Today we are shining a spotlight on Severus7 XOXO, an open-format DJ who has been wowing Second Life and Twitch audiences with his infectious energy.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I found Second Life randomly through a YouTube ad while on bedrest from a foot injury I got in a basketball game. Since you can't do much with an injured foot, I was just bored and looking for stuff to do so I clicked the ad and here we are. I have been around for 5 years now!

How did you get into DJing in Second Life?
About a month in Second Life, I was casually hanging at a club one day and they had job openings for hosts and DJs. At the moment, I had no clue how the whole DJ thing even worked so I put in an app for a host spot. I started hosting for different DJs and working with them triggered my curiosity to dive deeper into the art of DJing. So I started researching and educating myself about the basic stuff. Like what software to use, how to match beats, how to stream music in SL, etc. Eventually, I got the hang of it and ended up applying for the DJ position to give my first and only DJ audition. The DJ manager loved me and I was accepted as a DJ. Since then I just fell in love with DJing more and more and never stopped. I ended up being invited to different events around the grid and slowly became addicted to it.

You also stream your sets on Twitch, how did you get into that and what are some of the advantages or challenges of DJing in SL versus Twitch?
I had no clue what Twitch was until a friend shared some DJ's stream with me. I was so amazed that the first thought was "Wow...I wanna do that too!". The idea of streaming simultaneously in SL and on Twitch, where virtual people can watch me DJ at the same time was so fascinating that I started researching how to stream and what hardware software I need. Still remember streaming my first DJ set on the study table with a very bad camera at the time lol.

Personally, starting out as a DJ on SL gave me a huge advantage on Twitch compared to people who just started from Twitch. I have met so many people that took them more than a month to be Twitch affiliates when they started. Whereas, my channel got affiliated within a week because I was getting good viewership due to my SL following. Twitch has its own advantages too. It has helped me connect and meet with many DJs and music artists outside of SL. You can make a lot of connections through Twitch and I'm blessed to have made some myself. Last but not least, Twitch is definitely another good platform to expand your following and make an extra income.

What are your favorite genres of music, and what mood do you usually go for when you DJ?
I'm an open format DJ, which means I love exploring and playing all kinds of music, from EDM genres to Hip Hop, and from Heavy Bass and Dubstep, which are my favs, to even kpop as of lately. But my first love will always be Dubstep. It's what I'm mostly known for, which is why my SL DJ group is called 'Severus Seven's Headbangers' cause we definitely love to turn it up, breaking rails and go hard. As far as it concerns my mood, one day you can find me playing some chill House vibes and the next day you will see me throwing down heavy bass and headbanging on my stream. I love to make it a musical journey for my crowd and even mix everything up in a set sometimes cause why not. 

Which venues do you regularly play at in Second Life and are there any upcoming shows Residents can see you at?
I DJ 3 times a week (Wednesday-Friday-Saturday) at a place called "The Dumpster". That is definitely the place to be if you want great music and to party hard. On Saturdays, there's a different themed event, at 8 pm SLT, with amazing giveaways sponsored by some of SL's hottest Brands/Creators for those best in theme. There are some more future events I'll be performing at. One of them that I'm really looking forward to is Smokefest 2! I was the closing DJ at Smokefest and that was an amazing experience so I know the next one is gonna be even better, so I am excited for that and I am sure you will be too!

How has Second Life impacted your life? 
Well, where do I even start? lol. SL has impacted my life in ways nothing else has. I can start with my passion for DJing and performing in front of people. Before SL, I had no clue what a DJ was, no knowledge about any DJ equipment or even EDM in general. I was just a nerdy Mechanical Engineer and then through my experiences, I learned about all these things that I'm doing right now. SL helped me find my calling! A year back I was working for an HVAC company in my city and now SL and Twitch DJing is my full-time job. Because of SL, I don't have to worry about missing my alarms in the morning and sleep whenever I want. Making a living through something I'm passionate about was always my goal growing up. There are many goals that I am working on every day but I am truly blessed in that regard.

Besides DJing, I have met so many amazing and talented individuals here. I wouldn't be where I am without my small circle of friends, who have stuck around from day one. These bonds have helped me through thick and thin and I'm forever grateful for it. The best thing I like about SL is you can be whoever you want to be without the influence of any RL social standards. 

Connecting with people from different sides of the world and accepting each other for who we are is amazing in my opinion.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
It's hard to name individuals but I would say a big thank you to the people who I had hosted for when I was basically an SL newbie. All of them plus the people who have collaborated with me over the years inspired me to learn new things and always helped me push past my limits. Most of my inspiration for the way I DJ comes from some RL artists like Excision, Virtual Riot, Subtronics, and Kompany.  Also, I get inspired every day by all of SL's creative individuals no matter if they are DJs, bloggers, or creators. I appreciate and get inspired by their art, hard work, dedication, and passion!

Where can people follow you to know more about your next shows? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
You can find all my links here: https://linktr.ee/itsSeverus7 
and I do encourage everyone to join my discord community to stay updated about future sets and events and also come hang with us!  

Thank you Severus7, for the addictive energy you add to the live DJ scene in Second Life!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Dixmix Source, a visual and musical artist and the curator of the Dixmix Gallery in Second Life, which showcases the work of other digital artists from around the world.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
After reading an article about Second Life, I logged in for the first time on a rainy day on November 10th, 2006. At first, I thought it was some kind of chatroom, but soon I discovered it is much more than that. 

You are the curator of the Dixmix Art Gallery in Second Life, can you tell us more about the Gallery, when you started it, and why you decided to curate a digital art gallery?
As soon as I rented my first land, a friend of mine gave me the “NYC loft.” At first, I uploaded some of my pictures, and then I invited other artists to have an exhibition in the place. Last December 2022, the DiXmiX Gallery celebrated its 15th anniversary!

Are you an artist yourself in either the physical or virtual world?
I’m a visual and musical artist in RL maybe that’s why I understood quickly the art scene in SL and some of our possibilities. I was a TV producer and believe me, to organise exhibitions and opening parties is nothing compared to a TV show or a movie documentary. Anyway, I take it seriously and always try my best to be supportive and positive with Artists. I am one of them and I like to treat others like I would be treated. For one year now I have been retired in RL and I like to travel so I reduced the surface of the gallery and the number of exhibitions to make time for exploring the physical world (without teleportation.)

Can you tell us about any upcoming art exhibitions, shows, or other events in Second Life that you will be involved with?
During March, we have EtaMae showing her last exhibition titled “See me.” Starting on April 8th, Catherine Nikolaidis will be back for her annual exhibition (title to be confirmed) and then later on April 24th with Akiko Kinoshi, we will perform our new Sound & Vision particle show titled “Shamanic Vision” at the Fantasy Faire.

Tell us about some of the artists in SL that inspire you, or whose work you admire.
I do love so much Maloe Vansant, she is a long-time friend and the SL artist I’ve been working with the most, like me she lives in Belgium. Just a few times more than Harbor Galaxy with whom I organised a big retrospective last Summer. Also, I have to tell you about Megan Prumier, an amazing builder and photographer with whom I have developed many projects over the past twelve years.

Maloe in the Gallery

Where can people see your work and follow your activities? Please share links to your sites, social media accounts, inworld groups, and slurls to locations inworld.
Here we go: 

• Dixmix Gallery LM: https://secondlife.com/destination/dixmix-gallery 
• Dixmix Gallery on Facebook
• Dixmix Source on Facebook
• Dixmix Gallery's fliers, the full collection on Instagram
• Dixmix Gallery Flickr Group
• Dixmix Source on Flickr
• DJ tunes 

Thank you, Dixmix, for all your contributions to the Second Life art scene!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Marly Milena, a creativist known as Niela Miller in the physical world. At the age of 88, Marly has been bringing years of her educational experience and expertise to build communities in Second Life!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I have been in SL since October 2007. I heard about it at a transgender event (The Fantasia Fair of Provincetown, Massachusetts) where I led workshops for years. One of the transgender community leaders, who is also in SL and was my initial mentor for all things SL, told me about it and it appealed to me immediately so I joined as soon as I got home! I just knew that, for a creative person like me, there would be many things I could do to transfer my skill set and experience from my physical life to Second Life. One of my first projects was facilitating support groups for transgenders in SL. Then I trained some facilitators from that community to take over.

How did you find the new user experience in Second Life when you first started? Do you have any tips for newcomers?
Having a mentor/guide made all the difference for me. I am pretty sure that, without that help, I would have been hopelessly frustrated. I strongly suggest that when new people come in, they are assigned to, or find, a personal guide to help them learn the ropes. It isn’t enough to provide self-guided orientations unless the person is very tech-savvy. The guide should also have a basic training in pedagogy as it applies to adult learners. Adults usually learn best by doing, not just listening to information.

Tell us more about your educational background and work experience and how that assists with the work you do in Second Life.
I combine many arts-based tools (I am an amateur musician, composer, singer, multi-media artist, actor, and writer) with my training and background as a Gestalt therapist, group facilitator, educator, humanistic psychology practitioner, coach, organization development trainer, and consultant. 

I have designed and implemented programs and offered training in a wide variety of settings ie corporate, non-profit, military, medical, religious, and more. For fifteen years, I was with a group called Associates for Human Resources in Concord, Ma. We went to many locations to do all kinds of programs and then, in 1984, I left to create my own business called PeopleSystems Potential. It still exists as a DBA although I am mostly retired and do the majority of my work now as a volunteer in Second Life. 

I also have a monthly Zoom class focused on Creative Process. It was a natural transition for me to bring in my hefty creative and pedagogical background to SL and not only design and implement a wide variety of presentations and interactive programs in a virtual world, but find collaborators and also create new organizations. 

Visit Butterfly Gallery in Second Life

How do you integrate symbolic modeling into your avatar's personal development? Can you elaborate on the two types of creative expression - theatrical applications vs shared creative expression and how you use them in Second Life? Any examples?
The best way for the viewer to get a sense of how I developed and used SymMod in SL is by watching my YouTube videos, which are linked from my website. The videos provide demonstrations in all three areas: Personal Development, Education, and Creative Expression. 

Music is a big part of your life. Tell us more about your music career and is this something you do in both the physical and virtual world?
I play piano and guitar, was a singer-songwriter for many years, and have an album called Songs of Leaving  (under my name, Niela Miller, produced by numerogroup.com) II. This is the LP album cover. I am a teenager in Washington Square Park in NYC where all the folkies played.

I also started performing when I was very young at the great Catskill Folk Festival (and others).

I also have a one-hour video of a concert of all my piano music and some separate albums as well played by other pianists. As one teacher clarified, “You are a composer who plays piano, not a pianist who composes!" They are available at the Marly Milena Music Library in SL at the Community Virtual Library. We are collecting music and performers at the library and it is currently being administered by Katsii Tennen (known as CATS) who is my program manager and the Acting Director of the music library. My musical activities have been steady my whole life but not as a professional, just as a lifelong hobby and love. 

In SL, I have had my music streamed in/performed by Tip Corbett, also a composer and professional musician who has done improvisations to some of my pieces, and also by Ari who plays piano collections at many venues and events in SL.

We do a program called Improv: Musicians and Artists where we have one of each improvise to each others’ creations.

Featuring piano performances by Molly Lozeau and Justin McCarthy for Marly’s 85th birthday.

You are also an artist. Tell us more about your art, which art mediums you use, and do you sell your artwork in RL or SL?
Again, this has been a lifelong pursuit of mine but not as a professional. Anyone can go to my art page on my website and download copies of my mixed media art. I also have a Padlet page with art I have done for classes or on my own. I take classes on a regular basis in drawing, mixed media, and collage. Once a year, I am in an exhibit at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts in Concord, Ma. I have the soul of an artist and, therefore, would be doing some form of art as long as I live. Money has never been a motivator for art-making. I earned my living with my therapy, teaching, and training skills. I just happened to be able to incorporate arts-based tools into those processes! 

See more of Marly's art

You have a group called Octagon in Second Life, can you tell us more about this group? 
The full name of the group is Octagon:Creative Exploration and we offer programs just like the title indicates. One is called Visions of Self for those who want to experience SymMod for their own personal insights. One is a training program for those who want to learn how to use SymMod with their constituents. One is a theater program called Shakespeare’s monologues which combines speeches, costumes, Symbolic Models of the characters, and audience interaction (ie what is the archetype represented by x character which shows up in contemporary life?) I also do a lot of presentations for groups like Nonprofit Commons, Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable, and conferences in SL.

Visit Octagon Cinema Grove in Second Life

Are there any other current or upcoming projects or events you are working on in Second Life?
I have been doing ongoing groups in personal development and intuitive education for almost as long as I have been in SL. The current group is called “Beneath the Waves.” We explore all sorts of Ways of Knowing beyond our primary consciousness.

Different people facilitate based on their interests. VOS (Visions of Self) will be offered again in April. For all inquiries about my workshops and presentations and Octagon programs, please contact my Program Manager, Katsii Tennen (known as CATS in SL.)

I am also very involved in the growth and development of VWEC and am on the board. We keep evolving and doing all sorts of projects. We are working on bringing in as many educators and institutions as we can find who can see the value of teaching and learning in virtual worlds.

I will be doing a few programs for the upcoming VWBPE Conference. The full program can be found on their website. It runs from March 23rd to 25th .

Visit the Marly Milena Music Library in Second Life

Where can people learn more about you and see your work in SL or RL? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
I am on Facebook and LinkedIn as Niela Miller.
My comprehensive website has all of my information: peoplesystemspotential.com

I am also always open to collaborations and especially finding people who want experience and training in Symbolic Modeling.

Thank you, Marly, for being an inspiration with all of your community-building work in Second Life.

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Semiiina, a talented live singer and musician taking the virtual music scene by storm with her soulful performances that blend a range of styles and influences.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I've been in Second Life for 10 years! I first heard about it from my friends. I had just gotten back to Sweden after playing music in the states for a while. My friends thought SL would be a great way to keep in touch and still hang out over the pond. 

They eventually got tired of SL but the vampire world sucked me in together with the art, creativity, and the different communities. There was something about always being one teleport away from the next adventure and getting to know people from all over the world that kept it interesting for me. However, I've been a human for years now! haha!

How did music become such an important part of your life?
Music never "became" an important part of my life, it was just life. My mornings as a kid always started with walking straight to our black piano in the living room. I would sing a note with my tiny morning voice and then press down the key I thought it sounded like on the piano. I didn't always get it right back then but I do now.

Saturday trips were to the record store. Dad and I spent hours listening to music in crappy headphones that were attached to the wall. You skipped tracks until you found something that spoke to you and if it was a good Saturday, you even got to buy a single to bring home.

My bedtime stories were reading sheet music by Debussy, Chopin, or Liszt and the fairy tale stories I was told were the life of David Bowie and The runaways mixed with the artwork of Andy Warhol.

When I was playing with my girlfriends we all wanted to be princesses. My princess was always called Edie Sedgwick. Pretty alarming looking back at it now!

Do you write your own songs and/or compose your own music? Do you play any instruments?
I do! Quite a lot! I haven't done any shows in SL yet with only original music but I'm planning on it. I play the piano, guitar, bass, and harmonica; and I also DJ.

How would you describe your music, and who are some of the musicians who have influenced your style?
How I would describe my music is always the hardest question for me. The way I deal with everything that comes with being a live musician (SL and RL) and me being an introverted extrovert is to stick to my part.

My part is to perform and do every creative thing that pops up in my mind and not question it or what it sounds like, am I good enough? What do people think of me? Is this a good song choice? I just follow the creativity and the flow.

