Category: Events

Fantasy Faire 2019: as the Sun dips towards the west

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Fantasy Faire

The official events of Fantasy Faire are over. The DJs have played, the artists have performed, stories have been written and told. Memories have been born, friendships renewed or made. As it is with every year, Fantasy Faire 2019 will leave its mark on all who attended it, whether for their first time, their fifth or as someone who has been a part of the magic since its inception.

But while the formal events have now ended, The Fairelands remain for one more weekend; so if you’ve not yet had the time to visit this year’s realms, now is the time to do so.

Already this year has been a landmark for Fantasy Faire. In 2018, the event raised some US $50,000, all of which was put towards cancer care at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi, Kenya, and the American Cancer Society’s plans to build a new Hope Hostel for cancer sufferers and their families and carers at the hospital. The success of the 2018 Faire served as a hallmark event for the Hope Hostel efforts within the ACS, as Kristen Solt, Managing Director of the American Cancer Society’s Global Health Initiatives Programme indicated in an open letter to all Fairelanders.

Fantasy Faire 2019: The Shrine Tree

This year, it had been hoped that 2019 could come close to matching that total, further strengthening the work at KNH, with a target of US $40,000 being set. But then came an anonymous business donor, who offered US $20,000 to Fantasy Faire if the event achieved their target.

US $40,000 is L$10 million – that’s a lot by anyone’s count. But on Thursday, May 2nd, as Fairelanders were informed via group note cards, that target was achieved, and the anonymous benefactor indeed stepped up and presented the Faire with a further US $20,000, bringing the total raised to date for the 2019 event to over US $60,000.

Fantasy Faire 2019: Sanguinely Gardens

And there is still time to increase that amount. the regions of the Fairelands will remain open until the end of day, Sunday May 5th. The stores all remain open for business, and there is still time to join this year’s Fairelands Quest – the Lair of Lantoris:

The Bard Queen’s grandson has been stolen … his parents, the Princess Flora and Garius the Winter King are determined to rescue him. But Oswain has been carried to the lair of Lantoris, a disgraced mage and follower of the Unweaver. His skill at protective spells is so advanced — can you penetrate his barriers? It all depends on you, apprentice of magic,  to gather the ingredients to create the spells that Flora is researching. And then to venture into Lantoris’ realm, where Garius is desperately seeking his son.

As with past Faire Quests, the Lair of Lantoris is HUD-driven, with the HUD available from all landing points within the Fairelands at L$250 for the basic edition and L$350 for the Deluxe edition with a custom outfit for your avatar. It is, again, like previous quests, in two parts, with the second chapter, now open – so, if you haven’t started it as yet, there is still time to catch up over the weekend!

Fantasy Faire 2019: Thornfast

The first part of the Quest offers a great way to discover the Fairelands: you must travel through each one, starting with the Fairelands Junction, where the Bard Queen will set you on your way. Then you must find a series of ingredients (with the aid of a NPC “helper” in the form of The Professor), one per Faireland region (with the exception of Thornfast, which is reserved for chapter 2 of the Quest). The ingredients could by anywhere in each region (except within the store themselves), so you’ll get to find out a lot about each one.

The second part of the quest takes place exclusively within Thornfast – make sure you follow the additional instructions for this part of the Quest carefully! Should you need help with anything, refer to the Quest FAQ, and if your curious about the rewards you’re be granted on completion, check out the Quest prize catalogue!

So, with three days left, be sure to head over to the Fairelands and enjoy Fantasy Faire 2019 before the regions fade into the west for another year. There’s a lot to be found within the stores, and plenty of kiosks in which to offer a donation, and you can also dontate via the Fantasy Faire ACS team page.

Fairelands SLurls

 

Magical mages, kaleidoscopes and cave girls

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Monday, April 29th 19:00: Paper Mage

Gyro Muggins reads Leah R. Cutter’s 2003 début novel.

Set in the Tang Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (about the time of Charlemagne in Europe), the novel tells us of the adventures of Xiao Yen, a young woman training to become a paper mage, a sorcerer with the power to endow folded creations with the semblance of life.

Because her gifts are in demand for the protection they can offer, Xiao Yen must leave behind her beloved family and their village home and embark on a dangerous mission when she is hired to protect a caravan. Yet even as she departs, she has no idea that this looming adventure will shape the very woman she is to become.

The story follows two timelines, alternating chapters between the caravan journey, where one of her fellow travellers is a goddess who charges her with a dangerous quest, and the story of her childhood training, when she lay caught between her aunt’s plans and her mother’s plans to have her married off.

Tuesday, April 30th 19:00: TBA

Check the Seanchai Library website for updates.

Wednesday, May 1st 19:00: Kaleidoscope

When a brilliant young violinist dies in a horrific accident, Madame Karitska has only to hold the victim’s instrument in her hands to perceive the shocking truth. But when an insecure wife asks whether her husband will abandon her to join a sinister cult, Madame Karitska–as wise as she is lovely–chooses not to reveal all that she foresees. And when an attaché case is suddenly dropped into her lap by a man fleeing a crowded subway, she knows it’s time to consult her good friend Detective-Lieutenant Pruden.

A nine-year-old accused of murder, a man dying a slow death by witchcraft– for the hunted and the haunted, Madame Karitska’s shabby downtown apartment becomes a haven, where brilliant patterns of violence, greed, passion, and strange obsessions mix and disintegrate with stunning, kaleidoscopic beauty.

With Caledonia Skytower.

Thursday, May 2nd

19:00: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Cave Girl

Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones was not overly courageous. He had been reared among surroundings of culture plus and ultra-intellectuality in the exclusive Back Bay home of his ancestors. He had been taught to look with contempt upon all that savored of muscular superiority, such things were gross, brutal, primitive. It had been a giant intellect only that he had craved, he and a fond mother, and their wishes had been fulfilled. At twenty-one Waldo was an animated encyclopedia, and about as muscular as a real one.

And so we are introduced to Mr. Smith-Jones, the unlikely hero of this novel, set within Burrough’s Lost World series. Swept overboard during a during a South Seas voyage intended to ease his ill-health, Waldo finds himself carried ashore on a primitive jungle island, where all his book learning can’t help him survive, particularly in the face of the terrifying ape-like throwbacks to mankind’s early evolutionary history who live on the island, and from whom he continually flees.

And then he encounters – rescues, even, albeit mistakenly – Nadara, the titular cave girl. Regarding him a hero, she teaches him the arts of survival and her primitive language, taking him back to her tribe – who turn out to be Paleolithic cave people. If he is to stay among them, Waldo must prove his worth by fighting the strongest. He opts to flee instead.

However, as he spend more time in the jungle, gaining in strength thanks to Nadara’s teachings, he finds himself unable to put her out of his mind. So much so that when a ship finds the island, he refuses passage aboard her. Instead, more sure of himself than at any point in his life, he sets out to find the cave girl who believes he saved her.

With Shandon Loring. (Also in Kitely grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI).

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary Sci-Fi Fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.

Mental health awareness in Second Life 2019

Posted on by Inara Pey
Virtual Ability Island

The Virtual Ability community in Second Life is hosting its eighth annual Mental Health Symposium on Friday, April 26, 2019. The theme for this years even is Mental Health in the 21st Century: Digital Destruction or Support? It features an international group of presenters will offer a wide interpretation of the theme, based on their interests and academic backgrounds.

Virtual Ability Inc  (VAI) and the Virtual Ability community hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within this cross-disability community are people who deal with a variety of mental health issues. So, not only is this an opportunity for community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have an opportunity to otherwise meet, it also  allows the general public to attend a professional conference for free.

