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MAGAZINE
ECLIPSE
September 2015
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Introducing the grid’s most exciting, most i
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It’s h
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innovative and newest shopping experience.
here.
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Contents
72.
108.
52.
ECLIPSE Women
88.
ECLIPSE Men
122.
Ways to Wear
138.
Voices From the Grid
The Wizarding World of...
This issue we invite our readers into the magical world of Harry Potter, as envisioned by the role-play group, Mischief Managed.
In the Spotlight ECLIPSE Magazine takes a glimpse into the woman behind some of the most successful events on the grid, Lexie Jansma!
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This issue we challenged the ladies of the ECLIPSE trend squad to create outfits inspired by, “St. Laurent’s Elegant Libertine.”
Never one to back away from a styling challenge, the men of ECLIPSE show us their interpretation of, “Greg Lauren and the New Male Archetype.”
Our monthly fashion segment continues to highlight the unique styling ability of the individual and empowers our readers to vote for their favorites!
Residents speak their mind, and tells us why they log on!
Often times in the fashion industry, it is easy to become short-sighted and forget that fashion is not limited to that small community. Fashion is the art of expression, which is an integral part of our shared virtual world and the Second Life community as an aggregate; thus, our goal at ECLIPSE Magazine is to not only offer an aesthetically pleasing publication with a heavy fashion influence and rich in content but be accessible to all of SL.. because EVERYONE wants to look good.
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Cover Story Jessica Lyon Cover Photographer Tempest Rosca Writer: Cajsa Lilliehook
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Designer Showcase Shining the spotlight on a designer with an extraodrinary taste for accessories & jewelery.
152. Charities
ECLIPSE Magazine sheds insight on the intricacies of fundraising for charities inworld.
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Letter From the Publisher Pervasive honesty. These are two words that have been rolling around my mind for the past couple of days. Simply because, I have found that holding my words can be slightly more conducive to maintaining peace than verbalizing the first thoughts that almost graze my tongue. And it is safer. With that, here is a brief glimpse into who I am, in the vein of pervasive honesty and living life less cautiously: My greatest fear is that I am not good enough. Every issue, I panic and worry that I have not only have I not improved upon the previous but also that no one will enjoy it. Or respect it. But most importantly, no one will take anything from it. Apply this to almost every other facet of my life. Perhaps, displaying one of my “weaknesses� is not the smartest or most strategical things to express for public consumption. Used with the worst of intentions, it can hurt me, manipulate me and take advantage of me. Despite all that, I do believe that part of the beauty of being human, is our ability to feel, whether it is the most exhilirating happiness or the shattered hope in hurt. It still is beautiful. Page 12 | ECLIPSE September 2015
I have my insecurities, and so do you. Does this not make us more similar rather than different? For me it does, and this knowledge alone forges the groundwork for compassion And the world could use more compassion. This issue is packed with things from all over the grid and for whatever you reason you chose to open it up.. it is my sincerest wish you do enjoy this issue. Happy Readings!
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Now Hiring
ECLIPSE Magazine is looking to expand their team. We are seeking self-motivated, dedicated and outgoing individuals who want to work with a team that values integrity, honesty and handwork. We are hiring: Photographers Writers We ask that interested individuals send their resume to Trouble Dethly in-world.
Want to advertise with ECLIPSE Magazine? Please contact Catalina Staheli. All other queries, please contact Trouble Dethly.
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Contributors
Taylor Wassep Creative Director
Cajsa Lilliehook Copy Editor
Zzoie Zee Creative Director
Models:
Miele Tarantal Fashion Editor
Writers: Amity Sorbet Aradia Aridian Casja Lilliehook Taylor Wassep Zzoie Zee
Apollo Call Caoimhe Lionheart Dream Love Leezah Kaddour Locuala Madruga Lua Vendetta Luka Benton Miele Tarantal Paradox Messmer Paris Evermore Saian Samuel Silly Avro Silvester Avro Spirit Llewellyn Steele Sirnah Tadeu Gartner Trouble Dethly Zoomy Bluebird
Catalina Staheli Marketing Director
Photographers: Anderian Sugarplum Daffodil Crimson Grace Winnfield Jasmine Hera Natzuka Miliandrovic Sylphia Constantine Taylor Wassep Tempest Rosca Zzoie Zee ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 17
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Photography by Jasmine Hera
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Leezah Kaddour Meva - UbanZen Set Page 20 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Leezah Kaddour Meva - Cap & Collar with Horns Meva - Fantasy Nails & Rings Page 22 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Saian Samuel Meva - Cowboy Hat 1 Meva - Feather Earring Meva - Cubes Watch Page 24 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Saian Samuel Meva - Horns Necklace 1 Meva - Mask Page 26 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Spirit Lllewellyn Meva - Feather Earrings Meva - Feather Headband Meva - Feather Wings Meva - Feather Horns Page 28 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Spirit Llewellyn Meva -Diamond Sunglasses Meva - Gangster Hat Meva - Leather Necklace Set Page 30 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Tadeu Gartner Meva - Mask Meva - Horns Necklace 1 Page 32 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Tadeu Gartner Meva - Hikaru Glasses Meva - Neck Cloth Page 34 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Forged in Fire Page 38 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Written by Cajsa Lilliehook
Photography by Tempest Rosca
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Doctor Who once said, “Great men said great people, but then, he’s Th lights, Jessica Lyon is a great perso in fire, but from that fire, she wres firestorm, if you will f Page 40 | ECLIPSE September 2015
n are forged in fire.� He should have he Doctor. He is forgiven. By those on. Lyon has not only been forged stled a phoenix and called forth a forgive the wordplay. ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 41
It was five years ago when the popular Emerald Viewer imploded in scandal and recriminations that Jessica Lyon demonstrated her leadership ability. The Emerald viewer had been used to launch a denial of service attack and was revealed to contain code that collected user data. Linden Lab™ demanded the malicious code be deleted and those they held responsible for it resign from the Emerald team. When it became obvious to Lyon that the Emerald leadership would not comply with the Lab’s demands, she resigned and published an open letter to the Second Life® community that clearly and succinctly explained the current situation and her decision to resign. She invited those interested in trying to create a new team that would operate with transparency and accountability to contact her. As she explained, “I was afraid that if I walked away I would always be haunted with the question of if I could have done more to keep it alive. So I decided I had to at least try to keep the feature set alive by forking it and forming a team comprising some of the developers and support from Emerald whom I trusted, and recruiting others from around SL.” Three days later, her new team released a clone of the Emerald viewer from which they had stripped the offending code. They named it Phoenix, deliberately confronting the controversy that birthed the new project. This is an example of the organizing wisdom shared by the civil rights organizer Stokely Carmichael that the best way to deal with the negative is to push it until it becomes a positive. For him, it meant accepting white fear of black power and embracing that power and the fear, creating the Black Power movement. For Lyon and her team, using the Phoenix name acknowledged that “Yes, disaster happened and you know what — we’re back. Not only are we back, but we are better and stronger for it.” Page 42 | ECLIPSE September 2015