If I step out of my part, I would probably go insane. However, I guess I could describe the music as "Chamelionic." In both worlds, I like to jump between genres and not stick to the same thing.
It goes from Indy to Jazz to showgirl to pop to electronic to acoustic to a beautiful classic piano to singer-songwriter. Most shows I do in SL are acoustic with piano/guitar and vocals.

Musicians that have influenced my style are definitely Björk, Marina, Bon Iver, Fever Ray, Soko, Lykke li, Lana del Rey, Birdy, and the list goes on and on and on.

When did you start performing in Second Life, and what venues or shows can people visit to hear you sing?
This is my third year as a live performer in SL! I play all over the grid so it's hard to mention only a few. It's been a tradition for me to play at the Second Life Birthday Event, Fantasy Faire, and Rezz Room & Versovs’ ugly Christmas sweater party.  

Posters come out every week on my Facebook, in my in-world group, and on discord so the best way to catch me is to join any of my social media groups.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Bryn Oh is my number one inspiration. She is an amazing artist in both worlds. I've been amazed by her work since my first week in SL. Bryn was also the first one to ever give me a stage to perform when others turned me down because I had no experience in performing in SL. She didn't have to do that for me at all being a stranger at the time. Her heart is kind and she has a way of telling a story through her art that I've never seen before.

Another inspiration is Tye Dinzel-Easton and Gabriel Easton. They literally saved us all from boredom during the pandemic. Together with their High Life destination team, they put together the most amazing resorts in SL with the best RP activities you could ever imagine. I had the privilege to perform at their Vegas sim together with the Dollhouse dancers. They put up a whole vegas show! Just by being in their creative and passionate presence inspires me so much.

Every creator inspires me, every artist inspires me, photographers, models, DJs, designers, bloggers, event creators, and kind people in general. There is so much creativity to be found in Second Life and so many opportunities to go all in on what you're passionate about. Whether that be hunting for blood, running a venue, performing live music, or just simply having a conversation with a stranger on a wooden mesh raft in the middle of the Blake sea.  

Where can people follow you to know more about your music and shows? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

• Facebook  
• Discord  
• In world group: secondlife:///app/group/7ebe3807-5ae8-25bc-2d9c-2fd58e34d24a/about 
• Soundcloud  
• Spotify  

Thank you Semiina, for adding your voice to the live music scene in Second Life! 

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Apple Dismantled, a talented 2D artist seamlessly combining art mediums and bringing her digital art into Second Life.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I first heard about Second Life in 2004 from a friend. I signed up, realized how much money it took to get set up properly, and never touched it again…. Until 2009 when I decided that I was interested and wanted to play again. I ended up making a whole new account and I have been here since.

You are a real-life artist, can you tell us what kind of art you create and what are some of your favorite art mediums?
I tend to lean towards the abstract realm of art for the most part. My favorite mediums for 2D art are Acrylic, Watercolor, and Fountain Pen Ink. I also dabble in digital artwork and make some pretty neat mandalas. Most of my artwork in Second Life is Fountain Pen ink as I have found that’s one of my favorites because, with simple chemical additions or techniques, you can make it react in a variety of ways and get some interesting final pieces. Though I will admit that there are plenty of failures along the way, it is still all a part of constantly learning. I’ve also done all types of other types of art in Real Life too. If you name it, I’ve likely tried it, or want to.

The piece that started it all, Dissolve, in progress

Tell us about some of the artists or works of art that inspired you to become an artist.
In real life, my art taste is all over. I can clearly remember the first piece of artwork I became very interested in because I had a moment of “You can really do anything” was Edgar Degas “The Little Dancer” where he combines a whole heap of materials for a stunning final piece. (That tutu though was what first caught my eye) However, I’m the kind of person that can look at most any art piece and find something about it that I really like and inspires me. Art is subjective and I like being able to offer my art as abstract with the song that inspired it and letting the person make their own journey. I don’t like to present my art with a clear strict message on how to consume it, I present it in a way that allows the person to take it however they want, or leave it. The journey can be different every time too depending on your mood and where your mind is at. 

You also bring your art into Second Life, how does your RL art experience translate to your SL art experience?
This is a tricky one to answer as I’ve never really had the opportunity to present the art I offer in Second Life in Real Life in a gallery capacity. I did make a website that was a gallery of my art with links to the music for each piece, but the cost was a bit intense to maintain and I just felt like nobody really understood it so I got uninspired and let it go. I feel like Second Life offers me more freedom in how I present my artwork and I can present it in a gentle way to where like anything in Second Life, people can make their own adventures.

What art communities or groups within SL are you connected to?
I’m not really connected with any outside of Curated Event.

Do you have any helpful tips for new emerging artists?
Don’t base your idea of success on other people’s opinions of your work. 
Stay Weird. 

Are there any other projects, activities, and events you are involved with in Second Life?
Outside of the few events that I am in with my artwork, I have been a DJ in Second Life for over a decade and used to do 2-4 sets a week, now I tend to do one-off events here and there at places like Leviathan Bay. I was also involved with the art side as well as DJ’n at an event called Smokefest which was pretty rad and I’d love to see more and get involved in larger music events like that in Second Life. As for other stuff, I’m honestly not doing a ton in Second Life currently, however, I’m always on the lookout for more fun things to help however I can.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
I am lucky enough to be surrounded by a plethora of artists in a variety of mediums and expressions and every single one of them in their own way inspires me. Whether it be seeing the cool stuff they do and being able to gas them up and in return, it inspires me to do cool stuff too, to when you get those compliments from creators and artists you admire and it surprises you because not only do you realize they know you exist, but they think your stuff is cool too! Second Life is full of artists because it’s a completely blank canvas that residents have built up over the years. It's become not just a virtual world but an entire interactive gallery you can enjoy however you’d like.

Where can people see your art? Please share links to your inworld galleries, sites, and social media accounts.
Well, if they DM me I’m more than likely to show whatever WIP I have going. But really, just keeping up with my Second Life Flickr for all I do here in Second Life. I am also currently working on an Art Facebook Page as well as a Youtube channel where I post videos occasionally. 

• InWorld Gallery  
• Satellite Gallery at Leviathan Bay  
• Flickr  
• Facebook  
• YouTube

Apple is also generously giving out a piece of her Art for free at her gallery to celebrate this Spotlight Feature. It will be available until March 31st, 2023. Teleport over to pick it up today! 

The Art of A. Rose aka Apple Dismantled

An interactive gallery of Real Life artwork and the music that it was created to and inspired by. New art is added often.

Visit in Second Life

Thank you, Apple, for adding your talent to the vast art community in Second Life!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Teal Aurelia, a fantastic storyteller that creates uniquely edited machinima incorporating exciting visuals that engage and inspire the viewer.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I was an Alaskan living in Thailand in 2009, and SL was the platform that my local friends socialized on when it was too hot to go outside. I miss that level of RL/SL overlap, honestly. I'd love to see metaverse platforms become mainstream community space.

I've bounced in and out of SL since then. I joined the Flickr community last year to practice Photoshop edits, and it made me realize that I'd never seen an SL video edited as heavily as photos. I figured I'd try. 

You’ve been creating stunning machinima, do you have a background in video editing and what kind of tools do you use?
I just graduated with an animation degree last summer, but I plan to specialize in post-production. My university is known for its traditional animators, so if I wasn't drawing, I was in a stop-motion studio working with physical rigs and cameras. I use Toon Boom and TVPaint for 2D animation, Nuke and After Effects for compositing, Premiere and Avid for editing, and the cheapest sketchbooks to draw in. I didn't plan on learning CG or visual effects. 

I think that sometimes the universe shoves us unsubtly towards the right circumstances for our evolution. The pandemic shut down my campus for a year, so I veered into CG character-modelling and animation in Maya as a sidequest. I didn't expect to fall in love with environment design, or that my grad film would involve landscapes with 40,000 trees that would take impossibly long render, or that those things would force me to film on green screens and learn proper post-production. 

I create machinima because it allows me to skip straight to the parts of filmmaking I adore. That wouldn't be possible without all the creators whose work I utilize for characters, props, and sets. Brands like Doux, The Forge, and Swallow have supported me from the beginning, and I might have stopped filming after one video if not for the force of their kindness and creativity behind me.

Your machinima is a mix of Second Life and other virtual worlds and gaming platforms, what inspires you to blend all of these elements?
I think if you asked SL photographers why they do what they do, a lot of them would say they enjoy editing. That's also why I film. Compositing SL avatars into other game environments may sound lazy, but it takes skill. It's the same skill that puts monsters and superpowers into live-action movies, and if it's done well, it sells a film. It's what I want to do for a career. If I can convince you that an SL avatar belongs in a non-SL environment, it means my editing is okay. It's a process of stitching two worlds together with color and light. 

My latest video for Signature is shot entirely in SL with sets from Fanatik Architecture, but I still filmed the avatars against green screens. Separating characters from backgrounds allows me to create an army from a single avatar, to make buildings collapse realistically, and to layer effects. When I edit, I learn, and it improves my worth as a freelancer RL.

Fantastic storytelling is a significant part of the draw in your machinimas. Where do you come up with your ideas and how long does it typically take you from concept to execution?
I dreaded this question! A one-minute film currently takes me about a month to complete. I use the same pipeline as I would for creating a RL film or commercial, so I typically spend 40% of that time in pre-production (researching, storyboarding, figuring out the animation, testing lighting, arranging sets), 10% filming, and 50% in post-production. Add an extra week for things to go wrong. 

To apply that to my recent Signature film, I didn't just log in and start filming on day one. Raph Dirval was really supportive in allowing me to run with whatever concept I chose, and I knew I wanted a film that could showcase how naturally-expressive Signature's mesh heads are. I needed a story with anger, with sadness. Those emotions have always been tricky to portray in SL machinima. I'd experimented with animating Lelutka heads in a previous video, and was confident I could push it even further for this Signature film. 

"Though victory's proof of the skill you possess, defeat is the proof of your grit," is the beginning of the Edgar Albert Guest poem that became the concept for this film. I wanted a main character who'd lost everything and faced horrible odds, but stood up and fought back. I think everyone can relate to that feeling of being crushed to dust but choosing to reignite.

See the Signature video on the Second Life YouTube channel submitted by Teal for Spotlight:

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
I made a video called "Artists of SL" which features a few of my influences. It was really a thank-you to some of the creative giants I've learned from. Tutorials by Anya Ohmai and Strawberry Singh got me started in Photoshop. Artists such as Emeline Laks and Panda Banana showed me that it's possible to tell a story in a single frozen moment. A movie is just thousands of those moments squished together, so by understanding how photographers like Panda and Eme create remarkable images - the composition, lighting, posing, colour - I become a better filmmaker.

For videography, Vrutega directs really complex cinematic scenes with an insane level of artistic technique. Godiva (Riqan Resident) has knowledge and perfectionism that make me feel less alone in how much time I spend on pre-production. Any Bergan, Lipe Vortex, and Kelie Ladys make incredible commercial videos showcasing products and events. 

ColeMarie Soleil's audio-visual alchemy for events like The Engine Room and Midnight Order reminds me that art should be a shared experience, even in a virtual space. She has such a genuine way of bringing creative people together. 

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
Flickr   
Facebook   
YouTube   
Instagram   

Thank you, Teal, for your mesmerizing visuals and endless inspiration.

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Sage Absinthe Oatsmill, a multi-talented creator bringing inclusive avatar components, decor, and destinations to the grid! 

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I've been a Second Life resident for a little over ten years. I discovered it through researching virtual worlds at the time. It was number one on the "Top virtual worlds of 2012" list on some tech blog. I've always been fascinated by virtual worlds, MMORPGs, and other metaverse continuums. 

You have a store, Mura, where your creations range from unique food, to hair, and other avatar accessories. How did you get into Second Life content creation and what are some of your favorite items you’ve created?
Although I launched Mura in September 2021, I've dabbled in content creation previously. I launched two clothing stores - Chloe in 2014 and Audace in 2016. Since I needed to gain the skills to mesh and create my own content from scratch, I purchased full perm meshes of clothing and worked to give them some really unique textures. Unfortunately, I decided to close them both when I took a hiatus from Second Life in 2017. I came back in 2020 during the pandemic. After reacquainting myself with Second Life, I decided to learn how to make original 3D content. I took a class by an amazing creator, Mesh Kitti, which lasted about two months. I felt that was all I needed before launching my first original mesh product, which was the Jollof rice set. Some of my favorite items that I've created are:

1. Seafood party platter
2. North African Mezze Platter
3. Interactive Cocktail Set
4. Nigerian Buffet
The common denominator of these products is that they're meant to bring people together through food.

You are also an incredible photographer and machinima artist, along with being the Marketing and Digital Director for Sage & Crystals Magazine in Second Life. Do you have a background in videography, photography, or magazine work?
I have a real-world background in all three. Years ago, I worked at Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine's editorial features department, among others. This experience helped inform my knowledge of the production flow of an issue. Currently, I'm a commercial director and photographer, working with fashion, tech, and entertainment clients.

After all of that, you also run Teranga City in Second Life. Can you tell us more about this destination? What inspired it? What are the different venues Residents can find there, and are there regular events they can attend?
It's a funny origin story, but I started working on Teranga while I was sick and bedridden from COVID in real life (April 2022), but I still wanted something to do to keep me busy. It took about six months to complete. I wanted to create a slice of my family's home countries (Senegal and Morocco). I never really saw a sim or community on Second Life that accurately depicted modern cities of North and West Africa. There's the representation of historical depictions or things like safaris, but that's not the actual reality for millions of people on the continent. I intended to create a space for everyone of all backgrounds to enjoy, explore and connect with the culture. In addition, I wanted to provide a hospitality destination with this same ethos, so I created Al-Mouna Resort, which takes up a little more than 1/4th of the sim. I custom-built the resort's main building and landscaped and decorated the sim with the help of my Second Life family members, Zoeynova Oatsmill and Zai Starchild, who are also phenomenal decorators and developers. 

There are so many things to do in Teranga. As I've stated, there's Al-Mouna resort which has a bathhouse, a spa and wellness center, a self-serve buffet, a beach, pools, and soon a MyStory-compatible restaurant. But, this is only accessible to guests that rent a room or villa. On the rest of the sim, which is open to the public, there's Absinthe Club and Lounge, La Galerie Mall, which hosts the Dancing Robot arcade, a food court, an apothecary, Lucien's Jazz Bar and Lounge, and La Tois de La Teranga, a rooftop club, and pool. There's a Souk (traditional North African market), a beauty salon, a cafe, multiple eateries, a museum specializing in African diaspora art, and Mura, my mainstore. We have regular events at Absinthe lounge, where folks can dance and enjoy salsa and Afrobeats music. Monthly, we've had Layali Troupe, a belly dance entertainment group perform, as well as Semina, a talented live singer.

Tell us about some of the other Creators in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Many creators inspire me so much, and the list is terribly long. As you've noted, I dabble in various creative modalities, so I can attempt to categorize those who inspire. As a content creator, I'm most inspired by Lucas Lameth, who is a wonderful and talented creator and a kind and generous person. His work and artistic style are unique and some of the best I've seen on the grid! I'm constantly drooling over his mesh food releases. 

In the realm of videography, I'm most inspired by Sere Vene, who released their short film "Magazine" about two years ago. I was in awe when I saw this piece for the first time. At this point, I've only been creating videos for six months. Nevertheless, it was one of the best-executed shorts I've seen in Second Life at that moment. The way each sequence transitioned into another, the editing, the costume and set design, the animations, and the sound engineering all made it so extravagant and special. As someone who mainly focuses on music video machinima, all of those aspects are so important to capture effectively in a small period of time.