Sojourner Auditorium

The schedule is as follows (all times SLT):

  • 08:30-09:30: Evelyn McElhinney is a Senior Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland) –  The importance of positive health assets from participation in 3D social virtual world communities to living and coping with long term conditions in the physical world.
  • 10:00-10:30: Antonius (Tony) J. van Rooij is Project Leader for Gaming, Gambling and Media Literacy at the Trimbos Instituut, the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht – Gaming, problem gaming, and gaming addiction in the Netherlands: An introduction.
  • 10:45-11:45: Panel discussion – Life in a Digital Environment – with Michelle Colder Carras, Antonius (Tony) J. van Rooij, Nicholas (Nick) Bowman.
  • Noon-12:45: Nicholas Bowman is an associate professor at the Interaction Lab of the Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia University, US – How do I relate to me? The emotional demands of our online personae.
  • 13:00-13:45: Michelle Colder Carras a public mental health researcher and informaticist – Video games, social interactions, and mental health: benefits and problems.
  • 14:00-15:30: Kevin Holloway is the Director of Training and Education at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda – Virtual World Training for Mental Health Providers.
  • 16:00-17:00: Fatemeh Rezaee is a Ph.D candidate at Seoul National University – Designed Addiction.
  • 17:00-17:45: casual mixer – an opportunity to chat about the symposium.

The Symposium takes place in Virtual Ability’s Sojourner Auditorium, on Virtual Ability island.

About Virtual Ability

Virtual Ability, Inc. is a non-profit corporation, chartered in the state of Colorado, USA.  We are a non-profit tax exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. This means that for US citizens, contributions made are deductible as a charitable donation for federal income tax purposes.

For further information on the board of directors, please visit the Virtual Ability About Us page.

For those wishing to keep up with Virtual Ability news and updates when on the move, you can follow them on Twitter.

Related links

Fantasy Faire 2019: Ursula Le Guin and voting for rulers!

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Fantasy Faire

As a part of the Fantasy Faire LitFest, one day at Fantasy Faire is set aside to mark the life and works of popular writers of fantasy and science fiction. The roll call for this event so far reads:

  •  2015: Terry Pratchett.
  • 2016: William Shakespeare (marking the 400th anniversary since his death).
  • 2017: J.R.R. Tolkien.
  • 2018: G.R.R. Martin.

On Wednesday, April 24th 2019, the Fantasy Faire LitFest is celebrating the life and work of American speculative fiction icon, Ursula K. Le Guin, who sadly passed away in January 2018.

Ursula K. Le Guin by Eileen Gunn

Regarded as one of America’s foremost writers of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish Universe, and her Earthsea fantasy series, Le Guin’s career spanned 60 years. During that time, she produced more than twenty novels, over a hundred short stories and many volumes of poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children’s books.

Her first published novel came in 1966, with Rocannon’s World, after she had faced around a decade of having her work rejected by publishers. This novel formed the founding volume of her Hainish Cycle, the fourth volume of which, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), propelled her in the mainstream of science fiction, garnering her a Hugo and a Nebula award in the process – the first of many awards she was to receive throughout her writing career.

The Left Hand of Darkness laid down many of the defining traits found within Le Guin’s works, which often include themes of cultural anthropology, Jungian archetypes, philosophical Taoism, gender and sexuality, moral development, political development and systems, and general sociology, psychology, or philosophy.

Today, Le Guin is rightly regarded as a writer who did much to bring fantasy and science fiction forward as accepted literary genres, and her work, ides and style influencing many authors in both fields who followed her.

Ursula K. Le Guin day will be marked by a series of special events, comprising:

  • 09:00-10:00 SLT: Exploring Le Guin: A Brief Tour and Discussion: a “tour” of Le Guin’s lands, via favourite passages from her books – suggestions invited. Moderated by Aoife Lorefield.
  • 10:00-11:00 SLT: Aoife Lorefield Shares Readings from Ursula K. Le Guin.
  • 15:00-17:00 SLT: A Wizard in Earthsea Party: The LitFest Ball.
  • 19:00-21:00 SLT: Seanchai Library present Celebrating Ursula K.Le Guin.

Don’t Forget To Vote!

And while discussing matters literary, don’t forget to cast your vote for this year’s King, Queen and Chancellor for Fantasy Faire 2019!

This fun (and fund-raising) activity lets Fantasy Faire visitors vote for the fictional characters (human in the case of King and Queen, strictly non-human in the case of Chancellor) they’d liked to see “crowned” at this year’s Faire. Voting is via donations to L$ Fantasy Faire, and this year’s nominees (selected by popular demand) are:

Kinq Queen Chancellor
Doctor Stephen Strange (MCU) Arya Stark (Game of Thrones /  A Song of Ice and Fire)
 Drogon  (Game of Thrones /  A Song of Ice and Fire)
Inigo Montoya (Princess Bride) Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones /  A Song of Ice and Fire) Falkor the Luckdragon (The Neverending Story)
Jareth, The Goblin King (Labyrinth and winner, 2016) Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones /  A Song of Ice and Fire) Kalessin (Earthsea series)
Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) Lyanna Mormont (Game of Thrones /  A Song of Ice and Fire) Paarthurnax (Skyrim)
Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire)  Moana (from the film of the same name) Smaug (The Hobbit)
Toothless (How to Train your Dragon)

To vote for your favourite in each category, visit the voting board on The Celestial Plain.  Here you can cast your vote via a donation to RFL of SL. Just right-click on the donation boards beneath the nominee(s) for whom you’d like to vote, and enter an amount of your choice to donate.

Voting for your choice of king, chancellor and queen – uright-click on the RFL donation kiosks, not the nominee images!

You can pay as much or as little as you want but the more you pay, the more chance your candidate has of becoming King, Queen or Chancellor, as the winners will be based on the highest amounts raised for the nominees in each group. You can also vote as often as you like, as this is a fun activity to help raise funds for Fantasy Faire and the KNH Hope Hostel.

Voting will close at 16:00 SLT on Sunday April 29th, and the results will be announced at the end of the Live Auction.

Additional Links

Fantasy Faire 2019: Seanchai’s Tales

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fantasy Faire 2019: Trollhaugen

This week, Seanchai Library joins with Fantasy Faire to present stories of fantasy and science fiction throughout the week and the Fantasy Faire LitFest. Join them at the LitFest region of Trollhaugen.

Monday 22nd 19:00: Selections from the Works of Ursula Le Guin

Gyro Muggins presents selected excerpts from two different works by the late author Ursula Le Guin: Left Hand of Darkness and The Lathe of Heaven.

Published in 1969 as a part of the Hainish Cycle, Left Hand of Darkness established Le Guin’s status as a major author of science fiction. The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a native of Earth and the envoy of the Ekumen, a confederation of planets that includes Earth. He is sent to the planet Gethen (also know as Winter), to persuade the nation states of that world to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by his lack of understanding of Gethenian culture: the people there are ambisexual, with no fixed sex, something that plays a powerful role in the culture of Gethen, which Ai finds hard to understand. And then there is the intrigue he finds…

Originally published in serial form by Amazing Stories in 1971, The Lathe of Heaven is set in Portland, Oregon in the year 2002. Now a city of three million inhabitants and continuous rain, in a United States now an impoverished nation, as is much of the world, thanks to the impact of global warming. For Portland, this means the poorer inhabitants to have kwashiorkor, or protein deprivation. Within this environment, a battle of wits ensues between a psychiatrist and a patient with psychic dream powers.

Tuesday, April 22nd 19:00: Nothing But Trolls!

From Neil Gaiman to J.K. Rowling, as well as more traditional adventures, Caledonia Skytower presents a troll’s eye perspective

Wednesday, April 23rd 19:00: Celebrating Ursula K Le Guin

Seanchai Library joins Litfest’s celebration of the life and works of Ursula K. Le Guin.

Thursday, April 24th: 19:00: Halloween in April – X-Files: The House On Hickory Hill

With Shandon Loring and Calaedonia Skytower. (Also in Kitely grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI).

The art at Fantasy Faire 2019

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fantasy Faire 2019: 2D art at Fairelands Junction

SL photography is a popular subject – as any casual glance through Flickr with the search tags of “virtual worlds”, “SL” “Second Life” and similar will reveal. There are many styles and subject matter of SL photography to be sure, but it not unreasonable to say that fantasy art is one of the more popular fields of endeavour, be it through avatar studies or the recording of the many fantasy environments that have graced the platform over the years.

It’s therefore fitting that Fantasy Faire embraces this wellspring of individual creativity each year by offering Second Life photographers and artists the opportunity to display their work. And one again, Fantasy Faire 2019 offers two gallery spaces where art can be appreciated.

Fantasy Faire 2019: 2D art at Genesia

The first can be found at Fairelands Junction, and is itself in two parts: the image gallery, located in the ruined structure that houses the Fairelands portals, and the Worldlings display, located in the rock formation upon which the ruins sit. The second gallery can be found within the Genesia Arts and Performance region.

Forty 2D artists are presented within both the gallery spaces, and as with previous years, the focus for art is on avatars and fantasy, with the official blog noting:

The galleries focus on various fantasy avatars within Second Life, celebrating the freedom from the mundane, showing how in here you can be whatever you wish to be, your true self.

The focus continues to be variety in fantasy forms, inspiration in character creation and talent in photographic arts.

Fantasy Faire 2019: The Call of the Forest by Aleriah

A full list of the artists participating in the exhibition can be found in the link above, so I won’t repeat the list here. However, what I will say is that the art is remarkable for its richness of imagination and presentation. Many pieces are obviously influenced by popular fantasy genres – there are a number that clearly draw from the Likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and G.R.R. Martin, for example. This isn’t a critique, as it is always interesting to see people put their own slant on popular fantasy; but for me the magic of many of the pieces is in their depiction of settings entirely born from the imaginations of their creators – such as with The Call of the Forest, by Aleriah (shown above).

The art at Genesia is displayed within yet another remarkable region setting by Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis, as the Art and Performance region at this years Faire. This stands as a work of art in of itself, and should be explored for its incredible creativity, both above and below the water, and the way it offers a link to past Fantasy Faires in its overall design.

Fantasy Faire: Genesia

The gallery space for Genesia sits on the outer path of the region, with art displayed on rock walls or held aloft by elephants and stork-like birds, the path leading the way around to the main performance area.

Meanwhile, the 3D Worldlings art can be found, as noted, in Faireland Junction. Described as the “Fairelands That Could Be”, the Worldings are seven realms-as-dioramas suggesting possible Fairelands as imagined by their creators: Kerryth Tarantal, Faust Steamer, Colemarie Soleil, Bonny Greenwood, Ameshin Yossarian, Bee Dumpling and Beryl.

Fantasy Faire 2019: Worlding by Faust Steamer

These dioramas – at least one of which is interactive – offer windows into the imaginations of the Fairelands (and region) creators behind them. Whether any of them might be expanded out to become a full Fairelands setting in the future is open to question; but I admit, I wouldn’t mind seeing Faust Steamer’s idea (above) fleshed out and given form!

Fantasy Faire 2019: Wrong Direction by Sugarfairy88

I often am prone to comment with these art exhibitions that when it comes to the 2D art – and allowing for the subject being that of fantasy avatars – it’s a shame that the net isn’t cast a little wider to more generally encompass fantasy settings in Second Life; there are, after all, a fair few. There is also as vast catalogue of images of past Fantasy Faires – so it would be nice to see some broader celebration of fantasy art that can be created within SL beyond a purely avatar focus.

Nevertheless, given how easily an art exhibition can be overlooked with so much else occurring at Fantasy Faire, I do very much recommend that anyone who enjoys Second Life art and photography stop by the galleries at Fairelands Junction and Genesia.

SLurl Details