The 2022 SecondLife Snowball Fight

Each year there is now a “Lindens Vs Residents” snowball fight at some point in December, this years was yesterday.

In two sessions, each an hour long, of frantic activity both groups use the provided weaponry to bombard each other. I think in theory it’s meant to be some kind of Capture the Flag variant, but it really isn’t that organised. It is however a lot of fun!

Don’t worry if you missed the event though, you can still go to the region with your friends (or enemies?) and throw snowballs at each other to your hearts content.

Here’s a selection of snaps I took during the craziness. I did try to make a video of some of it, but my computer really didn’t want to cooperate sadly.

Location: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Winter%20Wonderland%205/113/7/31

The Candelight Processional

At the end of last week I attended the first of several performances of the Candelight Processional. This was the telling of the Christmas story in music and narration by Patch Linden. Whatever your beliefs regarding this seasonal story,the music works well with the lighting effects and the whole performance is beautifully presented and heart warmingly cheerful to watch.

There are a few more peformances leading up to Christmas the times and locations are as follows:

December 5, 2pm SLT – @ Wedcot
December 9 – 10am SLT – @ Wedcot
December 19 – 4pm SLT – @ Wedcot 

December 22 – 6pm SLT – @ XeoRealms — This special location will only be open prior to the show starting and will close to the general public shortly after the show. 

Wedcot, the American Gardens Theatre: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Real%20Dreams/120/234/101 

XeoRealms, the largest, last show of season: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Waters%20of%20Derlem/221/2…

Details from original Flickr post by Patch Linden.

Mnemosyne Island

I was recently exploring the a patch of Mainland I was considering purchasing, when a tour pod went past, I’d not been on one of these for years, so thought I’d see where it took me. I found I was on the “Historic SecondLife” tour, so I rode it for a little while until the pod car turned into a boat and took me out across the water to an island in the distance. As my boat got closer to the shore it announced “To our right is the beautiful Linden owned island of Mnemosyne. I’ll stop here for two minutes, for you to have a look around if you wish.” I certainly did wish, it looked very intriguing.

The isalnd had been there since the very early years of SecondLife, the About Land details reporting 2004. I had a little look around, the building seeming like somce kind of observatory with something akin to a projector displaying images of SL locations inside. On the opposite side of the island there’s a platform and a ladder back down to water level.

Once you’ve had a look around,you can either wait for a tour boat to come along, or rez your own water craft in the water next to the jetty on the West side.

Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mnemosyne/114/41/22

Outfit Credits:

You have been ejected..

Today I received one of those uncomfortable messages in my email:

“You have been ejected from..”

I always feel sad when I get one of these,though thankfully they’re rare. I can’t complain though, it was totally justified,if anything I’d have expected it sooner.

I did enjoy my time being part of the staff team at this particular inworld venue, but I hadn’t been able to put in the required time to stay on the staff.

It’s one of those cases where you think you can go back to it anytime, until the choice is taken out of your hands.

Header image credit: cartoonstock.com

The Carving

The fresh wounds were sore today,but they had to be endured. To try and alleviate the discomfort she would wear as little as she could get away with and stand in the sun after the marking ceremony. The markings didn’t half hurt when they were carved into her skin, revealing the dark flesh below, but they were what gave her power. So under the light of each new moon, the Elders set to work on her with the ritual knives, to replenish her magics potency. They had tried using tattoos on her skin,some of which still remained on her forearms,but they were not a fraction as effective as cutting the designs into her flesh.

Outfit Credits:

  • Wounds: [Cubic Cherry] {Tarnation} wounds BLACK – New Releae @ Necrocize
  • Face Mask:[Cubic Cherry] {Insight} mask BLACK R (bom) – Mainstore
  • Stockings: [Cubic Cherry] {Mellien} socks BLACK (bom) – Melody{SOUR} Event
  • Top: [Cubic Cherry] {Loomy} top metal ed. ONYX (mait. reg) – Mainstore
  • Pants: sixx . wraith – Kitrina Set – Panty – Maitreya – Necrocize
  • Forearm Tattoos: Lilithe’// Alcmene Tattoos – Fresh [LOWER] – Necrocize
  • Hair: Luxe Hair [Fatpack] by Raven Bell
  • Skin: Draco Silver – Fallen Gods Inc
  • Boots: Addams // Zoe Combat Boots // N*30
    • Lipstick: Knife Party // Halloween Lips Gift //

Esmeraldas visit to Amon Druin

Now that Halloween is past it’s time to continue exploring other places in SL and first on my list is the latest build by Camila Runo. This one is called Amon Duin and is described as an Elven Realm,which it certainly lives up to.

You arrive on a sea dock with a sunset lighting the sky (if you are using Shared Environment) which gives the place a beautifully mystical atmosphere.

As we’ve come to expect from Camila, the location is the right mix of areas to explore or hangout, without being too spread out, although this one does have quite a lot of stairs, the climb is worth it!

There is a little seating area on the way up that gives you a view of the landscape below.

When you reach the top of the stairs you come to a large area with a number of buildings to be explored with locations to relax, or perhaps even a little roleplay in the throne room or dining hall.

Elsewhere you might like the library with its staircase of books, can you climb it without falling?

Landing point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/River%20Hill/244/83/24

Update: Shortly after publishing, Camilla informed me that the region will be available for at least the next four weeks. So you have plenty of time to explore this lovely location!

Outfit Credits:

The We Love RolePlay event usually opens on the 4th of each month, so you may not be able to get there until then. I say “may” because somehow I was able to access the region on Halloween and I’m not an official WLRP blogger. (Which also means items I featured I did actually pay for.)

The Halloween Boat Party

This is the third and final post set in the Halloween Haunted Nieghbourhood  mainly because Halloween is upon us and the Halloween Shop n Hop is closing, so you won’t be able to get the freebies after tomorrow.

“Boat Party” the invitation had said, looking at this thing it’s surprising it’s even floating. This is not the venue she’d have expected for a supposedly respectably classy Halloween gathering. There were meant to be some influential community firgures attending, but it doesn’t look there’s anywhere here at all. As she enters there’s very authauntic green slime hanging from the ceiling, entering through to the main room there’s sigils on the floor that really do look too much like blood..did it just glow when she moved towards it?

Backing up she turns the other way out towards the jetty, which looks extremely rickery indeed.

Evidently no-one out here, maybe there’s a note or somethng inside, so she heads back in looks at the book on the altar..

“The moon is dark, and the gods dance in the night; there is terror in the sky, for upon the moon hath sunk an eclipse foretold in no books of men or of earth’s gods.”

Okaaay…definitely time to go!

Outfit Credits:

  • Outfit & Hat – [KH] Halloween Suit –  KH S&H (Freebie)
  • Hair: Sintiklia – Hair Tsveta GIFT – Sintiklia S&H
  • Eyeshadow: Replay Eyeshadow from TREND
  • Lipstick: Knife Party // Halloween Lips Gift // Evo X –Knife Party S&H Booth
  • Lantern: 2021 PIXEL BOX Design Holiday Shop & Hop Lantern
  • Head: LeLUTKA Avalon Head 3.1
  • Body: Maitreya 5.1

Photo Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Millbank/222/160/23

This post was featured on the Second Life Community Blog on 31st October 2022.

The Coven Meeting

Next up in my explorations of the Halloween Haunted Nieghbourhood is a very surprisingly interactive house you should definitely check out.

Arriving at the house the Vampire looks around wondering why this old place had been chosen for the meeting. She smells blood, maybe there’s snacks! The lights don’t seem to work so she picks up a lamp to see what’s here, a bloody mess greats her eyes. A human must have done this, her kind wouldn’t waste so much. It annoyed her, just the mess on the floor would sustain the average vampire for a week!

A noise comes from the next room and she freezes,the human must still be here, she would know if it was one of the Coven. The human is wearing jeans and a leather jacket, looking inside a fridge and hasn’t noticed her presence yet.

A few quick strides and she has her arm around his neck from behind and whispers menacingly in his ear  “Who’s your leige,fool? They need to punish you for the mess next door. You know we’re on strict quotas,all that splatter is such a waste!” Loosening her grip ever so slightly she listens to his pleading confused response, “Liege? Quotas? What are you talking about”! Pulling down the collar of his coat she sees no Clan or Coven tattoo on the back of his neck and swears. She can’t really have just walked into the house of a murdering psychopath and not a volunteer, can she?

She considers what to do,if she drains this human and is found out she’ll have gone over her quota, the penalty wasn’t worth it. Instead she decides to just do humanity a favour and jerks his head sharply hearing a crack,she steps back and lets the body fall.

Taking one last look at the scene before she goes, checking she didn’t touch anything since she entered, she heads for the door.

Pausing at the door she sees her mistake, there’s a nail missing from the house number, she’s at number 96 not 66. A few minutes later and 30 doors up the street her coven sister opens the door to the correct house “What kept you? The snaks are almost finished!”.

 

Outfit Credits:

  • Outfit & Boots: .::BE BOLD::. Blood Vamp – Be Bold S&H (Freebie)
  • Hair: Sintiklia – Hair Tsveta GIFT – Sintiklia S&H
  • Eyeshadow: Replay Eyeshadow from TREND
  • Lipstick: Knife Party // Halloween Lips Gift // Evo X –Knife Party S&H Booth
  • Lantern: 2021 PIXEL BOX Design Holiday Shop & Hop Lantern
  • Head: LeLUTKA Avalon Head 3.1
  • Body: Maitreya 5.1

Photo location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Millbank/152/219/23

 

The Vigil

Having collected a few outfits over the Shop n Hop and other events for Halloween, I thought I’d explore the Halloween Haunted Nieghbourhood for locations to photograph them, so this is the first.

Remember the Shop n Hop finishes on the 1st of November, so some of the items may not be available after that, so be quick!

Flipping the switch by the front door and no lights come on, she sighs and picks up the lamp sat on the reception counter and ascends the dark stairwell. She’s been told the room she has to attend the midnight Vigil is at the top of the stairs to the right, so she makes her way there. Presuming the room with bars and padded walls wasn’t her destination, she takes the *other* right into a bedroom that looks like it’s not seen a duster in decades. Taking a quick look around at the dirty room, she dusts off the least dirty chair, which happened to be a wheelchair, and sits to await the family or any others that might be attending.

The rest of the place was just as creepy on the way upstairs..

Outfit Credits:

  • Outfit & Boots: [JANGKA] SAMANTHA Outfit HALLOWEEN – Jangka S&H (frankly far too expensive at 700L$ for this pattern)
  • Hair: Sintiklia – Hair Tsveta GIFT – Sintiklia S&H
  • Eyeshadow: Replay Eyeshadow from TREND
  • Lipstick: Knife Party // Halloween Lips Gift // Evo X –Knife Party S&H Booth
  • Lantern: 2021 PIXEL BOX Design Holiday Shop & Hop Lantern
  • Head: LeLUTKA Avalon Head 3.1
  • Body: Maitreya 5.1

Photo Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Millbank/64/103/30

Halloween (S)hopping – The Green Witch

It’s that time of year again when we get all spooky dressing up in black, orange and other assorted themed colours. Which obviously means a trip to the Halloween Shop n Hop in SecondLife. Something that caught my eye as I was walking around was this green skin and it reminded me of something I learned recently.

I’d always wondered why costume makers portrayed “Witches” with green skin. There never seemed any sense to it; crooked noses, warts and such are plausible developments of old age,  but green skin?  While on holiday recently I visited the Witchcraft Museum in Salem, where I learned that the reason was simple: colour film. Apparently the green skin was due to the release of the film The Wizard of Oz in 1939. MGM Studios wanted to take advantage of the new technology of colour film in movies, so they made the witches skin green.  Just because they could basically.

The outfit is a mix of gifts and purchases with a little tweaking; the arm and leg fade tattoo layers come white and are tintable. These were needed because while the skin is great, purple patches at the wrists and ankles really didn’t work for the look I wanted.

Photo Location (at Shop n Hop): http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/9/130/52

Outfit Credits: