Christkindl Market & Advent Calendar 2020

A friend sent me a landmark for the Christkindl Market & Advent Calendar 2020 @ DIVIAs Design as she knows I love a good Christmas market.

There are lots of lovely stalls to browse around with wreaths, table centrepieces. garlands, trees, snow globes, candles and more.

The items on sale are all very reasonably priced and low prim mesh so you can decorate for the festive season without your Land Impact hitting zero.

You can find the market here.

Necrotize

Landing at the Necrotize shopping event is something of a surprise - the whole setting is H G Giger inspired and looks like it could be used in one of the Alien movies.  It is courtesy of Walton F. Wainwright (faust.steamer) of ContraptioN.

The items on sale are futuristic, sci fi and/or dark.  They consist of clothing, avatar accessories (skins, tattoos, limbs, heads, horns etc.) and furnishings.

The Dreadful Cerebrum animated head from ozZy Heartsdale of Badwolf Accessories & Poses and the animesh Splider (that's it's name, not a typo) from Ikari Ichibara of Tardfish were especially creepy.  The Gothic lighting from Tiffy Vella at Eclectica is gorgeous.  And finally, thank you to Darksider Alex Of Process Of Elimination whose Carnifex Melee Robot (animesh companion and avatar) 'startled' me so much that I almost screamed.

Eclectica's Gothic Lighting Set

Tardfish's Splider

Badwolf Accessories Dreadful Cerebrum

Process Of Elimination's Carnifex Melee Robot 

Find Necrotize here.

M2D Light Week

Browsing the listing, I came across something that sounded intriguing.  I teleported in to Light Week and was greeted with a stunning display.  Tip: use a night time windlight setting and make sure you have Advanced Light on.

The region is dark to show off the lighting effects.  Away from from the DJ and dance areas, there is a light area and a dark area that are both beautifully lit.  Aside from the lighting there are wonderful kinetic sculptures.

Check out M2D Light Week here.

Halloween 2020

I love Halloween - it appeals to my inner goth, though frequently in SL that becomes my outer goth! 

Amidst all of the big Halloween events such as Shop and Hop, I came across a smaller (more manageable) one called Bundle's Halloween Deja Booooo!

There are shapes, mesh female clothing, (some) male mesh clothing, tattoos for mesh/BOM, decorations, nails, jewellery and textures.  Designers include Purple Moon, Luna Body Art, Le'La, Tastic, Storax Tree, Lurve, Alli & Ali and Loordes on London.

The look of the event is a spooky cemetery - complete with appropriate sound effects.  Alternatively there is a suitably dark stream playing. 

BUNDLES...EVENT is OPEN~ Oct 16th-31st ~ Halloween DEJA BOOOOO!

Engine Room

Browsing through the Showcase tab in Searc, I spotted the Engine Room.  The blurb read "Engine Room is a biannual Steampunk/Aetherpunk/Dieselpunk themed shopping event brought to you by Second Life Syndicate. Running from April 20th to May 20th, the Engine Room features some of the best designers on the grid housed in a unique custom build by Walton F. Wainwright (faust.steamer) of [ContraptioN]."  

I love steampunk and Walton F. Wainwright (faust.steamer) was one of the Worldbuilders at Fantasy Faire 2020.  He created Auxentios’ Pass, which I loved wandering the streets of as if I was in some steampunk novel.

I had to go and check it out and it certainly didn't disappoint.  The build is Victorian, deco, Gothic - spacious, dark, neon, sumptuously accented in gold detailing.  Water flows down the walls in to pools.  The central ceiling is supported by columns with a golden halo framework radiating out of a triangle.  The chandeliers are (of course) suitable industrial.

There are a range of interesting vendors there such as Violent Seduction, [ContraptioN], Wicca's Originals, toksik, The Forge, Schadenfreude and many more. 

Visit the Engine Room.

Fantasy Faire 2020

Over the past couple of weeks, I have spent time at Fantasy Faire 2020.  A lot of time.  Most of the time I have been logged in to Second Life, I have roamed the regions of the Faire.  It took me a couple of days to get my bearings and work my way around the 18 regions.  It then took me a few days to check out every store.  Added to that were the parties and coffee mornings and the other events such as roleplay classes and poetry readings.

I definitely had favourite regions (Spirit Valley of Kuruk, Elemaria, Lunafae, Queensgarden, Autumnium, Auxentios Pass, Zodiac) but every one of them was beautiful in its own way.  I loved the serenity of Spirit Valley or Kuruk and Lunafae, the open feeling of Zodiac, the roleplay feel of Auxentios Pass and the beauty of Queensgarden.  One afternoon I was so drawn in to the feel of Lunafae whilst riding my Teegle Mythos through it, that I realised I was visualising the feel of the sun on my skin and the smell of the grass under hoof.

I cannot imagine where to start to build an entire themed region, let alone how to put it together in such incredible detail.  The world builders of the Faire did an amazing job, not just with putting the regions together, but also with the elements they used from textures, to rocks, to flowers, to blades of grass.  The scale of the task is enormous - and then to put it all together with all of the other regions to allow a smooth transition from one to the other.  I am in awe of their imaginations, creativity and skill.

Wandering the Faire, even for someone like me, there was a sense of a community coming together to celebrate.  Having BPD makes it difficult for me to make connections.  I am the safe friend in your list - I will never IM you or send TP requests; I am in the background - there when you need a chat or want someone to visit an event with.  When I am not required, I wander alone.  Yet even whilst wandering alone at the Faire, I felt part of something.

In a time when the world is in such an unsettled state, I found myself able to leave it behind and become immersed in the regions of the Faire.  I was human, elf, mer, faun, fae, centaur.  I explored.  I took pics.  I miss it already.  

The Relay For Life event is coming.  Second Pride is coming.  I am sure there are plenty more events planned in the virtual world, but the sheer scale and beauty of Fantasy Faire 2020 will be hard to beat.

Healthinfo Island

Today I paid a visit to Healthinfo Island.  It covers a myriad of issues and support services.  
The region features:-

• a Path of Support with links to inworld groups dealing with everything from disabilities to mental health issues
• Health exhibits dealing with Borderline Personality Disorder, Maintaining Mental Health, Dementia, Depression, Minority Mental Health Equity and information about different types of mental health
• An area containing research including information about clinical trials
• A library with resources
• A reading room
• A gym so your avatar can have a work out
• A cute little herb garden with details about different herbs

If you or a loved ones has any health issues, give it a look.  Visit Healthinfo Island here.