated in internet discussion forums. Possibly, it won’t. Downton Primley. Another attempt at a period SL novel. This time, the story revolves around Baldwin, a servant in the estate of Mr. Robert Primley, Earl of Lindham. In addition to managing the estate staff, Baldwin is also the Head Builder for this metaverse role-play affair. Not only must he see that afternoon tea is served on time, he also has to hunt down period appropriate textures every time Lady Primley decides that the china needs replacing. Whilst our hero struggles with his employers’ ever-increasing appetite for authentic mesh furnishings, he is witness to an illicit affair between the Earl’s visiting brother, Sir Marcus Primley, and nineteenyear-old chambermaid, Agnes. Four months later, Agnes comes down from the servants’ quarters wearing a second trimester pregnancy bump which she’s resolved to display at luncheon. Sir Marcus is visiting again, en route to his Cornish residence in Penzance, but this time he has with him his wife (who’s taking the advice of her
physician and leaving London for a short, restorative break of three months). Agnes plans blackmail. Baldwin tries to talk her out of it, knowing what the Earl’s brother is capable of, but the naïve young girl goes ahead with her plan anyway and is found hanging from her bedroom rafter the following morning (her account hacked by the evil Sir Marcus, who is in reality the CEO of a large Android software company). The novel ends on this tragic note, Baldwin musing philosophically, whilst he supervises the morning laundry, that Edwardian period role-play represents the top of a new slippery slope in society’s moral decline. Murder in Prims. Franklin Berkowitz, a deeply eccentric yet wildly successful designer of stateof-the-art mesh avatars, decides to give away his entire catalogue – including his next generation, full facial animation range, ‘AVXL’ – in protest against Linden’s new terms and conditions. He announces this plan to his real life and metaversian business partner, Mark Warburton, over a Martini in a piano bar in downtown LA. Warburton is aghast, for the AVXL range is set to take the virtual world by storm and earn them a ton of cash. When he realises Berkowitz is serious, he arranges to meet the following night to discuss the giveaway strategy (telling Berkowitz not to speak a word of his intention until they’ve had the chance to plan it properly). The next night, Warburton murders Berkowitz, making it look like a suicide. Enter Lt. Columbus, an
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Italian-American police detective who smokes cigars and wears a crumpled raincoat (and is legally distinguishable from any similar fictional detectives by a nervous twitch that presents whenever fish are nearby). Feigning incompetence at anything remotely digital, Columbus lulls Warburton into a false sense of security, then irritates the crap out of him by constantly turning up in SL to ask him questions about the metaverse. A typical exchange goes something like this: Columbus: This is your house, sir? Warburton: Yes, Lieutenant. Columbus: And you built it? Warburton: Every last prim. Columbus: This something. This something.
is is
really really
Warburton: There was something you wanted to ask me, Lieutenant? Columbus: Oh, yes, sir. Just a small issue. I have to fill out these reports, you know… Warburton: Of course. Columbus: I was just wondering… something I just can’t figure out about the gunshot… And this couch? You made this couch too? Warburton: Yes, Lieutenant, I
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made the couch. Columbus: Did I tell you my cousin makes real couches? Warburton: You didn’t. Something about the gunshot, you say? In the end, it turns out Columbus had Warburton identified as the murderer within three minutes of entering the crime scene from the position of the walnuts on the coffee table. The novel ends with our hero reaching a decision about what sort of gift to buy his wife as an anniversary present, a comedy theme threaded through the plot including one scene where he convinces Warburton to build him in prims a faithful replica of his own mantelpiece so that he can see what various ornaments will look like on it. Huckleberry Hax is the author of ‘AFK’ and other novels set in Second Life®. You can read his novels for free at www. huckleberryhax.blogspot.com
Featured Artist
Jewel Appletor Writer Lexie Jansma Photographer Jewel Appletor
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rt is a personal experience for both the audience and the creator. No two people will view the same piece of art that same way or have the same emotional response. An artist pours their heart and soul into each piece, striving to outdo their last painting, sculpture, or photo. They work to perfect years of skill and creativity, often shifting between media and combining them in new and amazing ways. One of these visionaries is Jewel Appletor. Her amazing, whimsical and detailed photography of doll-like creatures, dragonflies, butterflies, and flowers are visual feasts for the eyes as detail after detail comes to life.