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
People can find all of my links through my linktree.

Watch this amazing machinima submitted by Sage.

Thank you, Sage, your work is truly inspiring!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on BadUnicorn, also known as Bhad Craven. This creative innovator brings fun and interactive content to the Second Life grid!

Artwork of BadUnicorn’s Second Life avatar by artist Nylon Pinkney

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
In 2012, as a young art student, I was captivated by a funny YouTube video that showed a large group of avatars talking and having fun in Second Life. Intrigued, I showed it to some friends, and we gave it a try, roaming around causing mischief and talking with players from different backgrounds and countries.

When I discovered that Second Life was pre-installed on the work computers at college, I took the opportunity to log in alone and was struck by the immersive experience and sense of community within the virtual world. Since then, I have been a dedicated player of Second Life, actively creating and contributing content to the platform.

You’ve been making immersive content in Second Life for many years, how did you get into content creation and what are some of your favorite items that you have created?
Upon my arrival in Second Life, the community was buzzing with excitement over the transition from prims to mesh. I had a background in 3D art and design, knowing the basics of mesh and texture creation. I saw this as an opportunity to improve my skills and used Second Life as a platform for self-teaching and experimentation.

Some of my favorite creations are:
- My product unboxer/unpacker. I love branding and packaging design, and I had a blast turning a boring cardboard box into something fun and practical. I also incorporated it into my new logo.
- Penalty Game, a 2-player football/soccer shootout game. I really enjoy making animated and interactive products.
- Chonky Corn, a thick huggable plushie. I love creating cute and silly characters, especially since Animesh arrived. It has opened up so many creative possibilities!

Your content is very fun, creative, and interactive - how do you come up with your ideas, and do you do all of the animations, scripting, and creating yourself?
Thanks! I'm not really sure where my ideas come from. I visit a lot of art exhibitions and galleries, so I think that could play a big role in my inspiration.

I run the store by myself, and I also create all the meshes and textures. The animations and scripts I use are usually custom orders, but I'm lucky because Second Life has a lot of talented animators and scripters who help bring my creations to life.

Cravone City recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary in Second Life, can you tell us more about your involvement with this region and what can Residents expect when visiting there?
I have co-owned Cravone for many years with my friend Capone Macamorgh, way before it became Cravone City. Initially, it was just a place to house our Mainstore buildings. However, In 2021 we wanted to do something a little different for the community. That's when we found Paradox Ivory, the talented sim designer behind 'The Apartments & Tokyo Street'. We shared our ideas with her and she brought them to life, creating a stunning and functional space that exceeded our expectations.

Cravone is made up of popular brands such as Animosity, Bad Unicorn, Baka, Hevo, and Scotch. Overall the sim offers an immersive experience with various beautifully crafted urban locations. The sim is made up of custom-made meshes and prefabs, creating a unique space we are all proud to call home. Words cannot do justice to the level of detail and craftsmanship that has gone into creating Cravone. To truly appreciate its beauty, you must see it inworld. We are constantly updating the space.

You’ve also expanded your content creation to OpenSea, can you tell us how and why you decided to venture out to the NFT world?
As a 3D artist in Second Life, I ventured into the NFT world to showcase my work and reach a wider audience. I am deeply intrigued by the concept of NFTs and believe that verifying ownership of digital creations is crucial to the future of art. In my opinion, Second Life was the origin of NFTs, as it allows the creation no-copy permission items that can be kept, displayed, or resold.

I started my journey by creating collectibles called "Boops" and listing them on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace. This was a great experiment to gain an understanding of the NFT process. I have plans to create new collections of one-of-a-kind pieces and take my art to the next level. Exciting things are in store, so stay tuned!

Tell us about some of the other Residents and Creators in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Over the years, I've met some pretty amazing people, but two that stand out to me are Mikel Monk and Capone Macmoragh.

Mikel is a jack-of-all-trades, owning The Men's Department, Anthem Event, and the store Bueno. He inspires me with his hustle and determination, not to mention his thriving art career on the side. He's a true inspiration.

Capone, who owns Scotch and co-owns Cravone, was a mentor to me when I was starting out. He gave me tips and tricks when creating meshes for the platform. He even teaches classes on mesh and texture creation, that's something I'd love to do someday too. 

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
All my links can be found on my linktree: linktree.com/badunicorn

Watch this creative video submitted by BadUnicorn
Video production by Kelie Ladys 

Thank you Bhad for all the innovative content you bring to the grid!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Gianni Broda, the talent behind David Heather, a high-fashion luxury brand in Second Life.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I have been in Second Life since 2006. I first heard about it while playing There and I became curious enough to check it out for myself.

How did you get into Second Life content creation?
I got into content creation because of my love for fashion. I had done research on Second Life before I joined, so I had already decided I wanted to be a designer inworld.

You make incredibly gorgeous high fashion designs, do you have a background in fashion or 3D creation in the physical world?
I don't have a background in fashion. Being a designer has just always been a dream. I am actually a Graphic Designer who specializes in publication designs for the fashion industry. That's as far as my connection goes, unfortunately.

How has Second Life impacted your creativity within the fashion industry and are there any RL fashion influences that affect your work in Second Life?
Fashion is a big part of how I became good at magazine design in RL. I have studied magazines so much that it comes naturally to me when I'm doing publication designs. I have always been inspired by creations from Mugler and Korean and Japanese couture in general.

Tell us about some of the other Residents and Creators in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
I am a really big fan of Deadwool. His quality is amazing and his eye for detail is really impressive. I admire his work and hope to get to that level one day.

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
Flickr  
Instagram 
Facebook 
David Heather Mainstore

Thank you Gianni for all your years of stylish contribution to the Second Life fashion community.

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Aurora Mercury, a community-building YouTuber that creates high-quality diverse content in Second Life!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I have been in Second Life since 2008 on an old account. I heard about Second Life through an episode of CSI where they were trying to find a killer who was playing Second Life. I was so intrigued as I had always played slightly similar games like Sims and wanted to know what it was. I googled it and saw it was a real virtual platform. I created an account and was instantly addicted. In my previous account I was mainly doing fashion modeling, I joined modeling schools and even became a tutor for a short while. Real life took over and I didn’t login for 10 years. The short story of it, I couldn't remember my login details and had no choice but to create a new avatar and that's where Aurora was born, who is now nearly 6 years old. 

Second Life allows you to have that escapism from your day-to-day in real life. It is also a platform that you can use to manifest your dreams. I have seen so many people who have used their talents from real life to create businesses in Second Life and vice versa. It is not just any old game; it is the original metaverse platform that has the potential to achieve a lot in the future.

How and when did you get started with your blog and youtube channel, and what sorts of topics do you like to cover?
I used to film for events and performances back in 2018 and upload them to my YouTube channel (I have removed them now due to copyright). I then started to take a different angle and began filming my experiences and journey in Second Life in 2021. I was inspired by SL youtubers like Quincy Robin and Meela Vanderbuilt who are women of color like me and share their experiences, skills, and vlogs in Second Life. Being that I own a women's community called Sisters in SL, I saw that I had a skill of communicating with people of all cultures by just being me. I create a mixture of videos exploring Second Life, interviews with residents, tutorials, and lifestyle topics. 

I really enjoy filming and sharing my journey in SL.

You have a wonderful avatar! Who are some of your favorite content creators that really blow you away in terms of offering diverse choices, and what would you like to see more of?
Thank you so much. There are so many amazing creators here and what I love is that new creators are continuing to grow, especially within the black community. I can now buy a lot more items that are relatable to me and my culture and I am truly thankful to the creators for bringing diversity into Second Life. I love creators such as Lelutka, Rowne, ISON, Studio Exposure, Rosary, Movement and that's just to name a few. I can't wait to see how our avatars will evolve. I am excited to see how our avatars will look in the next year or so. I have a feeling we will look even more realistic.

Can you tell us more about Sisters in SL and some of their activities and projects?
Sisters in SL is a women's networking community created in 2019 where we hold events, explore, do photoshoots and also have a lifestyle magazine. Sisters in SL is a diverse community that has members from all over the world. I did take a break last year as real life did get busy again after the pandemic but I have tons of plans for this year. I will be focusing more on filming and touching on interesting topics, so make sure you stay tuned!

Are there any current or future projects that you are working on that you can tell us about?
Currently, I am working on a film project for Valentine's day where I am having discussions with residents both who are single or married in SL and they will be sharing their experiences which will be very interesting! I will also be hosting the SL Video Awards Show, so look out for me there!

I have lots of plans to work on more projects and I can’t wait to share.

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
The main platform for me is Youtube: Aurora Mercury - YouTube
Instagram: @aurora.mercury
Tiktok: @aurora_mercury
Linktree: @aurora.mercury

Thank you Aurora for all the engaging and diverse content you’ve been sharing about Second Life, we look forward to your future projects!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Today we are shining a spotlight on Ethan Evergarden, co-owner of the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life. He’s a virtual builder with fifteen years of historical builds under his belt.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I was an avid fan of the television show “The Office” when it was still in first-run production and on October 25, 2007, an episode called “Local Ad” came on which featured a segment in which Dwight Schrute was exploring Second Life. He had created an avatar, Dwight Shelford, and was flying around in-world and talking about what his character was doing. As soon as the episode was over, I went online and found out that Second Life was real, and I immediately created an account. Once I had passed Orientation Island, I was sent to the region of Violet, a telehub, where I began meeting people. 

There were teleport boards to different places in SL and I found one that took me to the Cetus Galleries Art District where I discovered a single-region city filled with beautiful architecture, art galleries, and a thriving community of gallery owners, residents, and event facilitators. I quickly felt a bond with the community in Cetus and it soon became my new home. I have been in Second Life for fifteen years now and during that time, three communities have been my home, including Cetus for two years, Avalon Town Art District for five years, and the Highlands of Scotland in SL for the past eight. The common thread in all these places has been community, which is very important to me because even in Second Life, we all feel like we need to belong, to find our place among others. Second Life has given me that in abundance.

You are the Co-owner of Highlands of Scotland in Second Life, can you tell us more about that?
I found the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life in 2014 after hearing about it on a musical stream hosted by one of the owners, Magnus Brody, that was broadcasting on a land parcel I was on. As an American descended from deep Scottish roots, I was fascinated with the Highlands, which consisted then of two regions, Inverness City and Urquhart. Avalon Town was changing, and I was looking for a change, so I began hanging out there and going to events. Eventually, they adopted me into their community. The Scottish Highlands, within reason, attempts to recreate the real-life Scottish experience, including geography, landmark buildings, and places of interest. We have events each night at Nessie’s, the main pub, which brings together both the “locals” who are regular daily participants, as well as many visitors who come to get a taste of Highland life. 

After two years of living there, I approached the owners of the Highlands, Elizbeth Beaumont and Magnus Brody, both natives of real-life Scotland, about my desire to add a third region to the Highlands, and I became a co-owner that year with the addition of Beauly. Since then, our team has expanded to include Axaria Evergarden, also from Scotland, and that team has added four more regions to the Highlands. This allowed us to expand our waterways into Loch Ness and Greater Loch Ness, as well as having one region devoted to nature in Glen Coe, a residential shopping village in Dornoch, and much more. Inverness City, the oldest of the regions and the central city of the Highlands is our hub, which has been the heart of the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life since 2008, when it first came into existence. Elizbeth (Liz) Beaumont keeps us all on our toes and we have a lot of fun there. We care about each other, and many of the locals have annual meetups in RL Scotland, coming from all over the UK, as well as Germany, Denmark, and other places. They gather at the Loch Ness Inn, which is recreated in our virtual Scotland, to spend a weekend in the real Scottish Highlands. This community has endured a long time and this year we look forward to celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Second Life Highlands. I hope someday I can join them for a meetup.

Tell us how you created your two most complex builds, the Cathedral and Castle at the Scotland destination.
One of the reasons I stayed in Second Life was building. I have a passion for architecture and had designed and built a number of small churches in Second Life over the years. What eventually became the Cathedral of Dornoch was originally intended to be a small chapel, and as I like to tell people, it quickly got way out of hand. The footprint or shape of the building is known as a cruciform, as in the shape of a cross, and the architectural style is gothic revival. I originally built it in 2014, but over the years, as my skills improved or as I found new elements I wanted to try, it has literally been rebuilt a few times over. I’ve enlarged the bell tower, added spires, flying buttresses, newer and better textures, had custom stained glass windows created, and much more. It has “resided” in three different regions during its long life and like a person, it has evolved and changed over time. For me, the Cathedral has been a labour of love, because I have been so intimately involved with every prim that went into it. It's proportional and symmetrical, which I usually prefer in buildings, yet many people who might find that form uninteresting have told me how inspiring they find it. Axaria and I spend a lot of time in there listening to music and our community holds church services there occasionally, as well as musical concerts and of course, weddings (which is why we opened a wedding shop across the street!) One of my proudest moments was when it was featured a couple of years ago in a Linden Lab produced video about spiritual places. I find it a peaceful and contemplative place to just sit and look at the details, wondering sometimes how I built it and knowing I could probably never do it again. 

If the Cathedral has been a labour of love, Beaufort Castle, my Second Life home, has been an exercise in both frustration and rewards. Modeled after the real-life castle in Beauly, Scotland, I have had to conform to it, and architecturally it goes against my natural instincts for orderly design. It rambles and makes no sense in its layout, yet it manages to be both grand and fun. It has hidden passages in several places and it’s interesting sometimes to watch visitors find them and get lost in the walls. Over the years, I’ve become quite proud of it, even though it has grown to enormous proportions and is far bigger than any one avatar would ever need. I didn’t set out to build it but when I decided on Beauly for the region, Magnus Brody told me that I had to build Beaufort Castle if I was going to live on Beauly. I took one look at the real one and decided I would be crazy to attempt it. A few months later I gave in to crazy and started on it and six years later, I’m still tweaking it, changing it, adding things, and taking things away. Like the cathedral, it evolves as I do and I’m just its caretaker. We get a lot of drop-ins from time to time and the nice thing about a large house is you can just go to another side of it and let them enjoy it. I’m always happy to answer questions about it and feel like if I ever get to see the real one in person, I’ll feel right at home in it. While I don’t sell my builds in SL, I do enjoy creating miniatures of them and selling them in my Second Life store, Kringle & Co.

You also created the Frank Lloyd Wright virtual museum in SL, which is no longer open. Tell us more about that build, how long it was open for, and do you have plans to bring it back?
I was one of the co-founders of the museum, but I must share credit with a lot of talented people who made that happen. I had created an SL group for architects and fans of the American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, called the Taliesin Society. The group grew quite quickly and on June 5, 2009, I hosted a Society event, with Debe Wise, an in-world expert on Wright, giving a lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture. The event, which was held in voice, drew a surprising 62 people, including many of SL's best architects. Following the gathering, some of us held a discussion about creating a virtual museum of architecture. This meeting was the genesis of the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum of Architecture. The late Frey Bravin mapped out how it would be accomplished, and we created a group for the museum. I was the 2nd one to join and later was elected as Chairman of the museum board. We obtained a licensing agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and we also set up a RL corporation to function as a 501C3 charitable foundation so that we could accept donations. Along with Frey and I were Troy Vogel, Miltone Marquette, the late Rosalie Oldrich, Supremius and Sensuous Maximus of Builder’s Brewery, Terra Tepper, Ethos Erlanger, and others. We opened in July 2009 and ran through December 2010. Our most talented builders meticulously recreated several of Wright’s most notable builds and put them out for display on the region, and we also held many events, fundraisers, and a series of lectures on Wright architecture. The most fun though was holding build-offs, where both amateur and master builders would compete by building a complete, Wright-inspired building based on a given theme. Unfortunately, when the Foundation realized that the museum could not be monetized in a beneficial way to their needs, they elected not to renew the licensing agreement, and we had to close the museum. It was a sad day for all of us, but I think that it really showed the full potential of Second Life as an educational medium beyond just lectures and presentations, by drawing people from all over the world to learn, appreciate and discover Wright’s works in a virtual environment that they otherwise might not ever get to see.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Saffia Widdershins comes to mind.  A true media mogul in Second Life who I have had the fortune to be friends with for probably a dozen years. I used to write for her publication, Prim Perfect Magazine, and I have never seen a harder worker in SL. I honestly don’t know how she has time for a First Life, given her many irons in the fire. 