As the SL® viewer evolved, so did their project, leading to the development of the newest viewer platform Firestorm that replaced the now obsolete Phoenix. The new names continues to recognize their history and promise of survival despite adversity. That kind of rapid recovery and rise from disaster is not common. Contrary to Friedrich Nietzsche, that which does not kill you usually makes you weaker. We mistake the strength of those who survive calamity as the result of the calamity rather than the cause of their survival. The Emerald implosion did not make Jessica Lyon leadership material. It was because she already had those qualities that she was able to come through calamity with a clear head and a strong path forward. Phoenix Firestorm just celebrated its fifth anniversary in early September. “It has been a very long road...Five years since the first viewer release we issued and it has indeed been a massive undertaking of effort and patience from all on the team. The rewards are in the thank you notes we receive from our users and the challenges are too numerous to mention. The biggest perhaps, at least for me, has been in trying to keep everyone together without killing each other.” she added, with a laugh. So what makes her a leader? There is a clue in her profile. There it says she is an ENFP, one of the sixteen personality archetypes developed by the mother-daughter team of Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers from the work of Carl Jung. Different practitioners call ENFPs by different names, Campaigners, Champions, or Enthusiasts. And that she is, an enthusiast of Second Life, a campaigner for this new viewer and a champion of Second Life users seeking a stable, innovative and responsive viewer. When asked how accurately that profile reflects her personality and whether she has that “spark of madness” that typifies the campaigner, she responded with a laugh. “Spark of madness?…. Am I a campaigner?… haha! I’m the project manager and founder of ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 43
The Phoenix Firestorm Project. Our mission, to take the Linden Lab viewer and make it better, ‘To improve the user experience’. I manage a team of over 80 volunteers, of all walks of life, located all over the world with no central office, no phone numbers, no real life info’s, who develop, test, maintain and support a viewer with around 350,000 dedicated and vocal users who expect the very best. If that isn’t madness, I’m not sure what is.”
It is worth pondering how differently Second Life might feel for viewers if that mentor had not been there that day. Certainly someone else might have reorganized the developers from Emerald into a new team and created a new third-party viewer, but how might it have been different without her campaigner’s qualities? It is a useful reminder to us all how important those encounters with new residents are. We have the opportunity to welcome them into the She continued, “I am absolutely a campaigner enthusiastic possibilities of SL or discourage too, in fact I consider myself a bit of an them from returning — and in so doing, we advocate for user rights in SL. Rail against create, expand and limit the possibilities for the machine that is Linden Lab!” Happily she SL’s future. notes that LL has been doing well under the leadership of Ebbe Linden, so much so that “I Like most SL residents, Lyon’s relationship may need to find something else to advocate.” with her avatar is a mixture of her aspirations and her reality. As she explains, It is hard to imagine that someone who is “In appearance, my avatar is skinner than I an expert on Second Life viewers, someone am these days and I guess it reflects what I’d leading a team of developers was ever like to look like in the real world. Intellectually a noob, but of course, we all have that though it is more just an extension of myself. experience in common. Lyon first heard of Some folks use Second life as a means of being SL through an interview with Philip Rosedale someone or something else, where as I’ve that piqued her interest. She logged in, always been more or less the same person, encountered “a dozen or so avatars all whether in pixel or physical form.” slumped over themselves” and logged back out and moved on. That experience with For her, Second Life is as just as real as the AFK might have been the end of it, but anything else. She relates the nearly a friend of hers kept pressuring her to try it universal experience of trying to explain again. SL to someone outside and hearing the reaction “But it isn’t real.. why would you do it As luck would have it, she found another on a computer when you can do it for real?” As dozen or so AFK nappers, but this time there she explains, “The ‘reality’ is that regardless of was one live person, a mentor. “I asked, whether you experience it in person or digitally “What is this place? What is Second Life”. He it is just as real of an experience.” explained key elements of SL to her, how to move, how to use the camera. He took She notes there may be slight differences her to Help Island and taught her how to between the digital and physical experience, build and then sent her to The Shelter. “Here but the experience is still real. She also I discovered you can listen to music, dance, points out that for many, SL allows shop and meet other helpful people. It was people the capacity to do things and go that mentor who got me started and the places they cannot in the physical world Shelter who got me hooked. I’m happy to say, because of physical, economic, social or The Shelter is still around even to this day, it is psychological constraints and limitations. unfortunate however that the Mentor program As she concludes, “Regardless of whether the is not.” experience happens on a computer or in the Page 44 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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physical world, it is ‘processed’ in your brain. The experience is realized in the brain, so where it happens physically is irrelevant. Second Life is very much, very ‘Real’.”
thank you letters from some of these folks and that is so incredibly rewarding and fulfilling that it makes all the efforts worthwhile.”
A favorite Firestorm feature of this writer is For Lyon, Second Life has been very rewarding. the Collapse button. It remains baffling that One of her favorite things is helping people such a handy feature has not migrated to the which is very typical of the campaigners in life. official viewer. It is such a small thing, just a Helping other people makes her feel better little button that lets you close a search and about herself. Of course, she can and does all the folders at once. It is nothing flashy or help people in her first life, but in her Second important, but it makes the viewer easier and Life she can help more people at the same friendlier. It exemplifies, in a sense, the usertime all across the world. “The viewer work we centric facility of Firestorm. Asked if she might do on the Firestorm team is a lot of work but we agree that it is those simple things that truly reach out to something on the scale of 350,000 reflect the user-centric orientation of Firestorm people running our viewer. Occasionally, we get development, Lyon was surprised that it was Page 46 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Viewer knows that it is “the” viewer for photographers. With a suite of photo-specific menus that bring the debug features out of the jargon closet into comprehensible and usable daylight, Firestorm gives users incredible flexibility and power to craft inworld lighting, shadows and details that make raw shots look as though they have been processed with a range of filters and techniques in PhotoShop™ or some other image-editing program. There is a verisimilitude that jumps right past the uncanny valley into a comfortable and incredibly canny virtuality that is astonishing. A lot of that was originally developed by William Weaver whose created what he called Phototools, a collection of xml files that people could download and add to their Second Life viewer directories.
not universal. “That surprises me as it is indeed such an handy and obvious user experience improvement. Firestorm is all about options, and is one of the factors that make it so popular.” She continued, “The second factor, in my opinion is our stellar support efforts. But having a viewer with so many options is a double edged sword really because while it allows users to customize their experience so granularly, it also makes the viewer so very complicated to use. We walk a fine line between the two.” It is a difficult balance between being all things to all people and remaining stable and accessible. Anyone familiar with the Firestorm
Unlike other viewers, including Linden Lab, Firestorm did not just passively allow people to add those files to interact with their viewer, but actively collaborated with Weaver, incorporating his ideas into Firestorm so they became an organic part of the whole. This not only allowed users to access PhotoTools more easily without having to figure out how to install them, but it also allowed their developers to streamline and polish to code for greater stability and integration into the viewer. Lyon explained how Firestorm made that decision. She noted that they already knew they had photographers using Firestorm and she empathized with their frustrations as she is, in her first life, a professional photographer. When Weaver announced his phototools project on the Firestorm Jira with a patch for their viewer, Whirly Fizzle, the Firestorm Jira Master, told her about it. After looking it over, they decided to bring Weaver into the Firestorm team. “So I pulled him on the team and he collaborated with some of our devs to get backend work incorporated, polished and we had phototools. It’s an absolute godsend for SL photographers and I’m very proud to ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 47
have this functionality in FS. Very grateful to William who is an extremely talented individual, and considering he is not a developer he did an amazing job.”
Firestorm Flickr group, at just how much talent there is out there. I can sometimes spend hours sifting through the image pool at other folks work.”
Considering that Lyon is a professional photographer in her first life and adding to that the emphasis and consideration Firestorm has shown Second Life photographers, it is perhaps surprising that Lyon does not do photography in SL. Of course, perhaps that would make Second Life a busman’s holiday. For her, though, it’s simple. “I kind of suck at it in SL, for me it just doesn’t have the same feeling, the same reward, I don’t enjoy it as much. But it never ceases to amaze me looking through the
Since Second Life residents view the coming Sansar project with a combination of anticipation and dread, Lyon was asked about what she anticipates for Firestorm in relationship to Sansar. She does not anticipate that Sansar will be open-sourced. She thinks they would be more likely to allow plug-ins to operate with their proprietary interface. “I don’t think there will be much of a place for our team there. We’ll be busy still with Second Life anyways, as I truly believe it won’t be going
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anywhere.” However, if it did, Lyon is confident Firestorm will adapt. “Who knows, there might be a fork of the Opensim platform and a Firestorm Grid to go along with it. We would then be able to develop both the viewer AND the server software. What we could come up with then is left to the imagination.”
“You know… I get so many thank you’s all the time from users and to be completely honest, it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I live for those thank yous, but I want people to understand that I only play a small part of what makes Firestorm work. We have around 80 volunteers working on, developing, testing and supporting the Firestorm viewer and For all her efforts, Lyon feels greatly rewarded I would love for some of the thank you’s to be and appreciates the feedback from the Second sent their direction instead of my own. I would Life community. She does, though, have a love it if folks would pull up the support or dev favor to ask. Considering all the Firestorm list on our website and randomly IM someone team has done under her leadership, it is such on the team and thank them instead. ;-). There is a small favor that I think we might all try to no “I” in team, and the Firestorm project is very honor it. much a team effort.”
Firestorm Viewer Web Site Firestorm Viewer Flickr Pool ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 49
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St. Laurent’s Elegant Libertine Page 52 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Photography by Tempest Rosca
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Caoimhe Lionheart Hair: Lelutka, Rykiel Jacket: Blueberry, Shoulder jacket Bra top: (fd) Corset Top Short: *JB*, Highwaisted Bikini bottom Corset: Sugar, Jezabel Underbust corset Tutu: Gizza, Tutu (punk rock) Socks: L&B Knee socks Shoos: Azoury, Leontine Necklaces: MG, Magdalena Cross and Royal Khadijah Estate
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Caoimhe Lionheart head piece: Azoury Hair Clip, Raven Hair: *Argrace*, Fumi Necklace: [Mandala], Nyorai Jacket: R.icielli, Elody Dress: Mimikri, Leather Dress Bracelet/Earrings: ieQED, Araw Stockings: Izzie’s Glasses: Izzie’s, Round tortoise shell Bag: Azoury, Delicious Shoos: Mimikri, Python ankle boots
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Dream Love Dress: The Secret Store - Nathalie Tutu Dress - Sequins Jacket: Erratic tory - cropped biker jacket Boats: BAX Ankle Boots Hair: Tram C424 hair Colar: Crystal LineTwist chain Necklace* Page 58 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Dream Love Cape: (fd) Fur Trim Duster Dress: ::GB:: Mesh dress Sala Top: Ryvolter - Luna Cotton Turtleneck Boots: ISON - Cult riding boots Colar: ISON - safari tribe necklace
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Locuala Madruga Head: (BETA) Head(f ) - Classic (Deluxe) RETROFIT - #TMP Hair: KEELEY hair - [LeLutka] Eyeliner: Couture Eyeliner no.01 -Glam AffairSkirt1: Nina - skirt - h.m.a.e.m. Skirt2: La capitaine Skirt from Indyra (modified texture and duplicate) Top: Nina - top - h.m.a.e.m. Shoulders: Mikasa Spaulder - [LWL] + Sleeve from Outfit MARIELLA Attire - * ** DIRAM ** (modified) Boots: Milla Boots - Pure Poison Collar: Collar*Dog Chain v2(Gold) - Project K Ring: Luxe Gift { Love Ring }[Limited Edition] - .Shi : ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 63
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Locuala Madruga Body: Mesh Body - Lara V3.3 - Maitreya Head: (BETA) Head(f ) - Classic (Deluxe) RETROFIT - #TMP Skin: Mendoza (Snow). - Egozy Hair: Mushrooms Hair - [ChicZafari] Bodysuit: Mikasa Bodyglove with boots - [LWL] Jacket: Von Jarrar Coat - Grey. - Rowne Shoulders Fur: Col from NICKY Attire - ** DIRAM ** Pelvis Fur: La jupe from NICKY Attire - ** DIRAM ** Harness: Defiant Harness [Unisex] - .Shi : Pin: Queen-Big pin - Baiastice ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 65
Silly Avro hair: *Dura-Girl*53(Black)resize eyes: MONS / Makeups - black eyeliner series-3 lips: Deesses Boutique: LIGHT SKINS lipstick - Passion necklace: RealEvil Industries ReVoX BadAss Necklace top: Stella Bra Leather by Diram jacket: Yasmine Moncler by Diram skirt: Bender Harlow PeepShow Pants & Feather Tutu stockings: BigBeautifulDoll - Fishnet stockings Ver.1 Black shoes: Glamistry : NEMESIA AnkleBoots Page 66 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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The Wizarding World of “Mischief Managed” Page 72 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Written by Aradia Aridian
Photography by Zzoie Zee
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The promise of Second Life速 - that we can create and become an limitation. For every avatar set free from conformity by the expa inspiration or purpose. For many, role-play (RP) sims provide th context to their chosen second life. To role-play is to exist inside a are rich worlds that have sprung up in Second Life, often the role participation in a fictional unive Page 74 | ECLIPSE September 2015
nything our imagination can conjure - is both its blessing and its ansive opportunity, there are a dozen avatars wandering without he comfortable edges of a familiar framework, that helps bring a story as a character that is of the world of that story. While there e-play that most captures the imagination is the one that enables erse beloved from the real world. ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 75
“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince “Mischief Managed™ (MM) ” is an exquisite role-play sim set in the world of Harry Potter™. Operating in its current form since 2012, and prior to that as “Hogwarts: Your Story™,” it is run by a team of dedicated Potter enthusiasts, who have faithfully recreated the “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” inside Second Life. More than merely recreating the physical place, they have devised a system of governance that allows participating avatars to assume the role of a teacher or student, and then interface with other avatars to create an ongoing and interactive story set inside the “Potterverse™.” Arriving on “Open Sim Monday,” more affectionately known as “Muggles Monday”
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(in the Harry Potter universe, a “muggle” is someone who is incapable of performing magic) is perhaps the most optimal way for a non RP avatar to experience the overall ambience of the sim. The MM sim landing point is “Hogsmeade Station,” famous from the books and movies as the place where new students arrive via steam engine, after departing “Platform 9 ¾” at King’s Cross Station, London, on the “Hogwarts Express.” Visitors must dress appropriately for a PG sim, and must acquire and wear an “Out of Character” (OOC) tag, which can be obtained from the “Muggles Mondays” posters in the station. This tag signifies that the wearer is not attempting to participate in the RP, in contrast to the other avatars in the sim, who
are wearing MM tags to denote that they are “In Character” (IC) and are actively involved in the perpetually evolving story of wizardry and witchcraft..
by the extraordinarily talented Anya Ohmai, it meticulously brings to life the imposing grandeur of the original on a scale that isn’t often seen in any world.
Exiting the station, avatars find themselves in “Hogsmeade,” a sumptuously textured version of the village from the “Potterverse,” featuring stores selling wizarding items such as wands and robes, as well as familiar locations like the “Honeydukes” sweet shop. A meandering cobblestone pathway winds through the village and down a gentle slope through the forest between leafy trees and foliage, finally leading up to the wrought iron gates of the sprawling, Hogwarts Castle, the grand site of “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Clicking on the gates introduces the first of many subtle but brilliant uses of Second Life technology: the gates themselves serve as a teleporter, providing an instant transport to the second MM sim and its breathtaking recreation of Hogwarts. Built out of mesh
Sim Administrator, Marina Tiepolo, shared some thoughts on the building of the sim: “Over time we’ve got a really good team of builders on our Admin team. Corwin Lacourte, Nashari Hynes, and myself are the current builders and over time we’ve all added things and built on top of the fabulous castle Anya left us to look after. Nashari has added some fabulous classrooms, dorms and builds. Corwin too has added in some great builds and texture work. I more so sprinkle a bit of fairy dust into all the rooms and add the finishing touches like furniture, books, and decorations. It’s really a team effort!” The impressive castle build evokes the feeling of the original’s one hundred fortytwo staircases with clever and efficient use ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 77
of teleporters and rezzing skyboxes. Most doors function as teleports to other locations when clicked, and many rooms have buttons next to the doors that allow rooms to be rezzed and derezzed on command. In this way the school feels vast and convoluted, and even the occasional Second Life teleport error works with, rather than against, the atmosphere of the ongoing story. In the Harry Potter books and movies, the rooms and staircases are well-known to move around seemingly on their own. RP participation in the story comes after filling out an online application form on the MM website and upon acceptance, using the MM head-up display (HUD) inworld to define and build the character outlined in the application. The HUD keeps track of the character’s details, skills, needs, journal, and inventory, as well as enabling spellcasting and duelling. The HUD itself is a spectacular piece of technology, as well as being one of the most beautiful and functional HUDs in Second Life. Tiepolo mentioned that the HUD was recently added, and when pressed she revealed that, in fact, the new RP HUD is her favorite thing about the sim. She additionally lent some Page 78 | ECLIPSE September 2015
insight into what goes into creating the depth of the developing story. “We also have a fantastic team of staff from the Role-play Department (RPD), who use their imagination and create fantastic plots. Kleptoheart Resident oversees that and she’s one of our Admins, a creative mind who has always been a gem to work with.” “It’s very intricate in our inner workings and we have always had a constant team of people from Acceptance Letter Owls (ALO’s) to RPD to Advertising and Public Relations (PR) working effortlessly to keep the sim floating. It’s hard work but it pays off as we see roleplayers and visitors get to role-play out their story of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.” Hogwarts is divided into four houses, and it’s worth noting that in the books a magical hat called “The Sorting Hat” decides
intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, and its colours are blue and bronze. “Slytherin” (associated with the element of “water”) values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. Its emblematic animal is the serpent, and its colours are emerald green and silver. Each house is a separate entity, with its own common room, dormitory, and table in the Great Hall. Although there are no formal rules against mingling between the houses, in practice, most lessons are taken with housemates and most social interactions occur within the houses. There exists a great deal of rivalry between them, which often manifests on the Quidditch field. Characters in MM attend classes and gradually level up by earning skill points and finishing each year of class. These levels are managed through the HUD. They are to which house each student would best be suited, but for RP also human from the RP purposes in the MM world, the person creating the character point of view, and have six decides upon their own character’s house. The rivalries between major statistics that must be the houses are central to the plot of both the Harry Potter attended to. These include universe and the MM universe. hunger, thirst, health, social, energy, fitness, hygiene, The four separate Hogwarts houses are characterized according and toilet needs. These to their correlating values, emblems, and colors. “Gryffindor” necessities also serve as RP (associated with the element of “fire”) values bravery, daring, aids and can be monitored nerve, and chivalry. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its through the HUD. For colours are scarlet and gold. “Hufflepuff” (associated with the example, the hunger need element of “earth”) values hard work, patience, loyalty, and compels characters to visit fair play, rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its the Great Hall to eat, where emblematic animal is the badger, and yellow and black are its they will sit at their house colours. “Ravenclaw” (associated with the element of “air”) values table and interact with other ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 79
students in the hall, forming alliances and maintaining rivalries. Students attend classes at Hogwarts, the rich curriculum schedule forming the backbone of activities at the school. This is where students learn about potions, astronomy, divination, arithmancy, care of magical creatures, spells, herbology, ghouls and ghosts, and many other magickal topics. There is also a school paper, “The Owl Post,” which meets regularly in the spectacular school library to discuss ideas and write stories. Students can also play Quidditch, which is a sport from the Harry Potter universe played on flying broomsticks with four balls and six floating goal rings, three on each side of the pitch. MM Administrators have recently introduced a new Quidditch HUD which works quite well and provides a very exhilarating and realistic experience for the student players. Quidditch tryouts and matches are definitely a highlight for many. Page 80 | ECLIPSE September 2015
The ultimate richness of the experience at MM comes from the intricate story-driven interactions between the roleplayers. The MM staff have done an outstanding job creating an atmospheric build, a strong set of rules, and superior technology to facilitate and elevate this storytelling. They are consistently there to provide support, resolve disputes and to facilitate in moving the story forward. The public is always welcome to visit the MM website, sim, and even to message the Sim Administrators themselves with questions. Use of the sim for blogging is also permitted. Tiepolo shared some final thoughts: “I’d like to give a shout out to the Admins of Mischief Managed, who I have worked with for a long, long time. All originally roleplayers of this sim. Kleptoheart Resident, Yahn Amat, Corwin Lacourte, Narcissa Larkham and Nashari Hynes. Without them I wouldn’t have been grounded here. Thank you.”
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“On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone on behalf of the MM Administrators for taking an interest in the sim. We absolutely adore all our role-players and visitors. Everyone is welcome at our sim, whether you’re a returning player or brand new visitor. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome them home.” “Come join the magic everyone!” Click here for the Mischief Managed SLURL.
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Sim Administrators: Corwin Lacourte – Building/Mesh, Quidditch, Sim Management Kleptoheart Resident – IC Staff, RolePlay Department Marina Tiepolo – Building, Sim Management, ALOs/Applications, Marketing Nashari Hynes – Building/Mesh, Rentals Brenna Orellana – Website (inactive in SL; contact via email: brenna.orellana@gmail.com)
Social Media: Website Facebook Flickr Plurk Twitter The Owl Post
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Photography by Tempest Rosca
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Luka Benton APHORISM End Of Days Tunic Gabriel Tight harem pant Leverocci - Range Boots MANDALA Stretched ears-Omimimonso My Hair - Chen CLemmm Bandaged Handsj
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Luka Benton Gabriel Heavenly warrior pants (TMP) / White K Couture Dress Down Shirts REVER Gripper Boots V-Spot - Worn Velvet Hat & Scarf Page 92 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Silvester Avro top: Wicca’s Wardrobe - Andreas pants: Gabriel Roll up denim pants shoes: United Colors Talco Sneakers
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Steele Sirnah United Colors Jog Trousers brown C L A Vv Gregor hood and jacket Gizza Combat boots Amacci Hair Henry Page 96 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Steele Sirnah Maitreya Stagioni Xtd Suede boots D Style F Hammer Baggies Pants Magika Hair Drift Pimpin Hat HaK oversized monk thermal shirt Hoorenbeck Scarf Page 98 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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Trouble Dethly Top: SEUL GARCON - Loose Knit Sweater Bottom: REDGRAVE - Harem Jeans Hair: booN - OZY114 Hair Head Wrap: Modern Elegance - Headband Scarf: REDGRAVE - Paliscarf Bag: C L A Vv. - Kei Messenger Bag Shoes: REDGRAVE - Blake Loafers
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Trouble Dethly Top: Shi - Caplet Tank Top: C L A Vv. - Sandstorm Vest Bottom: Gizza - Salwar Pants Scarf: Drift Fantasy - Royal Reign Shawl Jewelry: C L A Vv. - Cuffed Bracelet & Ring Shoes: Nardcotix - Patrick Loafers Page 102 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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In the Spotlight: Lexie Jansma and Siren Productions Page 108 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Written by Amity Sorbet
Photography by Zzoie Zee
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Lexie Jansma, the incredible mind behind Siren Productions, has directed another stellar yearly installment of The 24. To commemorate these efforts and the creator behind the company, ECLIPSE Magazine chose to profile her in this issue. Here is Lexie’s story. As a real life fashion designer and writer who created costumes and numerous stage productions, the intricacies of planning and production are not lost on her. Siren Productions stands out as a company because it has been among the most successful and enduring at realizing large-scale fashion events. Menswear Fashion Week, The 24 series and “The Month of” series put the company on the map and have acted as a model for other event organizers in the fashion industry. Lexie has no problem being the inspiration for other planners and designers. Like many other residents, Lexie found out about Second Life® through a friend eight years ago. He described to her the joys of SL® and how anything was possible there. The curiosity was eventually so much, that she decided to follow him into the metaverse. Her initial intention was to try out role play. In that ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 113
context, Lexie began planning events, mainly for others. Lexie wasted no time finding her niche within Second Life. After a short time acclimatising to this new world, she jumped into event planning with both feet. At first, the events centered around some particular clubs, a specific one being a popular BDSM fetish club. Page 114 | ECLIPSE September 2015
She organized events at various club locations and as such, became known to designers. Through working with them, she naturally progressed to fashion shows and shopping events. The inspiration behind the Siren Productions fashion events began with the types of designers she was working with at the time.
The first was Latex Fetishwear, modeled on the fashion week style of event made popular in New York City. These type of events have since become a staple in the SL fashion world as a way for designers to gain a larger audience for their items. The response to Latex Fetishwear Fashion Week was so great that Lexie created her
next event shortly thereafter - Menswear Fashion Week. It became wildly successful given that it was an under-represented niche market with very few event options available. In subsequent years, locations such as Las Vegas, New York and Bali have been used as themes. “[This] is a way to see the world without ever leaving your home,� Lexie aptly stated. Designers use the global locations as ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 115
inspiration for their clothing and accessory items.
realized further assistance was needed, so a modeling manager was hired. As the company responsibilities increased, various colleagues Lexie said that Menswear Fashion Week is her were brought on board to manage DJs, event favorite event because it encompassed two full hosts and photographers. Stylists were hired sims. Even more important, since the passing to oversee the creative direction of the fashion of her mother, it has become an event which shows; however, Lexie remains involved in the raises money for Relay For Life to support show directing. As she put it, “I get to work cancer treatment and research. with really brilliant people to create shows.” The first Menswear Fashion Week was also the true birth of what we know as Siren Productions. Across the grid it is considered a premier event production house, which has come to be synonymous with large-scale fashion events. The company began with just two people; then a small team of builders was added. It has expanded by leaps and bounds since. As Lexie described it, “I handled all the models… runway organization, social media, and even did some of the building” but then Page 116 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Team means everything to Lexie and loyalty is key. Some of her main motivations to log in everyday come from her husband, family and friends. The core purpose of planning events keeps her coming back, especially given the strong sense of commitment she feels towards those with whom she works and the designers. Despite these commitments, Lexie shared that she “is lucky to have a full life in both worlds.” The guidance she wants to give each reader is to “surround yourself with amazing friends you can count on.” She encourages others to
treasure the people in their lives because it is unknown for how long they might be around. In addition, Lexie advises others to be “honest and responsible” in all their professional relationships because “once trust is gone, it is hard to get back.” As Lexie explained, “the 24 series began as a sister event to Menswear Fashion Week... the first one was The Men’s 24.” Each time the event happens, different types of designers are included; those who make clothing, accessories, skins and poses. This year, furniture and decor designers have been included again. By changing it each year, Siren Productions makes the event fresh. What makes The 24 different from other events organized by Siren Productions is that it is more selective in the designers who are chosen to participate; they all have a proven track record for creating high quality items. The other twist is that certain designers are asked to create exclusives for the event, allowing shoppers to buy pieces which are available in limited quantities, thus increasing the uniqueness of their inventories. It is a certainty that with each passing success, Siren Productions becomes stronger. Make sure to stay up to date with everything that is happening by following the company via their website (http:// sirenproductionsl.com/). Click here to get to the 24!
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Since our April issue of ECLIPSE Magazine, we have done this segment “Ways to Wear” to highlight how style is unique to the individual by providing two models the same items while resulting in two different looks. Our August issue, we took this concept a step further with a friendly competition between our models, by giving our readers the opportunity to “vote” on who they feel styled it best. This issue we continue.
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Photography by Sylphia Constantine
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Miele Tarantal q p Zoomy Bluebird
Glam Affair - Ballerina Collar Blossom Glam Affair - CLEO - lipstick - 09 Europa T.arnished - FMP Contour {cheek}{chin dimple}{nose} (edited) LODE Head Accessory - Magnolia II Single [white] Glam Affair - Shironuri lashes MANDALA STEKING_EARS Season5 Tukinowaguma Shinobun Hairpiece IKON Odyssey Eyes - Oxidation Page 124 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Click here
Hat/TuTu: Glam Affair - Ballerina Collar Skirt: Riske - Countess Top: SYSY’s - Retro Bustier Hair: monso - Yoon Hat Topper: LODE Decor - Golden Shower Vase Necklace: Zibska - Tove Fingernails: Gorgeous Dolls - Sin’s Passion Gyaru Gyal Full Makeup: la petite morte - marie antoinette Eyeliner: MONS - So Cute Eyeliner: la petite morte - regret under liner
e to VOTE!
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Lowen - Mugler Dress Madrid Solo- Lip Designs- Bubble Gloss vive nine Sure Shocker Thick EyeLiner Tableau Vivant Theda hair Maxi Gossamer - Eyelashes - Party Maxi Gossamer - Necklace - Aliah Moonshine MI Womens Royal Hat Pink beige glow studio - Orange garden clutch bag kokoia Savannah for belleza MYNX Designs Owl Watch
Miele Tarantal q p Paris Evermore
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Click here
e to VOTE!
Dress: Lowen - Mugler Jewelry: Glint - Centerstone Chain & Beads Skin: !Soul - Fantasy Bobo Eyeshadow: Zibska - Noir Pack Nails: Ellette - Zebra Hair: Vanity - Crazy Horse Headpiece: J&J - Lace Bow Top Hat Shoes: AZOURY - Paper Shoes ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 127
Apollo Call q p Paradox Messmer
Bauhaus Movement - David Jacket ::GB:: Heavenly warrior pants ::GB::chain slip on white gold *Dura-Boy*61 HAIR [MANDALA]LUSTFUL-Jewelry-set Page 128 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Click here
e to VOTE!
Jacket: David Jacket by Bauhaus Movement Hair: Tadao w/Brim Hat by taketomi Bag: Eenie Leather Bag by .xin Pants: Herri Meggings by .Shi Shoes: Deer Loafers by David Heather Ring: Cubist Ring by epoque ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 129
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Apollo Call q p Paradox Messmer
Pants: GABRIEL - ::GB::Tight harem pant Jacket: GABRIEL - ::GB::Offshoulder leather jacket / White Sunglasses: GABRIEL - ::GB:: Zoe sunglasses Necklace: GABRILE - ::GB::crow feather neklace Sandals: GABRIEL - ::GB:: Gladiator Sandals Earring: GABRIEL - ::GB::SORA Achilleus pierce L ::GB::SORA Achilleus Belly pierce ::Exile::Give away your Secrets Egoisme Evian Wings Pelvis Tattoo
Click here
e to VOTE!
Pants: Tight Harem Pants by Gabriel Hair: Halfbun by MONS Earrings: Vo Horn Earring by .xin Necklace: Balls Necklace by 22769 Bracelet: Fishscale Bracelet by 22769 Ring: Relativity Ring by Yummy Jacket: Gregor Jacket by CLAVv. Boots: Gnak Boots by David Heather ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 131
Lua Vendetta q p Zoomy Bluebird
Valentina E. Catch Me If I Fall Dress AZOURY - Alma Wedge Sandals Vanity Hair::Moonriver ** DIRAM ** FIERCE Clutch .::LUNA::. Body Art - Square Nails Vox Golden Lucidity Jewelry LaGyo_Malika triple ring Zibska ~ Arzu Frost Page 132 | ECLIPSE September 2015
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e to VOTE!
Dress: Valentina E. - Catch Me If I Fall Shoes: HighRize - Shoeper Woman Heels Socks: Sweet Tea Couture - Vintage Thigh High Socks High Feet Hat: Zibska - SpringSprangSprung Shoulders: Zibska - Caja Tattoo: Fallen Gods - Phalgun Purnima Hairbase: White Widow - Wind Makeup/Lips: Silken Moon - Jesta Lashes: October’s 4Seasons - Undaunted Mesh ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 133
Lua Vendetta q p Paris Evermore
Ricielli - Tuxedo Minidress (O&N) Fedora Buckle BAX Regency Boots [MANDALA]SMEXY TIE NECKLACE Baiastice - Leather short gloves Bax Pantyhose 50% Page 134 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Click here
e to VOTE!
Dress: Ricielli - Tuxedo Jewelry: FINESMITH - AMOR’E SET Shoes: SHEY - Versaills Stilettos Clutch: SHEY - Bodrum Eyeshadow: Madrid - Ensemble Hair: Vanity - Sunset Blvd Hat: LODE - Vivid ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 135
Voices From the Grid is a monthly survey of opinions and ideas of Second Life速 residents on the salient issues of the day. Anyone who has been in Second Life for a few years has several names on their friends list of people who no longer log in. As the years go on, the people who have left grows, but some people stick with SL, like we do, and keep logging in year after year. We thought it would be interesting to know what keeps people logging in.
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Written by Cajsa Lilliehook
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Damien Powell
can see the creativity from othe
Second Life is an outlet to let your creative juices flow. You can do almost anything you imagine. As a blogger and Photographer, Second Life lets me channel my creativity and just have fun with it. It allows me to explore other sims where I
Being in Second Life for over 4 y to keep up with the current tren blogger, it is partly my job to ke wear other designer’s pieces of a
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Photograph by
er Second Life residents.
create.
years, has definitely taught me nds that changes daily. As a eep up with such changes and art they spend so much time to
I also love the diversity that surrounds me, the friendships that eventually turn into family. Talking to people who are from the other side of the country or world. That for me, is the reason why I keep logging in Second Life.
Damien Powell
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Photograph b
by Rhea Choral
Rhea Choral I’ve been in Second Life for a little over 6 years now and from the minute I logged in I was amazed at the creativity of this virtual world not only by the sim’s that people create and build but also the community spirit and friendships and being able to explore a side of your personality which cannot always be expressed in Real Life. When I started in Second Life with my first avatar I didn’t know anyone and had only heard about second life from what I had read through the media and I was intrigued. I was exploring a sim one day and started a conversation with a male avatar, we got on really well and became friends, after time the friendship between the avatars grew and eventually the friendship with the person behind the avatar became part of my real life. I never thought that through a virtual world I would make such a dear friend in my real life and even though we no longer meet in Second Life we did for several years. I will always have the memories of the time we shared through our avatars and the continuing memories now in real life. I’ve been involved in Medieval and Victorian role play playing different characters and found the experience totally fascinating how the imagination of the people behind the avatar can create such a great adventure. People from all over the world, different ages and sometimes different languages can work together. Over the last few years I’ve become more interested with the artistic side to Second Life and creating pictures of sims and avatars. I have been very lucky in exhibiting in various galleries and help with raising money mostly for “Relay for Life” with my art. I spend my time now just exploring the beauty of Second Life which without the people that build and create them this wouldn’t be possible so to those people I’m so grateful as this is what keep me logging back in Second Life and gives me the opportunity now to express myself in a different way — a way that wouldn’t be possible for me in real life. ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 143
YukaChoco Magic
But, I continued to play, I understood that here is a wonderful place. First, Second I have played Second Life for 7 years. When I Life is always moving. It does not have the started Second Life, I did not think that I was likely continue to log in because the operation same views. Wonderful scenery is made, and it disappears. Every day there are new is very difficult and the world is very large, I discoveries. Every day wonderful things are had the feeling of a “Lost child�. born, I feel the excitement and surprise. Page 144 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Photograph by Yu
And, Second Life is a place where people can express themselves. I can make the clothes, I can take a snapshot. I will be able to freely express my thoughts. I can feel that my world spreads out.
The primary reason, because I can meet an important friend. I can meet with people from all over the world, not only my own country. I love this place where I met a great companion.
What keeps me logging into Second Life?
YukaChoco Magic
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After all these years - with many short breaks in between - and after going through personal highs and lows over time, my Second Life is my personal vision, I have formed and will form. My personal Second Life is one of creativity, enthusiasm and expression in any form. I have met many lovely people from all over the world during times, made friends and lost some, but all of them left a mark, touched my heart and will stay there forever, whether they are now gone or still around. I adore the creativity of the community, the neverending flow of fresh and innovative ideas, be it design or art, be it visual or in any other form. The inhabitants of our second world are one of the main reasons for me to be still around. In the last years I have devoted myself to Second Life photography and it is something where I can express myself. I have improved my personal skills by, from taking, over editing and finally publishing a photo. The most pleasing reward for the efforts is the reaction of the people who enjoy my work and it may also be my small contribution to the public image of our world. Coming from a “The Sims” background, the idea of “dressing the doll” is still a fun part in my Second Life. With a friend of mine we have elevated this to another level and launched a new Fashion Fair event, named Trés Chic recently. It is a showcase of the creativity, the enthusiasm and the creators and also my personal expression of style in a fashion related context. I have put a lot effort into it and the goal to bring the designers and their wonderful works to the people has so far been fulfilled. I love to be in Second Life, even after all these years and do not want to miss a single experience I have made in here. This world is what you make of it, it’s nothing more but also nothing less than what you personally bring into it, your personality, your creativity, your enthusiasm and expression - your fantasy. Let me be a part of yours, I want you in mine.
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Photograph by Anderian Sugarplum
Forel Palmira (FOFINA)
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The Greatest of These is Charity Page 152 | ECLIPSE September 2015
Written by Cajsa Lilliehook
Photography by Daffodil Crimson
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And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these I Corinthia Page 154 | ECLIPSE September 2015
e three; but the greatest of these is charity. ans 13:13 ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 155
There is a lot of back and forth discussing whether or not Second Life® is a game or a social network. For most of us, it does not matter. We enjoy the whimsy and creativity of SL® and we do not need to prove it is one or the other to make the whimsy more whimsical or the fantastic more fantastical. It just is. Second Life, though, has some attributes that separate it from other games and other social networks. Perhaps one of the most significant, though not the most obvious, is the obvious and measurable effect Second Life has on the first lives, not just of its residents, but of the world. After all, other games are not raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help
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people and organizations around the world.
There are charitable activities and public information and outreach happening in Second Life 24/7/365. It never stops. The Year to Date totals for Relay for Life which raises money for the American Cancer Society are nearly 7o,000,000 million Lindens™. Hair Fair raised more than 4.7 million Lindens in two weeks. Culture Shock used to raise 1.5 million or more for Medicins Sans Frontieres Nonprofit Commons, a project of TechSoup, hosts more than 80 nonprofit organizations and weekly meetings to foster the nonprofit world in SL. The opportunities to help are vast
and people are eager, ready and willing to help. It seems as though the jump from “someone ought to” to “someone is” is faster, shorter and d more direct in this world Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills, misery, ignorance, and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written the history of a generation. Robert Kennedy Of course, because this is a human endeavor,
there will be disagreements about process, strategy and execution. Because it involved money, these disagreements will be fraught with consternation, anxiety and sometimes, anger. Here are some ideas for best practices that can help reduce, if not eliminate, the worst of it. It is unfair to raise funds from an international community such as Second Life for parochial and national charities. Event organizers should work with organizations that have global outreach programs and spend program money around the world. Even disease charities often have global outreach and affiliates. Did you get permission to raise funds for the organization? This gets at a very important point. Most charitable organizations routinely ask people not to use their name and logo to raise funds without permission or without their guidance and materials. After all, what if the fundraiser involved some illegal or widely disapproved activity that might bring disrepute on the organization if it were widely covered in the media. Always contact the organization you want to support and seek their permission, usually from a development officer. They will then provide you with logos, educational materials and ideally, will add mention of your event to their website, giving immediate credentials for your event or send a letter of approval on organizational letterhead that you can provide on your event website. How do we know the funds get to where they are supposed to go? In a perfect situation, you will persuade the organization to create an avatar that can receive all the event money directly from event donations and purchases. This will allow them to withdraw the money directly. This has the advantage ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 157
of eliminating any tax liability on the part of the person who owns the event avatar. Since Linden Lab™ is required by law to send tax information on the money people cash out in excess of some nominal amount each year, event organizers need to address this tax liability. The easiest and simplest way is to have the organization create an avatar. You can also link the avatar to the organizations paypal account to process the credit directly to the organization that way. If the charity does not have its own avatar, how do we know the receipts are real? They should be on organizational letterhead or on an organizational receipt form with organizational logos and information. Event web sites can post screenshots of their Second Life process credit and paypal transaction, but they should also get a receipt from the organization. All American organizations are required by law to acknowledge any gift in excess of $250.00 with a receipt that not only notes the date and amount but also contains notice of any amount of goods or services that may have been part of that exchange. This reflects fundraising events like banquets where people might pay $125 for a meal. The receipt will Page 158 | ECLIPSE September 2015
enumerate the value of the meal because only the amount in excess of that value is deductible. If you go to a fundraising auction and buy a cruise for $7,000 that is worth $6,o00, you should only be allowed to deduct $1,000. The key to addressing distrust is transparency, not deflection. Show your thought process, show your actions and trust will follow. If you are transparent, no matter what disagreements may arise, they will not reflect badly on you. Oh, a storm is threatening My very life today If I don’t get some shelter Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away -The Rolling Stones.
Sometimes people do for organizations but for friends who are sic recently with The Lex Zelin that raised a litt for her cancer treatm transparency is critica Larnia provided medi Love Donna Flora eve in advance what wou funds that were raise she spent them all on nursing care. Sadly, th after her death, $L1,5 donated to Relay For
Sometimes people ha events to help with u emergencies, with a s visit to a dying relativ
o not raise money t for other people, ck as happened xi Project for Lexi tle over $10,000 ments. There, too, al. Squinternet ical records for the ent and decided uld happen to the ed if she died before n treatment and hat happened, so 530,106 lindens were Life in her memory.
ave organized unexpected surgery, a sick pet, a ve. Sometimes they
for the funeral expenses, leukemia treatments, relocation expenses or whatever random disaster which may have fallen on one of their depositors? Neighbor helping neighbor is universal, but in SL, our neighborhood is the world. To give away money is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter. Aristotle So people have been arguing about charity since at least Aristotle’s day. It is reassuring that we are not unique in this. just discount everything at their store and encourage people to shop, shop, shop. Sometimes friends volunteer to make things for sale. Sometimes a really big event may take place, such as the big fundraiser to assist Gala Phoenix with her legal fees in an Intellectual Property case. What all of these things have in common is that they do not have an official seal of approval, no imprimatur of respectability, though they are far more like real life than the big official events. In real life, when someone is sick, friends sign up to organize meals for them and their family. When someone’s house burns down, the community rallies around, bringing blankets, toiletries, clothing and cash. What teller window in what bank in the world does not have a can for donations
People who distrust fundraising events are not being mean and miserly. There is real experience behind that distrust. There is, after all, the event organizer who created a receipt with an online receipts generator and used the funds from the event to buy a camera and fix her car. She may have even had every intention of putting the money back and making the donation, but that is always easier intended than done. Another event took several months to process the donation as ECLIPSE September 2015 | Page 159
organizers struggled to find a way to make the donation without acquiring an unaffordable tax liability. However, these things happen in real life as well. There are people who specialize in nonprofit risk management and nonprofit administrators often collect and share horror stories of embezzlement and fraud, teachable moments in risk reduction and management. The Nonprofit Risk Management Center does nothing but strategize how to reduce risk in the world of charities and other nonprofit organizations. There is no reason to be more distrusting in Second Life than in real life. The track record of SL fundraising is excellent, perhaps because the community is so close-knit with everyone knowing everyone that malfeasance is a form of avatar suicide. However, that does not mean that every person has to support every charity event or fundraiser. People have their own priorities and preferences. Some people prefer funding organizations that organize people to help themselves directly over those that provide direct services. Some people have deeply personal reasons for supporting a particular charity and reserve all their energy for that. That is all good. Charity is an act of love and it should always be personal. But that means that if the charity is not your cup of tea or that if you think people should not raise money for this, that or the other personal appeal, the proper response is simply not to participate. No one will pry your lindens from your fingers. No creator will be drafted against his or her will to create items for an event. No shopper will be forced to buy anything. It is all voluntary. Page 160 | ECLIPSE September 2015
It is also more than that. It answers one of our deepest human needs. The need to matter, to make a difference. For many people, personal circumstances may limit their ability to donate, to run in a 10K race, to host a fundraising party, to volunteer at a shelter or serve meal on wheels. Those limitations are gone in Second Life. They can volunteer even if they cannot get out of bed. They can raise money even if they struggle themselves. They can do for others and in doing find purpose and meaning. And they can change the world. Maybe not in grand ways like a Doctors Without Borders volunteer or someone digging a well in Africa or building a house in New Orleans, but think of the experience of some child whose home has been destroyed getting a care package paid for by lindens from the fundraisers for tsunami or earthquake relief. A blanket to stay warm, perhaps a stuffed toy to hold the nightmares at bay, some shoes and clothing to stay warm and dry. Isn’t that child’s world suddenly brighter and larger? Isn’t the very idea of people from all around the world coming together, giving up nativist and parochial interests, to work with a shared purpose to brighten one small part with their skills, creativity and cooperation an earth-changing event in itself? Lexi Zelin Go Fund Me NonProfit Commons in SL NonProfit Risk Management Center Click here for SLurl to NonProfit Commons.
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