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Appletor, originally from British Columbia, Canada, currently resides in Rhode Island with her husband, whom she met in Second Life©. She began her creative journey when she received her first camera at the age of fifteen. She is a self-taught photographer who has always been creative, having dabbled in many forms of media, including watercolor. Following the advice of a friend, she came to SL® and has never looked back. “In Second Life, I found a whole new side of my creativity to explore with prims and such. I started by exploring all the different sims and taking snapshots, playing with the windlight settings.” It was not long before people began to take notice of Appletor’s work, and she was invited to take part in photo competitions. Something began to change for Appletor in terms of her photography. “I decided that I wanted to be more involved in my photos than just a snapshot. I wanted my photos to tell a story more or less, have feeling, grab a person’s attention. So I started making the photo rather than taking a snapshot, like window dressing in a way.” Appletor’s imagination is limitless, and she continues to reinvent herself and her work. The items she chooses to work with help to influence the story she is telling. Her love of flowers and nature is very evident in her work. “I like to take a creation of something and find
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a different use for it. Make wings into a skirt, like my last photo for example.” Her work can take days to compose and create. The process, though, is both rewarding and well worth it. Another major inspiration that can be seen in Appletor’s work is her love of dolls; specifically, the Dollcoco avatar has influenced her work. “I like using the doll, actually, because I find her more interesting than the avatar. I don’t have to take the time to fix skin imperfections in Photoshop. The doll is adorable, I think.” Appletor is so in love with them that she will be purchasing the male version soon and begin to incorporate him into her work. It will be amazing to see what fun, creative, and capricious work she will create next. Of all of her work, Appletor says that her favorites are I Do and Stay Generous in Your Heart, as they have personal significance to her.
surrounds herself both in her real life and in her SL with those things that inspire her most. If you would like to follow Appletor’s fascinating SL photography you can do so by viewing her Flickr at http://www. flickr.com/photos/76341679@ N08/. You can also see her real world photography at http://www.flickr. com/photos/8751683@N04/.
Even in her off time, Appletor shoots photos of the outdoors and nature that surround her in Rhode Island. She never goes anywhere without her trusty camera. “I did that once and I felt naked, like I was leaving a child at home for the first time by itself; it was terrible.” Most of Appletor’s work is created inside of SL® and then transferred to Photoshop for touch-ups to backgrounds and some brush effects. The imaginative and chimerical nature of Appletor’s portfolio reflects her world. She
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Arts Feature
Unia: The Method to the Madness Writer Cajsa Lilliehook Photographer Ziki Questi
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drop cloth lays draped over a lifeless body. A shapely leg reveals her gender and a glowing pink box sits near. A click on the box reveals a message directing a member of the MadPea crew to place a tattoo on the dead body’s thigh. Nearby, another pink box suggests text to be added to a poster. Yet another pink box gives instruction on the sound volume. Such is the method to the madness of MadPea, the group of builders, animators and artists who have pushed the envelope of Second LifeŽ adventure farther than anyone. With the MadPea Crew drawing on talents from around the world, such simple communication methods are integral to keeping work focused and on track across twenty-four time zones and in multiple languages.