Miltone Marquette and Terra Tepper are two very talented builders. Miltone works to this day on refining his individual Wright builds, creating stunning replicas of his incredible buildings. Terra is one of my best friends in SL and was my building mentor for many years. She pushed me to make continuous improvement in everything I built and when I think something is good enough, I’ll ask myself “would Terra leave it like this?” and keep plugging away. Scottius Polke, a loveable Otter with a razor-sharp wit and a successful Real Life art practice which he has shared through his in-world galleries for more than a dozen years. 

Chigadee London, the noted hatter of SL, and her partner Balthazar Fouroux, two longtime friends. Chigadee owns one of Second Life’s most successful hat businesses, “Couture Chapeau” and Bal owns “The Prop Shop”, making lovely items of all kinds, whatever strikes his fancy. Chigadee and Bal are probably the longest-running SL couple I know of, and I admire how they support and love each other in everything they do. 

Magnus Brody is one of the best DJs and musicologists in Second Life. His delivery is as smooth as Scotch whisky and his knowledge of music is formidable. That voice brought me to Scotland in SL. Elizbeth Beaumont, who works tirelessly to keep the Highlands interesting and relevant and whose witticisms keep me in stitches. Taro Firanelli, a prolific master of Second Life and a longtime regular of the Highlands. He knows more about SL than most people I know and what is amazing is that he is over 80 years old in Real Life. 

Last, but not least, Axaria Evergarden, my best friend, confidant, partner in crime, window and texture maker, enabler, and guide to all things Scottish. Every building I make has something of her talent in it, from stained glass windows, doors, textures, and more. She won’t hesitate to tell me something isn’t right in a building, and we share a common love of many different genres of music. She is a notable clothing and wedding dress designer in her own right, yet she manages to find time to make anything I need and last year, we opened our own store, Kringle & Company, selling all kinds of stuff for Christmas, and now we have expanded to other things relevant to the different times of the year. We might not sell a lot yet, but we’ve had loads of fun doing it. We even have store alts, Kriss Kringle and Jessica Claus!

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

The Cathedral of Dornoch (slurl)

Beaufort Castle (slurl)

Kringle & Co (slurl)

Dornoch (slurl - region I built)

Glen Coe (slurl - region I built)

Facebook Personal

Facebook Kringle & Co

Twitter

Thank you, Ethan, for fifteen years of historic contributions to Second Life!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup  

Today we are shining a spotlight on Andee Tophat, a lifelong songwriter and musician that has written over 150 songs - including his latest single which is all about falling in love through Second Life!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I first discovered Second Life when I was shopping and saw a computer magazine with a CDROM on the front advertising a 3D World. I have always been interested in computers since my school days when my first computer was a Sinclair ZX81 with 1K memory. So seeing a magazine with a program on it that offered a 3D world to build and explore caught my attention. So on 5th January 2007, I installed the software, signed up and logged in, and was instantly hooked!  

My first avatar was nothing like today, as you can imagine. Clothing was just a texture you applied to your body, there were no voice features at that time that I remember, so there I stood in a world that was immeasurable in size wanting to find out how to build my first house! 
16 years later and I look a lot different, and enjoy live music, building, and making friends.

How did music come into your life?

I come from a family of music lovers! From a very young age, I would play on the family upright piano that sat in our dining room. It was never properly tuned but that doesn’t matter when you’re little. My mum told me later in life that she remembered me running into the kitchen to tell her that I had written a tune.  She didn’t believe me but followed dutifully to listen and actually smiled when she heard that I had actually composed a little melody with a chorus. I must have been around 7 or 8 at the time. My father used to play his records of Big Band or Classical, and would often call me into the living room to “listen to this one” or “isn’t this good?” and I used to enjoy his love and excitement for his favourite songs. Out of my four older sisters, two of them would listen to artists like ABBA, Carpenters, Neil Diamond, and Neil Sedaka and the other two would listen to Lionel Richie, Alexander O'Neal, Luther Vandross, and Motown-type tracks. I would then be listening and picking up on the latest 80’s music, so you can imagine I have an Eclectic music taste!

My first “written” song was in 1986 when I wrote a song for one of my sister's weddings. Looking back it’s awful and very tacky but, like any musician, that becomes the start of your musical future! Since then I’ve written over 150 songs with lyrics and about a dozen other instrumental songs. I can’t read music and play by ear, so I can often pick up a song quickly if I wanted to create my own cover version of a track. 

I would say that over 85% of my music is based on some emotion or experience I was going through at the time. I remember years ago having dinner with a friend and letting him go through my ring binder containing all my lyrics. They were alphabetically in order of title and I left him to wash the dishes, only to return to see he had taken them all out of the folder and was organizing them by date! Reading them like that was almost like reading a personal diary! 

I have also written some songs based on an idea or story that I felt would make for a good song. My sister once challenged me to stop writing songs about love and to write a song about boats. So armed with that snippet of an idea, I wrote “Sea Breeze”. Another time I allowed an encyclopedia to fall open and closed my eyes and pointed to a page and said I would write a song about whatever topic my finger landed on.  It landed on “Klondike” so I wrote a song called “Gold Rush”.

A few years ago, I formed a band called “Balladeer” with my brother who played guitar, my brother-in-law who played drums, and some other friends that could sing. We enjoyed getting together regularly and performing my music. I’ve performed a few times in front of Wedding Guests and we also held two small shows. The first one was in 2001 and was a tester mainly with friends and family and we filled a small community hall with about 120 people.

Then in 2003 we hired a small theatre, and managed to fill it with 350 people. It was a risky move as we were not performing any cover songs, only original music. But after a 2-hour session of almost 20 songs we had so many people come up to us after to congratulate us, that it was a heart-warming result. My mum even told me that she heard somebody whistling one of my songs as he walked back to his car after only ever hearing that song the first time at the show!

Sadly, because my family moved away to different parts of the UK, the band closed and I decided to go solo, creating a new name for myself “Never Ending Fire.” The thought behind the name was that each of us has inner emotions that resonate with the music we hear throughout life. And they can either quietly burn like a candle flame or are ignited when we hear a song that means something to us. It never goes out, it is just waiting for that moment. Our Never Ending Fire.

When did you start performing live in Second Life, and what venues can people visit to hear you play?

I think the Covid pandemic changed a lot of things for a lot of people around the world. Being restricted from traveling meant that a lot of people stayed at home and discovered new hobbies. For me, it gave me the opportunity to explore my music again and create some YouTube videos. I started getting some positive comments, which was encouraging, and then a discussion with a friend of mine in Second Life pushed me into performing live at the beginning of 2022.  

After visiting a lot of live singers, I found that quite a few were using the same commercially available backing tracks which then made me start comparing one singer's voice to the next. In some instances, the backing tracks were so close to the original artist, that it made me compare that live singer to the original artists and that’s something I’ve never wanted to do personally. I’ve always been keen to perform my own music. It’s nice to hear original songs, so I’ve ensured that about 70% of the show I perform is original and the other 30% are covers. I like to compose my own backing tracks when I perform and play piano live too as it allows me to keep control of the quality of the music and sound for the listeners. 

I currently perform regularly at Café Musique on Wednesdays, bi-weekly at Cornerstone and The Night Owl on Mondays, at Pantheon Temple on Tuesdays, and at Riptide7 on Wednesdays. I’m also going to perform weekly at my own place, NEF Live Music Venue on Thursdays, along with other singers.

Tell us more about the NEF Live Music Venue in Second Life. 

When I first started performing, it was really hard to find places that would accept an “unknown” artist.  A lot of venues had a reputation to maintain, or regulars they didn’t want to upset. I can understand this, but it made me realize how hard it would be to get that opportunity to start singing and build a fan base. Thankfully it was the likes of Café Musique and The Night Owl that gave me the chance to start getting heard.

Looking at the Destination Guide, it lists over 650 venues for music, but less than 60 for live musicians. I’ve always enjoyed building in Second Life and so having an opportunity to own some land and build a small place to perform and invite others to perform appealed to me. Apple and I partnered up and the idea of NEF Live was born. We wanted a place with additional features to encourage people to visit even if there were no artists, so we provided a games area, beach sitting areas with cozy places to chill, and a few shops too.

It wasn’t long until we were approached by another Manager, JR, who looks after the amazing singer Tay and he asked if we would be interested in expanding a little and allowing Tay to have her own purpose built venue in which she could also host performances, etc. This gave us the excuse we wanted to expand into a quarter region and create additional performing areas on the ground, while JR built a beautiful venue up in the sky for Tay and her followers to enjoy her performances.

Since then, we’ve been busy looking out for artists that have recently started singing in Second Life and need a place they can regularly perform and supporting them with additional artists that can bookend their performances so that listeners can hear their favourite singer and also get introduced to a new act at the same time. After all, if it wasn’t for my dad and sisters all playing different types of songs to me, I wouldn’t have grown up with such a rich interest in a variety of music!

You recently wrote and released a single, “Digital Love” which is about falling in love through Second Life. Can you tell us more about the story behind this song and where Residents can listen to it?

Back in 1993, I wrote a song called “Digital Love” but the words were very geeky and specific to the technology available at the time. I loved the idea of the song, but it started becoming a mental block on how to update it. So I decided to start from scratch, clearing the music and the lyrics and only keeping the title. 

I was thinking about how Second Life allows so many people to connect and live a life they can’t always live in the physical world. It allows us to embrace people, dance with people, and fall in love with people. That inspired me to write a new song reflecting how we can fall in love and even meet our future partners from Second Life. Some people in Second Life suffer from an illness that impairs their ability to get out of their homes or live as others do. One person told me recently that Second Life “gives her a working body, a home to enjoy and a job she can do, which she cannot do in Real Life” which meant so much to me.

So in April 2022, I wrote the new version of “Digital Love”. I hope the lyrics resonate with most of the Residents of Second Life. I used a “Vocoder” sound in the chorus to give it that digital feel and have been receiving so many messages saying how they love the tune and how it sounds like an “anthem” of Second Life.

After performing it in Second Life a few times and getting such positive feedback, I decided to take a big step in signing up with a Music Distribution site to release “Digital Love” as my first publicly available song. You can download or stream it from most Music Sites, including iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. I’ve also created merchandise that features the two robots from the artwork of the song, which is also available through my website – neverendingfire.com.

Where can people follow you to know more about your next live shows and releases? Please share links to your sites, calendars, and social media accounts.

In Second Life you can visit NEF Live on the Blue Island region. When you arrive at NEF Live you’ll see a large calendar that shows events occurring at the venue as well as a smaller calendar showing a list of venues where I am performing at. You can also visit my little shop which has a subscriber and free gifts, as well as a bookcase containing notecards that have all the lyrics to my songs.

You can join the Never Ending Fire inworld group to follow my performances in Second Life.

You can also join the NEF Live venue inworld group, to get an update on what artists are performing and when. 

Outside of Second Life you can still follow my music and find out where I’m performing. All this information is available on my website: neverendingfire.com

On the website are links to my music on my Soundcloud account, as well as a live calendar showing where I’m performing. There is also a tab for merchandise where you can get t-shirts or mugs with various Never Ending Fire designs.

I have a Linktree Account which has all of my links in it.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Linden Lab for providing such an amazing social platform.  It’s allowed me and others the ability to connect with people all around the world from the comfort of their homes and share common interests.  It’s a unique platform that continues to grow by the power of its users and allows people to showcase their creative abilities in all avenues. 

I’d also like to thank those that have followed and enjoyed my music so far. It’s inspired me to continue sharing my songs for others to enjoy and even if just one song touches your heart and stirs your soul then I feel warmed to have been honoured to do that.

And lastly, to my fellow performers, whether new or established artists, I encourage you to continue following your dream and bringing your gift to the world. People that are at your venue have chosen to be there over everything else they could be doing with their time. Spending an hour or two listening to your music might connect with somebody that cannot physically get out of their home to a real live show. So make sure you enjoy your time with them and make it count. I look forward to seeing and meeting you inworld some time!

Thank you, Andee, for sharing so much of your talent and passion for music with the Second Life community!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup 

Today we are shining a spotlight on Caligula Aquila, a talented Resident that has been creating content in Second Life for 15 years, and just in time for the holidays, he’s released a new machinima series!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I have been in Second Life since 2008. It all started when I was on a business trip, and while watching the news in my hotel room, they mentioned in their highlights, a real estate lady who made the highest revenue in Second Life. When I traveled back to my office, out of curiosity I typed “secondlife.com”. That day, I didn’t realize that it was a beginning of a new era in my life.

You have been creating content in Second Life for many years, do you have a background in fashion or 3D creation?
Not at all, I worked for many international companies, and I used to travel all around the globe to open new properties. A year before entering Second Life, I participated in a graphic design competition, organized by a well-known international tv station. I won the first prize, and it was a hint that my passion is somewhere else.

Can you tell us more about the various brands you have in Second Life?
I have five brands in Second Life: 

1. CA WEAR carries men's casuals, smart chic, and street fashion styles.
2. CHIC carries women’s fashions.
3. HATSWORLD carries a wide range of hats, caps, headdresses, helmets, and more.
4. AZALEA is a premium furniture store.
5. CALIGULA is our oldest brand, specializing in uniforms.

You also have an interest in machinima, when did you start creating videos in Second Life? 
I made machinima in my early days in Second Life. Back then we used to use Fraps to capture our scenes. Unfortunately, it was only a tiny experience before I started focusing on retail for the next 15 years. Until this last October, when we filmed Scrooge – A Second Life Christmas Carol, as a tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary year, and it was a great comeback!

You have now started AVTV, can you tell us more about that and your future plans?
AVTV is our newest project with a unique new concept of delivering a quality, realistic, and decent image to all our viewers in Second Life or even outside the grid. Besides AVTV’s newscast and the special reports, we will be presenting many programs and interesting shows, like “Garry inSL Show”, “Live the Adventure”, “Fashionista” and many more. Our aim is to reach a wide audience in SL, highlight Residents' success stories, talk about new SL trends, recommend quality products and great offers in the market, visit popular events, and many more SL activities.

How has Second Life impacted your life?
I strongly believe that SL changes RL. And this is my case on a personal level.

I don't know if the fathers of Second Life predicted back in 2003 the positive impact of their motivational project on thousands of people. How many times have we seen RL disabled people running and flying in SL? How many times have we seen RL veterans proudly wearing again their uniform in SL? How many times have we seen couples who met in SL and got married in RL? And there are plenty of similar great stories.

Where can people follow you to know more about your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
Our inworld Stores are located on the “Shores of Joy” region and on the Marketplace.
Regarding AVTV, I encourage every SL resident to subscribe to our channel!
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AVTVinSL 
Facebook: Avtv Insl

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Caligula and his exciting new project! 
Watch his new six-part machinima series on the AVTV channel this holiday season.

1. AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 1
2. AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 2
3. AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 3

The rest of the three episodes will be released over the next few days before Christmas!

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

This week we are shining a spotlight on Prophet (Nightmare Rain) a creative blogger that adds a slice of life narrative to his virtual photography.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I discovered Second Life through Twitch about 10 years ago, which got me interested in roleplay at first. 

How did you get into Second Life blogging, and what kind of content do you like to showcase?

I got into blogging once I delved further into the Secondlife community and discovered Flickr. I learned how to do in-world photography and later on, was taught how to photo edit. I developed my own style and learned how to express my creativity through blogging. I tend to lean on the slice-of-life type of pictures, however, I still do throw in some fantasy in the mix now and then.

When taking photos in Second Life, what is your process for creating a narrative/story in the picture?

Life itself is inspiring- one can choose to see beauty in everything and I think we tend to be blind to it because I feel that it is easy to take for granted when we’re comfortable. I like recreating scenarios that most people find themselves in on the daily and showcasing it on my blog using the items made by talented creators in order to depict and illustrate the common, but in such a way that people actually take notice and pause to appreciate them. I also utilize Windlight a lot- Light, shadow, contrast and color create mood and visual weight.

Visual art is such an effective way of expanding ideas about diverse representation and you do that so well with the use of avatar components and tools in Second Life. What inspires your avatar’s styles?

My styles are usually inspired by everyday looks varying from casual to formal- Simple but refined pieces- I let the clothing and accessories speak for themselves as it’s usually what I’m blogging although when I have free time I do take pictures for fun and so with those I tend to focus on what I want to wear rather than what I’ve been sponsored to wear.

Tell us about some of the other Second Life Residents that have inspired you, or whose work you admire.

I admire my mentor, business partner, and good friend Mia (Counterfeitmint Resident) as well as:
Anika Cluny
Quincy Robin  
Maria  
Rou  
Nasyala  
Oceane  
Ebony  
Alexa Maravilla  
AshaRhia  
Dondallia  
Digi Pera

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Flickr
Twitter

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Prophet and find his vibrant and diverse images as inspiring as we do. 

Each of our Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.

This week we are shining a spotlight on Second Pride, a destination that is celebrating 15 years of service to the LGBTQ+ community in Second Life. Learn more from their chairman, Lee McKay.

Lee McKay - speech at the 2022 Second Pride opening ceremony - Photo by Jason Roach

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
As of July 11, it will be 16 years for me. I barely remember, but I think it was around the time that Second Life was "hot" in the media and even popped up on a couple of tv shows. I was hooked right away. I took some months-long breaks over the years, but for the last 5-6 years have been here steadily.

You are the Chairman of Second Pride, can you tell us more about the history of Second Pride, how it came to fruition, and what can people expect when visiting the destination?
I wish I had more information about the history than I do. I know we are in our 15th year, but the Board of Second Pride has changed many times over the years. I'm not sure who the original members were, but we certainly appreciate the foundation they laid. The leadership is now more continuous, and this has allowed for more growth and stability over the last few years, including official sponsorship from Second Life, which we are so grateful for!

Photo by Patch Linden

Second Pride is also a Community Gateway, what kind of support does it offer Second Life Residents?
You can, of course, create your Second Life account right from our website and arrive in our Gateway on day one. We have one of the more detailed and in-depth tutorials that I have seen, created by a school teacher, with interactive stations for learning various skills. We will also soon be implementing a method for a new user to be able to call a Second Pride Ambassador with questions. This should be available in the next couple of months.

Photo by Tomais Ashdene

June is Pride month and in Second Life many members of the LGBTQ+ community find this to be a safe space to express themselves and feel empowered. What kind of celebratory activities does Second Pride have planned for this month?
Second Pride holds an annual event in June to celebrate Pride, with 10 days of activities, including DJs, live singers, stage performances, etc. across multiple venues. We also have a wide selection of vendors set up with stores, gifts, and more. The two regions, Second Pride East and Second Pride West are set up as a large city, including a beach boardwalk with amusement rides, games, and more. We usually select two "first life" organizations to raise funds for. This year they are ILGA-Europe and Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. Then after June, we switch focus to another organization or two until the next June. We want everyone to know that Second Pride doesn't go away after June. We have three other major events, Glitter & Gore for Halloween, Holidaze in December, and Mardi Gras. These are all multi-day events. We also have some smaller events over the year. Our regions are here every day, all year long for people to come and enjoy.

Photo by Evie I. Ravens

Aside from Second Pride, what other projects are you working on in Second Life?
I manage a men's resort and club called Steamworkz, part of the Boystown community. I also help with the management of the rental land and homes there. I've been involved at Boystown for many years before working there. It's where I call home.

Photo by Scarlett Amethyst

Tell us about some of the other Residents in Second Life that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Adham DeCuir, who created Boystown in 2007, is a good friend and an amazing graphic creator, community designer, and landscaper. None of those terms really cover what he's capable of. If I need something for Second Pride, he's always able to whip up a stunning venue or whatever we need in nearly no time. He created our replica of the historic Stonewall Inn, and our current main stage area.
 
Tomais Ashdene, a fantastic photographer and landscaper, and another good friend. He did the majority of the work on the park at Second Pride.
 
Grant Valeska, an amazing designer and performer that created the Lady Gaga concert for Second Pride last year, and the Britney Spears "Stronger - A Live Experience" for this year. Watching Grant create is truly watching a master at work!
 
There are many others, and I feel guilty for not listing them all here!

Second Pride

Celebrate diversity at Second Pride! This destination is the headquarters of the Second Pride organization in Second Life. Started in 2005, Second Pride holds four annual events, featuring plenty of music and fun. More info at: second-pride.com

More Info Teleport

Where can Residents learn more about Second Pride? Please share links to any sites and social media accounts.

• Second Pride Website
• Second Pride Twitter
• Second Pride Instagram (just getting started)
• Second Pride Flickr Group (anyone can submit pics)
• Second Pride Destination

Watch this Second Pride video from 2019 on the Second Life YouTube Channel 

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Second Pride and their mission is to serve, support, and empower the diverse LGBTQ+ communities of Second Life!

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.
 

This week we are shining a spotlight on Sam King-Slain (Dropyour.Knickers), a skilled singer, songwriter, and musician who credits Second Life for assisting his journey in self-discovery. Watch him play live at SL19B later this month!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I'm 11 years old in Second Life which makes me about 250 in SLife experience. I heard about it after me and one of my childhood friends were playing the Sims. I think we googled 'virtual world' and it was the first one that popped up.

You are an award-winning musician with quite the talent for songwriting. Second Life and the humorous and perhaps frustrating situations you encounter in this virtual world are the main topic of your songs. Tell us more about your music career and how it all began.

I've always been into writing songs, raps and poetry so it wasn't totally out of character for me. But roughly 5 years ago, myself and a few close friends were hanging inworld at a recording studio and it just struck me how funny it would be to write something about Second Life. I remember saying brb and 20 minutes later I jumped on mic like 'I gotta show you guys what I've done!' 

That was the day I wrote my first song 'TP Me' and the chorus was literally 'tp me, tp me, I've got a platform in the sky' and everyone had it stuck in their heads for weeks! I think we all knew we were onto something and I just knew I could write more so I went away and wrote 'Relog', 'Crosshairs' and 'Prim Love' and with each song just came more laughter and enjoyment. It was those guys that said 'Sam we have to do a concert' and that was when we set up a little warehouse skybox and threw our first show - I felt like a true Second Life Popstar, with my name in lights and it was a hit! 

My friends had made merch and set the stage up and we felt like we had really injected the fun back into Second Life. It ended up with us having a full sim with a Record Label Office and a venue and we started going around inworld to all our favourite spots asking if I could do a show. It was hard to get people to buy into the vision but I knew all I had to do was convince them to listen to one song and they got it.

Do you play any musical instruments and how do you compose the music for your songs?

I have played the guitar and saxophone from a young age in real life. My song writing process is usually quite simple. I'll feel inspired, go away, and find a beat or play a tune on the guitar and then record and write simultaneously until it's done. It's very rare that I'll step away and come back to a song. If I feel it then, I just have to write something in that exact moment and I have to finish it then and there.

What genre would you say your music falls in, and who are some of the musicians that have influenced your style?

I would say my genre is varied, like my music taste. Sometimes I rap, sometimes I'll do an acoustic song or something on the piano, and sometimes I'll do something people can dance to. Overall for Second Life, I like to keep my music light hearted, fun and relatable. Some musicians I look up to are J Cole - a lyrical genius, Drake, Bon Iver, Beyonce, Juice WRLD & Lil Peep. I'd say my acoustic music is heavily influenced by Ed Sheeran - gotta keep it in the UK!

One of your songs reveals how Second Life assisted in your journey of self-discovery. Can you share in what ways SL has impacted your life?

Second Life has saved my life in a lot of ways. I'm from a conservative quiet town on the South Coast of England and being myself was pretty much out of the question as a kid. I struggled with my gender identity and Second Life gave me a means to explore that. I met the love of my life (we're back together now 10 years on!) and that taught me things about my sexuality. It's funny because in a game where you can be literally anyone - it has given me confidence to be my true self. I have met so many wonderful people from all different walks of life and it has inspired an abundance of self reflection and growth. I'm proud of my gratitude towards Second Life and I never shy away to say how much I appreciate the game - it really is whatever you want it to be. To some it's just a game but to me it's the place I've expressed my most authentic creativity and made genuine, life long connections and friendships.

June is Pride month and in Second Life many members of the LGBTQ+ community find this to be a safe space to express themselves and feel empowered. You have been very active in Second Life raising awareness in the past, can you share more about that and if there are any activities or events that you’ll be taking part in during this coming month?

Last year I wrote a song "SL Pride" which sort of depicts why pride is so important to me and how Second Life has helped me along the way. I won't go into much more detail than I did above because I'm much better at singing out my words than speaking them. 

Last year I did two big Pride performances - Burrow & Co for SL Pride and Pride at Home run by Tink Hax. Both events were hugely successful and we raised a load of lindens for various LGBT charities with a variety of really talented people. This year I'm booked for two Pride shows so far - Pride at Home and one at a fairly new venue called Eleventh House.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in Second Life that inspire you and whose work you admire.

Someone who believed in me at the start of my SL music journey when no one did is DJ Gracie (Gracie Barbosa). Not only is she one of the most talented DJ's on the grid, has come to every show of mine and performed along side me, she has also created The Little Tokyo Rooftop which is home to the Dream Team - a collaborative of creative artists who bring love and good vibes to the grid. Gracie is very humble about what she has created on SL, but the sim is free for all and she is always making rl donations and sending out school supplies to kids in Africa. Lil Tokyo Rooftop does a Bumpin' Brunch event every Sunday and I'd really recommend dropping down! Check out Lil Tokyo Rooftop's Facebook page. 

Another collaborative that really deserve recognition is WWBH: We Will Be Heard - Founded by Daisatella Slain, Bars Simpson, November Justice, Pinky Banks, Roshambo Dench. It's hard to put into words what these ladies have achieved in the last couple of years. It started in 2020 with their Black Lives Awareness Event, it was so successful and raised somewhere to a million plus lindens for charity. These guys do a whole month of events, rl speakers, parties, art exhibitions, open mics, museums and raise as much as possible for the chosen cause. Last year was WWBH: Girl Power - Bars Simpson put together one of the most jaw dropping interactive inworld museum experiences I have ever seen - our whole community was involved and it showcased beautifully the issues surrounding women's rights. I was honoured to perform in the closing show. Their next project will be for Mental Health and I am so excited because this bunch pull it out the bag every single time, truly it blows me away and I'd love them to get some coverage for their next one -  I think it's something Second Life would be extremely proud of. You can still check out their first Black Lives Awareness website and the LinkTree to last year's Girl Power where you can find their IG/FB and more.

I know I've talked for ages but I just have to give Tinkers a shout out! Tink Hax has done absolute wonders this year. He's always raising loads of awareness to various LGBT charities, creates a beautifully colourful Pride sim for people to explore at Pride at Home and runs the Pride shop&hop. Tink created Love to Ukraine and I've never seen someone raise so much money in such a short timescale. They raised L$6209987 which ended up being £17,500 - an incredible amount of money which I'm sure helped so many people in such a crisis. What a guy! Check out the Pride at Home Facebook page.

Where can people see you perform or hear more of your music? Please share links to your sites, social media accounts, and destinations you regularly perform at.

Inworld: Dropyour Knickers
Facebook: Sam Elliot King  
Soundcloud: Sam Super-Villin 
Flickr: SAM KING (slim) 

I'll be performing at Pride at Home at the end of this month, Saturday 25th June 6pm SLT. I have a good feeling about this one, hopefully see you all there!

Also just want to say although I've mainly stopped doing small occasions/parties, I'm always down for a good cause so I will happily come perform at your event if it's going to charity! 

And Linden Lab, if you ever want me to jump up on stage at one of your big Second Life events, just say the word and I promise I'll keep it PG!

Well Sam, we heard you! Watch Sam perform live at SL19B later this month!

Sam has graciously recorded a PG version of his song, Relog, for us. Watch the music video on our YouTube channel.

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Sam’s many talents and enjoy his music as much as we do. We'll see you at SL19B listening to his live performance!

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.

This week we are shining a spotlight on Damian Zhaoying, a Second Life veteran that brings a wealth of community building experience and translation services to our virtual world. He also runs the popular Spanish Community Gateway, Ayuda Virtual.

Damian also supplied the questions and answers in Spanish for our Spanish community members. Please keep scrolling for Spanish!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

Since December 2006, a little more than 15 years ago. In the middle of 2006 a relative asked me to help her improve her PC with a graphics card and, after doing so, she showed me what the improvement was for. It was SL, she showed me the world, what could be done, and the possibilities to create and socialize. I made an account, but I didn't understand how to
handle it and then I lost it. In December I wanted to try again and, already with this account, I ended up fascinated by everything that can be done and achieved here.

Can you share more information about your Second Life Community Gateway region, Ayuda Virtual, and what kind of support the destination offers Second Life Residents.

Ayuda Virtual is a Spanish-speaking community that is part of the Community Gateway project and we want to help new users take their first steps in Second Life and show them everything they can do in this world. We also want them to feel comfortable in our community, feel they belong to it, have a place to be, talk, meet, socialize, share, learn and teach. In addition, we believe that Second Life is an important platform to spread the different cultural expressions of our users - musicians, painters, poets, and more. We have exhibitions and talks on topics that are of interest to the community. Our teachers teach users different disciplines, such as construction, blender, scripts, English, role play, avatar appearance, and anything that is useful for them.

Have you dabbled in content creation in Second Life?

I have created small, simple, and not so simple things, usually for personal pleasure or to be used in our Ayuda Virtual community, mainly working with scripts.

You do Spanish translations for the Singularity and Firestorm viewers, are translation services something you offer to everyone?

I offer my translation services from English to Spanish to anyone who needs it. In addition, I also offer it to Creators (often free of charge), mainly so that users in the Spanish-speaking community can have products in their own language.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.

I admire several, especially when it comes to communicating news to the Second Life community. Since I have my own news blog in Spanish, my references in this area are Inara Pey and Nalates Urriah. On the other hand, I admire my co-owner of Ayuda Virtual, Córdoba Cluny, for her ability to work and organize, which allows our community to grow and develop.

Where can people see more of your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Personal Blog  
Personal Twitter  
Ayuda Virtual Blog  
Ayuda Virtual Twitter  
Ayuda Virtual Youtube  

Watch this promotional video about the Ayuda Virtual community:

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Damian and his quest to educate and provide a safe space for the Spanish speaking community.

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup. 

Spanish translation provided by Damian Zhaoying:

¿Cuánto tiempo llevas en Second Life y cómo te enteraste por primera vez?
Poco mas de 15 años, desde diciembre de 2006. A mediados de 2006 un
familiar me pide le ayude a mejorar su PC con una tarjeta gráfica y,
luego de hacerlo, me muestra para que era la mejora. Era SL, me muestra
el mundo, que se podía hacer y las posibilidades para crear y
socializar. Hice una cuenta, pero no entendí como manejarme y luego la
perdí, en diciembre quise volver a intentarlo y, ya con esta cuenta,
terminé fascinado por todo lo que aquí se puede hacer y lograr.

¿Puede compartir más información sobre su región de Community
Gateway, Ayuda Virtual y qué tipo de apoyo ofrece el destino a los
residentes de Second Life?
Ayuda Virtual es una comunidad de habla hispana integrante del proyecto
Comunnity Gateway y buscamos ayudar a los usuarios nuevos a dar sus
primeros pasos en Second Life, mostrarles todo lo que pueden hacer en
este mundo. También queremos que se sientan cómodos en nuestra
comunidad, la sientan propia, tengan un lugar donde estar, conversar,
conocer, socializar y compartir, aprender y enseñar.
Además, creemos que Second Life es una plataforma importante para
difundir las distintas expresiones culturas de nuestros usuarios.
Músicos, pintores, poetas. Tenemos exposiciones y charlas sobre temas
que son de interés para la comunidad. Nuestros profesores enseñan a los
usuarios distintas disciplinas, como ser construcción, blender, scripts,
inglés, role play, apariencia del avatar y todo aquello que sea de
utilidad para los usuarios de nuestra comunidad.

También tienes un negocio en Second Life, cuéntanos más sobre él y
cómo llegaste a la creación de contenido.
No realmente, no tengo negocio aunque muchas veces he pensado en
tenerlo. He creado cosas pequeñas, simples y no tan simples, normalmente
lo hago por gusto personal o para ser utilizado en nuestra comunidad
Ayuda Virtual, principalmente trabajando con scritps.

Haces traducciones al español para los espectadores de Singularity y
Firestorm, ¿los servicios de traducción son algo que ofreces a todo el
mundo?
Ofrezco mis servicios de traducción del inglés al español a todo aquel
que lo necesite. Además, suelo ofrecerlo a creadores (muchas veces, sin
cargo), principalmente para que los usuarios de la comunidad de habla
hispana puedan tener productos en su propio idioma.

Cuéntanos sobre algunos de los otros Residentes en SL que te inspiran
y cuyo trabajo admiras.
Realmente no tengo algún usuario relevante que me inspire, aunque admiro
a varios, especialmente en lo que es comunicar novedades a la comunicad
de Second Life. Como tengo mi propio blog de noticias en español, mis
referentes en ese ámbito son Inara Pey and Nalates Urriah. Por otro
lado, admiro a mi copropietaria de Ayuda Virtual, cordoba Cluny, por su
capacidad de trabajo y organización que permite que nuestra comunidad
crezca y se desarrolle.
 

This week we are shining a spotlight on Jordan Lively (ohhbehave), who started her singing career in Second Life. She just released her first single, and it has hit the main page of Apple Music as one of the Best New Songs!

Photo by Clearstone

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I’ve been in and out of Second Life for about 10 years! I first heard about Second Life on the show The Office. I am a gamer and I loved the Sims so I was like, “that sounds funny and interesting, I’m going to check it out.” To be honest I initially wanted to go in and troll, but then ended up discovering that there was live music. I made some genuine connections and it became much more than the “game” I thought it was.

How/When did you first develop an interest in music?

I’ve had an interest in music even as a child. I loved to sing although I was extremely shy and would almost never do it in front of people.

When did you start performing in Second Life, and what venues can people visit to hear you sing?

I started performing in Second Life maybe about eight years ago. There are so many amazing places you can hear me. Ugly Girlz, they are a group of some of the most supportive people in SL that put on hands down some of the BEST events. The Rayne District (I play every other Tuesday) is one of the most thoughtfully designed places with tons of personality and it is home to a lot of talent. Love Kats (I play every other Friday) is not only a venue owned by one of the most genuine and supportive people in SL but is also such a fun, friendly, and inviting atmosphere. Love Kats is a staple to the SL music community. Finally, the venue After Dark is the intimate space that holds literally some of the best musicians on the grid. You know when you play there, people are listening. You know you’ve “made it” when you play at After Dark.

How would you describe your music, and who are some of the musicians who have influenced your style?

My music is honestly my diary. It’s vulnerable, it’s relatable, and my passion is spreading mental health awareness through music. So I openly sing about stuff I go through, good and bad, because I know there are people out there that can relate. Musicians that influence my style…I am not sure any influence my style but there are artists that inspire me: Dean Lewis, Jason Mraz, Adele, and Janis Joplin.

Tell us about your recently released first single!

My first single, SOS, has just been released and is currently on the main page of Apple Music as one of the Best New Songs! It also got placed on two Apple Editorial Playlists!

SOS was recorded in Muscle Shoals Alabama and was produced by another Second Life Resident, Beardy! 

SOS, while upbeat, has lyrics that have a raw vulnerability to it, and openly talks about struggling with emotions and feelings in life that people can easily relate to. I did this as a metaphor because of how many of us walk around with a smile but are really going through something, struggling with something, internally. It’s more common than we think.

Photo by Tea Enchanted

How has SL impacted your life?

There are so many ways that SL has impacted my life. The first being that I met an amazing musician, Beardy, at one of the RL SL music jams. Beardy became not only a really good friend but he was also my producer and sound engineer on this song, along with a few others we recorded. 

A HUGE way SL impacted my life is the fact that I wouldn’t even be pursuing music if it wasn’t for this amazing community. I started SL not singing, not playing instruments, not writing songs, until a couple of people heard me sing at open mics inworld and encouraged me to start singing and doing shows in both SL and RL. I then started learning how to play ukulele, guitar, and started playing the piano more. Eventually I started writing songs and once I started, I couldn’t stop. The community in SL is unlike any other: they have encouraged me, inspired me, been supportive of me, and a lot of them have become friends for life. I am beyond thankful to SL for being a hub to meet these amazing people, to create fun one-of-a-kind experiences, and also the way that SL is so supportive of its Residents, it really is just a beautiful thing.

Where can people follow you to know more about your music and shows? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Listen to the song SOS by Jordan Lively on all platforms! If you have Spotify please follow me, add the song to your playlist and share it with friends and family. Those are things that REALLY help independent artists. This is the first song of many coming out and I can’t wait for you to hear them! 

Listen to SOS  
Instagram  
Facebook  
TiKTok 
YouTube

We hope you enjoyed learning about Jordan Lively, and how the support of the SL music community encouraged her to pursue her passion and share her talent with the world. Take a moment to enjoy her incredible voice and soulful music today!

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup. 

This week we are shining a spotlight on Christion Dinzeo, (Ahlan Wright in the physical world) a DJ with humble beginnings whose passion for connecting people through music took him all over the physical and virtual worlds! 

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

Well, I can remember being in Second Life when everything was made of the little square boxes (called prims) that I later learned to turn to different shapes, haha. My oh my, how we have grown. I just had my 15th year rez day party back in February. Wow, saying that makes me think back to when we all just had the same clothes, the same hair, and everyone was so amazed when you could just take a proof script, put it in a prim, and make particles that fly everywhere. Or when the Lindens used to come hang out with us at a nightclub like Blue Linden. What brought me to Second Life? Well, I used to play TSO and I was with an entire family, and one day we were all chatting and we found out there was a new (life) game that everybody was so intrigued by. So one afternoon I installed the game, and {it was back when} we all got to have the same last name of our choosing.

I guess you could say that makes us vintage lol. I remember that anything was possible back then, and even more so now. But most of all, we could create a lifestyle and live a Second Life. It’s giving us a chance to meet, network, and grow with some amazing people from all around the world.

How did you get into DJing in the physical world and when did you decide to bring that into the virtual world and start doing it in Second Life?

Well, I’ve always been in the entertainment business in real life. I first started out doing radio while I was in college. After a few semesters, a couple of my college mates kept telling me that I needed to go out and explore, and enjoy the nightlife, but I was a bookworm and I was studying day in and day out. I’ve always loved playing with computers. (I guess you can say that’s the geek in all of us.) Well, one night my roommate told me that we were going to go hang out at a nightclub. They would not take no for an answer, so I said “Fine, I’ll go,” and I honestly have to say it was the best decision of my life: we went that night and as we went to get in line, this gentleman stops me and asked me if I minded holding the door for him so he could carry some equipment inside. 

I said sure and held the door for him as he started carrying some crates and some really heavy equipment inside this night club. A little bit of time passed, and he hands me $200 and asked me if I planed on going in the nightclub, as he could get us all VIP access. Being in college, money was always tight, so those were two things that any college student would love to have. So we accepted his offer, went into the club, and had the most amazing time. But as for me, I was more interested in what he was doing, watching his hands and how he would take each song and put them together.

Later on at closing time I walked up to the DJ and told him that I would absolutely love to do something like this. He told me that he could teach me, but it has to be more something that you naturally know how to do. So we exchanged numbers and he invited me back the next weekend to be in the DJ booth with him. I started watching what he did, and I told myself I bet I could do this. So after going to the club and watching him a few times, I learned exactly how to take a song that’s on vinyl and mix it with another one on vinyl. It was absolutely amazing to watch him take an instrumental and put it with an a cappella. So I told him that I wanted to try, and he told me if I came back early the next night he would let me practice. Now fast forward a couple weeks, and he really liked what I did, so he asked me if I would be the opening DJ for one hour on the weekends and he would pay me for my time. I was so excited, I ran back to tell all my friends in school that I was going to be DJing at a nightclub and they needed to come out.

They all came out to show support, and after a couple weeks the DJ started giving me a little bit more time each night. One night he called me and told me that he was sick and couldn’t come in, and that I was actually going to play the whole night and that the club would pay me. 

Well I accepted, and again I have to say it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because from that point on the owner was very happy with what I did. People were dancing all night long, and after a while the other DJ actually left to go work at another nightclub. And so the owner offered me a Friday night, and from there I just started playing every Friday night, and I learned that I had a very good ear for music. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved music but I could actually control the sounds that people were hearing and that was very exciting to me. I eventually graduated with a computer engineering degree, and I wanted to continue to go to school and learn about the art of music and design and create my own sound. And with the help and support of my DJ mentor I did just that. 

I started playing at nightclubs all over on the weekends and going to school on the weekdays, until one night I played at a club called Platforms in Florida, and I found out that I was going to be opening for a major artist that goes by the name of Yung Joc. You might’ve heard of him, his most popular song was “It’s Goin’ Down.” After doing the show they told me that they would love to have me come play on some of his other shows on the East Coast. I accepted and the experience was so great. After that things got even bigger, and I started playing more shows with different artists in different states. As the music changed, people started liking more and more different styles than just hip-hop, and I started messing around with other genres of music and really found a love for electronic dance music. I started playing at a lot of different venues, festivals, and shows all over the world in support of big name artists like DJ Baby Ann and DJ Icey, and then I got to be support for one the the world’s music icons, Avicii. After that show I just started to tour in support of artists all over, from major festivals like Miami’s Life In Color. And the rest is history. I now live in Las Vegas and support many headlining acts in addition to signing on as an artist with a very big agency called Blueprint. Each week is different, and I often work with some of the biggest talents in the world. It’s definitely been a blessing in my music career and I can officially say that I too am an artist. 

I remember this everyday and put it to use in the wonderful world of Second Life. So now back to the story of SL! After doing a few broadcasting shows, I learned that there was a way we could add commercials about the stores or pretty much anything, and we came across a program called Shout Cast. You could use it to stream and broadcast what was being played on your computer. Later, we found out that we could take URLs and put them in Second Life. So I did that and then I was hired for a few nightclubs.

What are some of the advantages or challenges of DJing in the virtual world, as opposed to the physical world?

I would have to say the advantages are that anything is possible, as it has helped me grow and be able to reach out and do things I never thought were possible, like being able to work with some big and influential names in Second Life. 

The challenges would be not knowing if the stream is going to work or if it would coincide with an SL software update, or maybe your internet connection is giving you problems… Lol back in the day that used to happen to me a lot, it definitely was a challenge. But it was one worth putting up with.

What are your favorite genres of music, and what mood do you usually go for when you DJ?

I’m a future bass artist, it’s in the same family of genres known as EDM (electronic dance music), but I have to say I always fall back on my roots and I love some good hip-hop, especially everything from the 90s. I don’t play it as much irl but I definitely enjoy playing it in  Second Life. For the second part of the question, I always love the ha and high energy type of setting, but I love to make people dance and knowing that I can make them dance and move to the sounds that I create is so special to me.

We hear that you may be involved in a new club opening in Second Life, ELEVATE! Can you tell us more about it and when it opens?

Well, I had been gone for quite a few years, because real life had really kicked off and I was away on multiple tours. One day I was sitting at my computer and I received an email saying that a customer had a problem with one of my hats (I also design in Second Life). 

So I log in and send them a new copy, as I had made a custom fit hat for them. And it kind of made me miss this world, as it’s always been a part of me. After looking around and seeing all the different avatars it made me think I was a noob all over again lol. So that night I was on for a crazy amount of hours, as that’s how Second Life works for most haha, but I decided to upgrade and get myself all fixed up with the help of a few friends. 

And then it was almost as if I never left, because all the clubs had opened their arms and invited me back, and I found many other clubs to be a part of. After a couple weeks of being back I noticed that a lot of the clubs were different, and I wanted to take the knowledge I had gained and give back to this world, so after a few days of searching and creating something unlike any other and having the support from my friends and family I created ELEVATE NIGHT CLUB. I was able to find a designer that made the dancefloor lighting go on your body like in a physical club. As you can see in the logo, it has the name of the club as well as a triangle design. The triangle represents important things in my life, the people that have always stood by me, and the person that means the most to me in both worlds. Not only has she been an SL mom to me but we have become very close in the real world as well, and she has always stood by my side no matter what the situation may be, and her name is Savvy Tomorrow. If I had to say anything about her I would have to say that she is my hero and has always supported me in both worlds.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.

To start off I would like to thank all the people that did not believe in me and would not give me the chance, because those are the people that just made me push even harder to succeed and be where I am today.

And I encourage anyone who is ever told no to turn that into a yes, no matter what it is in life.

As I mentioned previously about my SL mom, she is definitely at the top of my list, but there are so many people that believe in me and that have supported me, who I’ve supported also, with another being my SL daughter Raine Dinzeo. She is definitely someone that’s been there from day one. Also there’s Havi and a few others that don’t really come online anymore. 

I would also like to add that there was a time when my real life wasn’t going very great and I was not always a great person in Second Life, but since then I have definitely grown up and I’ve changed my ways. Sometimes it still haunts me, that maybe I didn’t think about something before I reacted and that I could’ve hurt somebody’s feelings. But I wasn’t even thinking about it at the time because I was hurting myself. I wanna let the people know that I have changed, I have definitely grown up and I have bettered myself not only irl but also in my second one. To any and everybody that I was rude to, I am truly sorry and I hope at some point in life you can forgive me, and give me a chance to show you that I have changed.