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Kiana Writer is the wizard behind the curtain at MadPea, writing the story and providing the leadership for this world-wide team. Her pink glowing boxes are a ubiquitous part of her modus operandi, so much so that for her sixth rez day, Writer was given a custom pink box cake. Complex projects involving dozens of people are inherently difficult to manage without the complications of language, different schedules and distance. However, Writer and the MadPea Crew have developed a way of working effectively despite the challenges. This has enabled them to tackle their most ambitious project yet. Unia, which will be opening in late fall, is an immersive story unlike anything you have seen before in Second Life®. It will combine the familiar clicking for clues, complex story animations, and even first-person shooter action sequences. Advances in SL® technology and scripting allow a much more immersive experience. Writer explains, “You will truly become the main character of the story and feel it. Path-finding, temporary attachments and smooth character animations are something you will see a lot in this game as well as high class motion capture (MoCap) animations designed especially for the game play.” Unia is situated in a flat, open prairie saturated with the familiar tropes of American horror. A
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dusty, dilapidated and derelict town suggests lives of quiet desperation, and old, weathered farms evoke a grim American Gothic flavor. There is an air of menace, enhanced by susurrating whispers from tragic ghosts and the wild song of the wind. That wind and the vast prairie brings to mind the young Letty of Dorothy Scarborough’s The Wind, who was driven mad by loneliness, drought and the incessant wind. Writer finds her inspiration in her dreams, and appropriately, Unia is the Finnish word for dreams. She explains, “I’ve been having nightmares ever since I was four years old. My first nightmare was about an evil rhino chasing me in the deep, dark woods. At some point, I learned to control my dreams, and they became these awesome action movies inside my head!” Many of the frights and monsters in Unia are the stuff of our nightmares. Unia is not just more ambitious than previous MadPea projects; it is literally bigger, expanded to two sims instead of one. Writer also enlisted a much larger crew than in the past. She is enthusiastic about the team working on Unia. “This time I’m managing a team bigger than I have ever had to do, and this team is full of the BEST of the BEST in SL. As well as the incredibly talented MadPea Crew (that keeps growing as well), we’re entering the genius minds of Bryn Oh, claudia222 Jewell, Alia Baroque, Jaimy Hancroft, Rebeca Bashly, Fuschia Nightfire and
Abramelin Wolfe. Working with these people blows my mind.” Writer has thought long and hard about what makes a good immersive adventure. The entire environment is part of the immersion process and has to help tell the story. In a written story, text is used to share the storyteller’s imagination explicitly. In an immersive story, the player is, as Writer describes it, more or less dropped into a book. “Everything has to be perfect and smooth so that the story does not get disrupted. Players don’t want to read long texts, they want to explore and you need to make sure how the story unfolds so that they get to digest all of it while they are exploring.” Writer was entranced by the magic of SL from the beginning, immediately recognizing its potential for storytelling. She knows that the more she engages people’s minds, the more deeply they will be immersed in the story. “I love to make people’s brains tick; it’s extremely satisfying to push the ‘I-want-it-all-and-I-want-it-rightnow’ people and make them work hard for their rewards. They yell at me and threaten me, but still play all the way... and thank me in the end.” A tour of the Unia work-inprogress provided insight into the development process. Of course, writing the story comes first blocking it out with storyboards. A village in its early development has snapshots of real life buildings
that serve as inspiration and guidance in capturing the essence of time and place that make the Unia environment so rich and convincing. A scene further along in development has a poster outlining steps and sequences that have to happen in that space. It describes the story and the essential scripting and build elements in detail, playing out the sequence step by step. As the build progresses, those pink boxes begin appearing, ensuring that no details are overlooked. It’s a massive build with an ambitious agenda and those pink boxes are the Sticky Notes™ that pull it together. Years of successful immersive adventures give weight to Writer’s enthusiastic assertion that Unia will be the biggest and the best work they have done, that Unia will be something completely new. One thing is certain - after visiting Unia, you will never look at rabbits the same way again. Unia, MadPea, and Immersive Storytelling: http://madpea. blogspot.com/2013/07/its-time. html The Drax Files: World Makers Interview with Kiana Writer: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=6WVDWILHOpw
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avenuesl.com