Where can people follow you to know more about your next shows? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

I wanna thank you so much for taking the time to include me, it definitely means a lot and hopefully gives me the chance to reach out to everyone that I may have run into at some point throughout my history in Second Life.

For info on our upcoming events | shows follow my Instagram:
Instagram: @ahlanwrightmusic
Facebook: @AhlanWrightMusic
Twitter: @AhlanWright
Soundcloud: @ahlanwrightmusic
I also recently did another interview for the the NFL tailgating committee.

Elevate Night Club’s grand opening is tonight, May 4th at 5pm SLT. Come party with Christion in your black and white attire! 

Elevate Night Club

Elevate Night Club is one of the hottest new clubs to hit the grid, with live DJs that will be playing Top 40s EDM! Step into an inviting atmosphere that was designed to emulate the captivating light effects of physical clubs. Owned and designed by renowned DJ Christion Dinzeo, you will find Elevate to be anything but predictable. The grand opening (May 4th, 2022 at 5 pm PT/SLT) will have a Black and White attire theme, but after that, dress however you like!

Visit in Second Life

We hope you enjoyed learning about Christion’s whirlwind journey and the important life lessons he picked up along the way. We encourage everybody to follow their passions no matter what, just like Christion and countless other Residents have.

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.

This week we are shining a spotlight on Gabriel Easton (Wassup.Bruh), who runs Highlife Destinations with his family and takes our breath away with his virtual landscaping. You know someone’s really good at something when they make it look easy! Gabriel’s attention to detail has produced numerous regions that look and feel like absolute paradise.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I've been in Second Life for almost 15 years. I first heard about SL through a friend I was hanging out with, and they heard about it from an episode of CSI. They got curious and made an account and I watched them walk around for an hour. They were walking into people and we wondered why no one was talking… or doing anything for that matter. It was a strange world to us. They eventually grew bored but I wanted to see for myself what it was about and make the most of it. I signed up the next day and did the same thing. Just walked around. I learned to teleport and found some people who actually spoke. They taught me a few things, not much. I learned to shape my avi and got some freebies. I thought I was cute but man, looking back, I was still a hot mess! I rented my first apartment within that first week and met some cool people. That's what really made me stick around longer: the connections I made. Now, here I am 15 years later. I've gone with the flow of things and I'm happy I stayed to see all of the improvements.

What drew you to virtual landscaping, and what styles have influenced your approach?
My love for landscaping started with another platform where you could design your homes. I would spend more time building the home and decorating than I did actually playing it. The same passion applied here in SL but with more of a learning curve. I always did my own landscaping and I didnt start out good, no one does. But with practice, I kept at it and got a little better. I didn't have it in my mind to make a business of it at first. That came later through encouragement from my Second Life family. I started out doing landscape work for my family and friends only. After I posted my photos, I gained more clients and kept at it. I haven't really defined my own style per se but one thing I will say about myself is that I tend to be a perfectionist. I have my landscaping pet peeves: floating trees, bare undecorated areas with so much potential, and bald grass! I just like for things to be perfect and beautiful and I go the extra mile to make that happen. I take a lot of pride in my work and those who experience it can see and feel that.

Cuban Tropical Island

Since you work with your family as a creative team, please explain what role each person has, and what exactly your duties entail?
Highlife Destinations is a family company. For our destinations, I create the landscaping, decor and activities. My wife Tye handles the administration part as far as bookings, events, and so much more. Our son Roman does a lot of beautiful decor work on the hotel rooms and administrative work. Our daughter Sage does a lot with spa services, helping with check-ins and much more. Our daughter-in-law Savoeigh is our main check-in specialist. We have a full staff of team members like Jordan, A'storia, Lori, Bunny, Leta, and Angel that do various jobs in our restaurants, spa, cooking classes, and sip and paint classes. As for myself, I bounce around where I'm needed. I help with check-in, I may fill in for a spa here and there but mostly I serve dinners. Everyone works hard to provide excellent and fun roleplay experiences for our guests and I appreciate them all wholeheartedly.

When building resorts or seasonal regions, what types of activities and amenities do you include to make a visit to these places different from regular exploration, i.e. an actual virtual vacation?
The difference is in the roleplay and immersion. With regular exploration, you go to a place, look around, take photos. Some places are interactive, but most are not. With our destinations, you are really on a vacation. People book for a day or two, sometimes more. They come with their luggage and start out in our airport, where they are greeted and checked in at our concierge just like a real hotel stay. Guests stay with us for their honeymoons, group vacations, or a quick getaway. They get to stay and make lasting memories together. 

Timor Isles at Bali

Each resort will have activities that pretty much match the destination. In Timor Isles @ Bali, we had lots of fun water activities as well as underwater, zip lining and hang gliding. We didn't have a restaurant but we did serve dinner at their bungalows or a private romantic one on a mountainside.

Winter in NY

Winter in New York had ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza, a Fun Zone arcade, Empire Steak restaurant, and more.

Ibiza

Ibiza had water activities but it was more of a Nightlife resort with LOTS of parties on the water, in the club, and main pool area. We also had a nice mini golf and amusement park.

Poconos

The Poconos had lots of winter activities such as skiing down a huge mountain and hang gliding. We also included a hot air balloon ride.

Las Vegas

With Las Vegas we have packed it all in! Vegas has zip lining, a hot air balloon, paintball, pools, bowling, sand dunes, a drive-in movie theater, live shows, and more. We put together live shows every other week that feature showgirls, dancers, and singers. We also have a Viva Las Divas Drag show! Our shows have really been amazing and bring so much more to the Las Vegas  experience that you can't get anywhere else. I am honestly so proud and thankful for everyone that has had a part in them. They have worked so hard and our guests see that and have a really great time.

Ibiza

How many regions is your team currently operating, and what can we expect from you next?
We usually keep our destinations for six months or more and then change it to something else. We are currently running Las Vegas, and it has four regions to explore. For our next destination, we will be bringing Timor Isles back for Bali 2.0! It will be bigger and better than ever before!

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
My Flickr  
My Facebook  
Las Vegas FB  
Las Vegas Instagram  
Las Vegas Flickr  

We hope you enjoyed learning about Gabriel and the creative potential of virtual landscaping. Make sure you check out his website and treat yourself to a magical escape!

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.
 

This week we are shining a spotlight on Inara Pey. As the writer behind the comprehensive blog Living in a Modemworld, Inara reports on the evolution, current events, and vast potential of Second Life and virtual worlds. Living in a Modemworld is almost as old as SL itself, adding gravitas to the observations found in its lengthy catalog.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

Altogether? 16 years - but I tend to not count the first time around, as I quit after several months for various reasons (such as jumping in without knowing much about what I was hoping to achieve or why I was giving it a go). However, by the end of 2006, the media hype cycle about SL was in full swing, and that gave me enough of an understanding about what I might find that I decided to give things another go - and 15 years and 4 months later, I'm still here!

When and how did you get started writing about Second Life?

My SL-related blogging initially started in 2007, with a focus on what was then my primary interest. By 2008, I was writing more broadly about Second Life. {Around this time} some of the Lab's management and board (all of whom have long since departed LL) saw the future of the platform as being more of a "business application" - and that as a result, some users might not find the platform as welcoming as it had been going forward. This, coupled with other events (such as the whole OpenSpace / Homestead situation), led to a lot of criticism being directed towards the Lab; honestly, a more than good portion of it was justified, although equally, some of it perhaps wasn't.

For my part, I became aware that I actually didn't understand all of the complexities involved in running and maintaining a platform like SL as well as I perhaps should, making some of my own critiques either questionable or hypocritical. So I set out to learn as much as I could about the platform (and am still learning!) whilst also trying to report on it from a more objective standpoint, keeping subjective opinion to pieces clearly noted as such as much as possible. At the same time my interest in exploring SL more broadly came to the fore, as did my interest in SL art and in taking photos in-world - as a result, Modemworld was born.

You highlight the latest news, updates, and destinations in SL in such a concise and informative way. How do you stay on top of all of the information you wish to feature?

It's a combination of factors.

Most simply, I try to run on a schedule. I'm helped in this by the fact that some of the things I report on are themselves scheduled (such as the in-world user groups) or often announced ahead of time by the Lab or by event organisers. 

I also try to keep an eye on various sources of information - the official blogs, social media, various in-world groups, etc - that allow me to identify opportunities for blogging. In addition, I'm really fortunate enough to receive a lot of suggestions and requests, and to have friends who regularly nudge me about places I might like to write about (special thanks to Shawn and Cube and everyone who does so), and to have artists and gallery owners take the time to keep me informed as to what they are doing, as well as a readership who takes the time to let me know about things they feel might be of interest. 

I've also been very fortunate enough to attract some guest writers - Caledonia, R., Beq, and Marianne - who have all given depth to the blog.

Do you have a submission process for Residents who would like to have their destination promoted on your blog?

The best way is via notecard, although IMs will also generally work, and there is a Contact Me form on the blog. I cannot possibly cover everything I'm messaged about, and I do sometimes receive requests for articles that fall outside my focus, and so are not covered; my apologies to those sending them for this being the case. But generally, I try to take requests / suggestions on a case-by-case basis and blog with credit whenever there is a good fit.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.

Honestly, there are so many, it would be hard to point to a handful without me feeling guilty about not mentioning others. I'm constantly and repeatedly awed by the regions I visit, the art I encounter, and all the work of all the creators and scripters who bring depth to our in-world lives.

I'm also genuinely appreciative of the Lab (together with all the open-source developers) for all the work put into keeping this complex, aging, behemoth we call Second Life running as well as it does, nevermind constantly trying to improve and update it.

What do you do to relax in-world?

A variety of things. As readers of my blog know, I have a particular love of in-world building / kitbashing, which I tend to combine with landscaping. I also love spending time boating, sailing, and flying in SL (and skydiving, something I had fun introducing to Strawberry!), and am in awe of all those who create and script the boats and aircraft that make this possible. Exploring is also a means to relax (even when related to blogging!), and of course there are those who keep me coming back to SL for their company.

Where can people follow your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

• Blog
• Twitter
• Plurk
• Flickr
• YouTube (rarely active at the moment)

We hope you enjoyed learning about Inara’s extensive background in SL. Sometimes it takes a village to provide coverage of everything that goes on in here, so don’t be shy about submitting content to Modemworld! And of course, we encourage any aspiring bloggers to check out the Second Life Blogger Network.

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.

This week we are shining a spotlight on Zaara Kohime, who brings the luxurious colors of Indian culture and clothing to SL through her digital creations. In addition to gorgeous lehengas and saris, a visit to her main store is an experience in itself. She has artfully incorporated many architectural styles and iconic symbols of Indian culture, such as colorful tilework and a serene temple.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I have been in SL since 2007! A friend of mine pointed me to a news article about it and I signed up. I didn't quite know what to do once I logged in (don't we all?). I used to camp in those days to earn some lindens and eventually made some friends. Soon enough, I was told that if I have any sort of graphic capabilities, I should try creating something in SL.

{Zaara} mainstore

Do you have a background in fashion or 3D creation? What got you interested in creating content for Second Life?

I went to art school and am trained in illustration and print media. I was also an art director at an ad agency that handled fashion and lifestyle brands. Advertising was on the cusp of digitization and print mediums were increasingly on the decline… we didn’t have the budgets at our disposal, or the timelines, that we were used to. It was just a high pressure environment and I was getting  pretty frustrated with that way of life. What attracted me to SL was the freedom, that I could do *anything* and if it was good enough, people were willing to pay for it and appreciate it. I liked the idea of being able to reach a global audience and to be on a level playing field; there was a sense of equality about it and mutual respect. The positive feedback from customers was also encouraging, it felt like what I was doing was worthwhile and bringing joy to someone in a very direct way.

I decided to make a few outfits in my spare time to see how it went... and thus {Zaara} was born. I was proficient in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, however, I had no training in any 3D software. Luckily, SL content at the time was not driven by mesh but rather by textures, which were my strength. Luckily, I could pick up newer techniques and softwares along the way as SL evolved. My partner, Sawyer Campese, was comfortable with 3D and I learned softwares quickly. Needless to say 14 years later, I am still here and loving it!

{Zaara} Lehenga

As most of your clothing is highly influenced by South Asian culture, please share some common garment terms that people might not be familiar with. Are there any specific people, places, or movies that have inspired your designs?

{Zaara} is a quintessential Indian brand, pretty rooted in tradition and authentic in its representation. A lot of my customers who are not from India are often pleased to discover fashion goes beyond a sari. I do try to name my outfits correctly, with the name in Hindi and English so people understand how these pieces are called.

I try to focus on specific outfit styles, the most popular of which is a Lehenga - flared intricately worked on skirts with blouses with draped scarves. Most South Asian traditional garments tend to have draped scarves called 'dupattas' or 'chunnis' for the sake of modesty. Then of course there is the Sari - the ultimate fashion paradox... it is as complex as it is simple, with its richly decorated seven yards of untailored fabric.  There are apparently over 100 different ways in which a sari can be draped. I have managed to make... ONE style (lol). Then you also have tops or long dresses such as 'kurtas' which are worn with pants. These have several different names such as anarkali, a patiala, churidar kurta, sharara, gararas... depending on the cut of the top and the fit of the pants.

A big part of my inspiration is drawn from different fabrics, embroideries, and regional differences that stretch across the vast landscape of India. I also love color and South Asian fashion is one where strong colors and patterns are unapologetically front and center, so I like to celebrate that. A lot of my customers contribute references or draw attention to an outfit from a popular Bollywood movie and I happily comply if possible!

{Zaara} Patiala Kurta (left) and {Zaara} Sari (right)

You recently updated the Zaara mainstore to an all mesh build. This photogenic Indian themed location is an attraction in itself, filled with meaningful cultural markers such as a temple, colorful tilework and stained glass, and the revered cow and elephant. What was the process of building such an elaborate store like, and what experience do you hope people take from visiting?

My inspiration for the {Zaara} sim was a mix of old Havelis (mansions) and the steps/ghats you see in Puskhar and Varanasi. I like this region because its architecture is influenced by Hindu as well as Islamic elements which captures the multicultural fabric of India.

Zaara region ghats/steps

I also understand that a lot of non-resident Indians come to SL looking for nostalgia and a feeling of home.... I didn't want to build a palace, but rather something relatable that had seen better days and was looking for a sense of purpose. The {Zaara} mainstore is housed in such a 'Haveli' with a rambling layout which spills over outdoors into the lanes leading to the 'ghats' or steps into the water. 

Zaara region lane

I initially referenced pictures off of Google, but unfortunately, I didn't even know where to start. Rural Indian builds are so chaotic and I couldn't figure out what these builds looked like on the inside, and how one building led into another. So I traveled to Rajasthan, along with my partner Sawyer, to collect references and observe the structures firsthand. The Mainstore structure itself is based on an old Haveli in Shekhawati. The yellow building that houses the Menswear is a quaint house I saw in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The pools are a nod to the gorgeous lake palace in Udaipur. Then there was this particular lane in Pushkar that I fell in love with and attempted to recreate a simplified version here in the sim. I could do sooo much more, the {Zaara} sim still feels like a work in progress... but I had to stop somewhere and get back to making Saris and Lehengas!

Lane comparisons - RL (left) vs SL (right)

How has Second Life impacted your life?

Well, I met my now RL husband in SL, so it has certainly impacted my life (haha). In general, I think the most priceless thing Second Life offers is freedom. We have been able to move across countries because of how flexible we are... and because it is not a 9-5 job we could develop other interests and hobbies. I was bogged down by a mortgage on my apartment in Mumbai and my SL business helped me pay that back. We are now building a life together without the traditional constraints of a job or location, and I'll always be grateful to Second life for that. I have made so many friends from so many countries and even met a few IRL! Nothing can be quite as enriching as a culturally diverse human encounter. What keeps me going is the appreciation of customers, some of whom have been purchasing from my store for 13-14 years.

Zaara region temple

Where can people follow you to learn more about your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Flickr
Facebook
Instagram
SLURL to Zaara mainstore
Zaara on Marketplace

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Zaara’s talent and flair for virtual fusion fashion. 

Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.

This week we are shining a spotlight on Saffia Widdershins, a powerhouse woman that has years of promotional work under her belt, including an incredible job of hosting many award shows, pageants, talk shows, and more!

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I first heard about Second Life in early 2007, when my team in the Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford asked me to go into Second Life and see if it might be useful to us. I went in and did a little exploration... and was fascinated by the whole environment and decided I wanted to explore more thoroughly. I created a second avatar to do this - so Saffia is actually an alt!

Prim Perfect Magazine - Covers of the first (2007) and last issue (2015)

In addition to being renowned in Second Life for hosting a variety of events, you are known especially for your in-depth interviews. When and how did you get into broadcasting in Second Life? 

My first venture into media in Second Life was with Prim Perfect, Second Life's first home and garden magazine. As my (real life) husband said... "You're planning on a virtual magazine in a virtual world, telling virtual people what virtual furniture to put in their virtual homes … and you're planning to make real money doing this?" After we'd been up and running with the magazine for six months, I thought we could also have a presence on Second Life TV, so I contacted the popular network SLCN (later Treet TV) and asked if they'd like a home and garden show. That was the start of MetaMakeover, which was planned to be a home makeover show, but it very rapidly expanded far more into looking at places and events, and so it soon became Designing Worlds. And so it is to this day! There's a longstanding team behind it - in addition to myself there's Elrik Merlin, Aisling Sinclair, Wildstar Beaumont and - recently, Bain Finch who is a second videographer.

A double page spread from The Primgraph by Terry Lightfoot

Designing Worlds is such an amazing resource for creators. What are some of the other shows and events, past and current, that you have produced? 

I've also been involved with Happy Hunting, which was produced for a number of years by Cinders Vale and Petlove Petshop. And, of course, there was the thriller/fantasy story of The Blackened Mirror, which was a group production by a very talented team which included Zander Greene, Da5id Abbott, Aisling Sinclair, Petlove Petshop, Lorin Tone, Terra Volitant, Mavromichali Szondi, Angie Mornington, AvaJean Westland, and others. And then there was The Primgraph, a magazine for the Steamlands, which ran for several years.

One event that is so close to my heart is One Billion Rising. We recently held the 10th annual event, as it's been running since 2013. That's a long time in Second Life! It's part of international events held around the world on February 14th,  drawing attention to the statistic that one in three women worldwide will be beaten or raped during her lifetime - which adds up to more then one billion women and girls. It's an event with music, dance, art, and poetry. For many people, men and women, it's very powerful - it certainly is for me. I've been involved with the team leading it throughout - it actually started by the editorial team of Prim Perfect; when we read about the event, we wanted to be part of it! Over the years, many people have been involved - the team this year included Dawny Daviau, Briony Writer, Adele Ward, Cherryblonde Scribe, Meegan Danitz, AvaJean Westland, Jenny Anatine and some amazing volunteers who came in all shapes and forms! 

Designing Worlds visits One Billion Rising in Second Life 2022 

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.

Well, quite a lot of them are people I'm lucky enough to work with - or have had the opportunity to work with in the past!

Deep breath...

I would have to look at people who have created some amazing events, such as the teams behind events such as Fantasy Faire. The organisational skills there (led by Elizabeth Tinsley and Zander Greene) are amazing - and every year the creations of the designers just blow me away. One of my favourite things that I do each year is to lead the Company of Faire Folk on the tours we have each year, where a group of us go and explore each region of the Faire in turn, so we get to admire the work of creators like Alia Baroque, Saiyge Lotus, Sharni Azalee, Kayle Matzerath, Kilik Lekvoda, Walton Wainwright and Loki Eliot. The Tours run very smoothly, thanks to Aoife Lorefield and the rest of the LitFest team - the Literary Festival and now the Film Festival, led by Chantel Harvey, are components of Fantasy Faire.

And then there's the Home and Garden Expo, led by Kaerri Rae, which is the most wonderful way of seeing the best of home and garden design in Second Life. As well as the lovely furniture design, I always look out for Cassie Eldamar's doll houses - really beautiful, intricate models of Victorian houses - and a library, a pub, a lighthouse - all tiny with amazingly low land impact.

So many people contribute to Second Life in so many ways ... Marianne McCann, OldeSoul Eldemar, Desmond Shang, Mosseveno Tenk, Maxwell Graf, Froukje Hoorenbeek, Tymus Tenk and Truck Meredith, Kaya Angel and the wonderful team behind Grendel's - Flea Bussy and Toady Nakamura. Toady also runs wonderful classes teaching people to build in Second Life every week.

Final Scene of Much Ado About Nothing for Fantasy Faire 2017

Are you currently working on anything new?

Actually, yes. I'm working with Zander Greene (and many others) on a new series set in the same universe as The Blackened Mirror series. It's called "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex", and I can say this about it ... When a lethal, magical anomaly out of the pages of legend begins wreaking havoc all across the Fairelands, it falls to a mismatched band of heroes to stop it before it’s too late. A Dark-Elven femme fatale, an erudite librarian, a rough-and-tumble sanitation worker, and a hard-boiled Private Detective will have to overcome their differences if they’re going to solve the enigma of the Omega-Hex and a mysterious scientist who may not be what she seems. We're planning to release the first three episodes at Fantasy Faire this year, and the next three next year. There's a very large team behind this - as you can imagine!

The first episode of The Blackened Mirror - 2012

Where can people follow your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Prim Perfect Website  
Prim Perfect Facebook  
Designing Worlds Website
Saffia on Flickr  
Saffia on Twitter  
Saffia on Facebook  
Saffia on YouTube  
Saffia on Vimeo  
You can watch many of Saffia’s interviews with the Lindens & Moles on YouTube

A Media Project from 2014 by Saffia Widdershins

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Saffia’s successful years in Second Life! Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup. 

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are shining a spotlight on a successful woman entrepreneur. Jasmine Kiyori is a prolific virtual builder whose work aims to authentically honor various cultures and locations from around the world.

Jasmine’s work includes Little Santorini, Cheri Noel, and Kiyori City. (Note: Kiyori has two components, Kiyori City, rated Moderate, and Kiyori, rated Adult. If you do not wish to visit Adult regions, make sure to adjust the settings in your viewer preferences, as this will determine what types of regions you are allowed to enter.)

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?

I’ve been a Second Life Resident for 13+ years now! I’ve always been interested in virtual world platforms and games; I’m 90% sure I found Second Life through one of those ads on the side of Adobe Flash Player games back in the day. I made an account but didn’t really get into Second Life until an old friend brought me back in a few months later and I’ve been here ever since.

Do you have a background in design or architecture? How did you get into 3D building?

Actually, I don’t have a background in either! I’ve been building since I joined Second Life and that started as a hobby: before I had land I would go to public sandboxes and build there. Once I started purchasing land, I would make themed skyboxes for my friends and myself to enjoy,  but I wasn’t very confident with the work and would do it on the side of other interests in Second Life.

Although many know me for builds now, I have pursued different paths in Second Life such as meshing, photography, managing and hosting at clubs, buying, selling, and developing land, and helping others create their own unique look.

Your work in Second Life has a very international feel, with themes encompassing various cultures. How did you learn so much about all these different places?

In RL I love to travel! I've learned through my experiences during travels, people that I've met, and plenty of time dedicated to research. I've always been interested in other cultures besides my own and am very eager to learn about other countries' customs and way of life. When I design new spots or rentals, I always do a lot of research and make sure what I'm introducing is true to the design of the place I'm referencing. This comes down to architecture design, landscape, and knowledge of customs and culture. I'm very careful to not include something that doesn't make sense, wouldn't be there, is mocking, or generalizes and blends it into a similar culture. I think that bringing these cultures into Second Life is a beautiful thing and a great way to learn and understand them for those who aren't familiar but are curious. I have found that with places I've designed it not only attracts people who are interested in learning and experiencing these places, it also appeals to people from those cultures as well. I plan on designing something for every continent, and aim to represent various countries and their beauty whether on a smaller scale such as a single mainland rental home, a hangout spot, or on a greater scale full region.

How did you discover virtual rentals, and when did you get started?

With my builds, I started to develop a small but dedicated community in Kiyori back in 2018-2019. The regulars were really impressed with my work, and would ask if they could live in Kiyori. I set up a few apartments in the city, and quickly they were all rented out! This interest from my community urged me to expand Kiyori to two full regions. I shifted the focus of Kiyori more into a community rental place along with the city being a public place for all to enjoy.

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, I began to participate in land auctions, where I would find mainland plots with cultural region names and design a home based on that culture which tends to be for rent or permanent sale. I love this because, whatever becomes available on a land auction is totally random, and so when I find one that does have a cultural region name, it's usually something I haven't done and challenges me with a new style. I have plenty of themed homes on the mainland in styles such as {those found in} Mexico, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Korea, Russia, Italy, and more to come! My first mainland plot, Hygge Retreat, is a Scandinavian cabin that is still available for rent or permanent purchase today!

Another outcome of the pandemic was Little Santorini! It is a full region vacation island based on the physical world location of Santorini, Greece. This was my first full region and at the time of launch was, and still mildly is, controversial due to it being a vacation island with day rates. Nowadays, many Second Life Residents are familiar with vacations within Second Life, and plenty of information can be found by reading blog posts written by Dirk Vanlager, who has been highly supportive of my works.

There is also Kiyori City (moderate region), the expansion region of Kiyori. This is the clean, luxurious side of the city featuring places such as The Takai Hotel, Cat Cafe Kariko, Seiryu Blues Lounge & Bar, and much more! Kiyori (adult region) is a full region based off of various Asian cultures, and this is the seedier side of the city.

Finally, I also run an annual winter vacation destination, Chéri Noël, which is based off of Strasbourg, France. I love this place because it combines French and German aesthetics. It runs yearly from December 1st-January 1st, where we go out in style and hold our annual star-studded New Year's Eve Formal!

Are you working on any new projects, or just maintaining your current regions? Tell us about what it takes to maintain a vacation region year round.

We just launched the Kiyori website where you will be able to find information on all my projects, rentals, and so on.

I design mesh as well and run Kiyori Shop! You will be able to find all my latest items here! (There is also a new clothing store coming out soon, so stay tuned!)

I am always thinking of new micro-areas for the Kiyori & Kiyori City regions, this makes the city more realistic and keeps things fresh.

I am also planning on reworking Little Santorini, I have new ideas for it but there’s no set date for this.

While there is no set date or specific details set in stone, Vrutega and I plan on collaborating for video content for Kiyori & Kiyori City.

As far as new destinations, mainland homes pop up when I find a region with a good name to work with! I have also teased a new type of experience I'd like to offer on social media, it's kind of a cross between Santorini and the mainland rental homes. Most vacation destinations operate on closed access, meaning you have to book first to access the place. With my new experience, I will be designing smaller scale, private region destinations that are cultural, authentic, and immersive. These new destinations will be self check-in, there is no booking required meaning it will be easily accessible to all timezones and will be first come first serve.

It's important for me to note that Kiyori as well as Chéri Noël would not have been possible without Megan Prumier. Megan has dedicated so much time and effort to the development of these places and I don't want that to go unnoticed. Megan understands my vision very well and we work extremely well together. When I don't know what to do, Megan knows! I haven't found anyone that matches her creative ability and we have future plans to work on new places together. I can't thank Megan enough for everything she's done, and Megan also has her own venues as well, please do check out her works on her Flickr.

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

Kiyori Website
Flickr
Facebook
Kiyori Facebook Page
Instagram
Kiyori Instagram
Marketplace
YouTube

Watch this video: Aquatic Adventures in Little Santorini

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Jasmine’s work and inspirations, as well as the thriving vacation rental industry of the metaverse. Each of these weekly Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.
 

This week we are shining a spotlight on the virtual wellness and lifestyle publication Sage & Crystals Magazine, which was created to support and promote the rich ethnic and cultural diversity that exists in Second Life. Learn more about it from the Executive Editor/Co-Editor in Chief, ZoeyNova Oatsmill.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I first learned about Second Life from my real life mother. She heard someone refer to it on a television show, which sparked her curiosity. As soon as she signed up, I remember her telling me, “You have to join this! It’s a virtual world of some sort.” Since then, we have both been Second Life Residents for 13+ years.

The issues of Sage and Crystals cover a comprehensive range of topics and feature stunning photography. Do you do everything yourself? If you have help, please tell us about your team and what they do.
The magazine was born out of my desire to represent the diversity of Residents on the grid. I got together with a group of wonderful, like-minded ladies and Sage and Crystals Magazine was created. Although I do a lot of the photography, Sage Absinthe and I share the task so we are responsible for the imagery represented and we contribute some of the editorials. For some of the features, like Spotlight, we use the pictures of the Residents we are showcasing.

Our staff consists of:
ZoeyNova Oatsmill - Executive Editor/Co-Editor in Chief
Sage Absinthe - Co-Editor in Chief
Pilar Mimulus - Editor-at-Large/Editorial Coordinator and Project Manager
Harper Nova - Relationship Manager/ Editor-at-Large
Ari Lexington - In-House Interior Stylist/Set Designer

A huge step forward in representation involves normalizing the idea that people of all backgrounds exist outside of stereotypes and are capable of a variety of interests and skills. You do such an amazing job of that with your magazine. How would you describe your approach to this?
The mission statement of our magazine states, “Sage and Crystals SL is a magazine created by a Second Life collective to present a virtual wellness and lifestyle magazine that supports and promotes the rich ethnic and cultural diversity that exists within SL.” The magazine is meant to be representative of the world at large as it exists on the grid without a bow to prejudice and stereotypes. I feel that the Second Life platform takes away some of the barriers that prevent us from interacting with different groups of people in {the physical world}. On the grid, you can be who you are or who you feel you are. My goal is to make an effort to show that at the core we are all human. We are all just people having experiences that could be teachable moments; moments that could expand you, or stunt/limit you. The opportunity to bridge some gaps and explore differences as a form of education exists in Second Life. The learned opportunity is transferable and  applicable to real life, too.

What are some things you hope people get out of reading your magazine?
By reading the magazine I hope people will suspend judgment to acknowledge and embrace the diversity that exists in Second Life. Our community is not linear and should reflect and relate to those in it. This social platform can allow us to build bridges and connect with different people and cultures on our own accord, as well as vigorously challenge the conditioned narratives and assumptions that have been echoed in real life.

Also, I hope that people can see that virtual wellness is essential. There are so many places on the grid to practice self-reflection, meditation, and other wellness activities to be a better version of ourselves, which can be so beneficial.

Are you accepting submissions from other Residents at this time? If so, where and how?
No, we aren’t accepting submissions at this time, However, we review suggestions and comments that come in from notecards, IMs, or via our social media platforms.

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.
Second Life Residents can check out our work on Issuu, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Instagram.

Thank you for this opportunity!

Watch this fantastic video from the Sage and Crystals team:

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Sage & Crystals Magazine, and start living your best virtual life!

Each weekly post will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup