Category: Reviews

Nature meets fantasy in this home for the “Vanaheim Family” and all fantasy creatures. This  magical place where fantasy creatures stand strong together in light and darkness.

– Paradise Of Fantasy About Land / Destination Guide description

The Landing Point sits just off of one to the many trails winding through the setting, and close to a large manor house. Like all the buildings in the region, it is open to the public, although the furnishings are an esoteric curio. Rooms include conventional lounge-style furniture to more period pieces, to a classroom (for magic?) and offices with a mystical air about them, whilst the loft is devoted to games and pastimes.

The Landing Point itself includes a Welcome scroll. When touched, it will provide an introductory notecard for visitors, together with the local rules. The latter are minimal and easy to remember, being common sense.

Where you go from the Landing Point is entirely up to you; as noted, there are numerous trails winding through the setting, and signposts (and warning signs in some cases!) offer direction or  humorous cautions.

The landscape itself is beautifully put together, presenting a wooded setting, rich in colour from trees, shrubs and the flowers carpeting much of the ground.  Two streams cut through the setting, one rising form waterfall on the south-east coast of the land to meander northwards to empty into a pond tucked in the north-east corner of the region.

Sitting within north-western corner of the region are two more structures: the Woif’s Grotto and Eiarion. The former is a cottage literally built / hewn into a rock formation, carrying with it a Nordic / medieval sensibility. The latter occupies a headland reaching out from the bay mentioned above. Taking the form of a fairly intact ruin, Eiarion presents a mystery as to how to access it; all of the windows are either intact and glazed or boarded-up.

The solution to the mystery can be found in the teleport stones which can be found close to each point of interest in the region. These form a network of teleports, and using the Eiarion destination will deliver you to the interior of the ruins – I’ll leave you to reflect on how to move between the two rooms.

This teleport system also provides access to those locations not necessarily directly accessible from the ground. Two of these are in the sky, one of which is well rooted in a fantasy sky, the other offering a Japanese setting. A third lies under the western sea of the region. Taking the form of an octopus’ garden, it comes with the not unreasonable request don’t pee in my sea(!).

A further cottage lies to the north-east of the region. Set as a witch’s home, it offers broom parking outside and potions and seed for sale in the garden. It sits not far from where a fortune teller is waiting to tell you all about your future – or perhaps, how to cover up your past – as the song goes.

Nor is this all; throughout the setting is a richness of detail in glades and along the trails. Ruins sit partially overgrown, little shrines mark hallowed clearings among the trees; benches, chairs, blankets, and boats offer places to sit. For those who enjoy music there is a grassy clearing set up for events, details of which I gather can be obtained by joining the local group.

In all, a beautiful, well-designed region mixing nature, mysticism and fantasy in a package rip for exploration and photography.

SLurl Details

• Paradise Of Fantasy (Tasta Island, rated Moderate)

I recently received an invitation from William Gide to visit Oscarton Forest Park, a setting designed by William and his SL partner, Dekon Carter.

Comprising a number of parcels spanning two regions within the south-east of Heterocera, the park offers around a quarter of a region of a landscaped setting with something of a unique history.

The Park started life as a “COVID sanity project”, helping William – who designed the majority of the ground level elements – cope with lockdown by allowing him to exercise his creativity. Since then, the park has remained open as a public setting which visitors can use as a place to enjoy a sense of nature and recharge their batteries.

Given this, there are a number of distinct Landing Points to be found throughout the park. For the purposes of this piece, I’m going with the “main entrance”, so to speak, as it is here visitors can obtain a notecard with landmarks to the main hangouts within the setting.

Bordered by part of the SLRR to the west and a river gorge to the south, the latter spanned by a bridge leading to what I believe to be William and Dekon’s private home, the public park runs northward. Passing a vegetable garden, the landscape opens out to offer a choice of possible exploration routes, the clearest being the main path.

The latter sweeps out to the east side of the park, passing between two Chinese lion statues, the first of multiple pieces of sculpture awaiting discovery as one explores the park. In making its sweep, the footpath skirts the lower end of the forest, a copse of silver birch. However a trail also runs through the birch trees, almost doubling back on the main path to drop down to where a trail points to the north and west, winding through the forest proper.

The main footpath, meanwhile descends to where a bridge spans one of the parks streams, joining another path as it follows the bank of the stream northwards. Passing by way of a secluded cabin, this path eventually drops down to the setting’s camp site prior to making a sharp left turn to arrive at the octagonal pavilion.

This pavilion can also be reached via one of the many paths branching off from the second trail mentioned above, all of which pass various places to hang-out and also admire some of the large wood sculptures to be found among the trees.

The northern end of the park includes two newer elements. The first is the Oscarton Forest Café. Occupying a large building by Cory Edo, on its east side this overlooks one of the park’s bodies of water and the pavilion beyond. On its west side, the café offers a terrace with seating a view of any passing trains.

Steps lead down from the terrace to a stone footpath and walls forming a border to the park, looking like it may have been some form of ancient fortification. Tucked within a part of these works – which also run along the northernmost extent of the park – is the Oscarton Forest Park Reflection Cove, described as a place for meditation.

Also to be found within these walls is a Zen garden watched over by two large rune stones, whilst the woods in this northern extent of the park also hide the teleport platform up to the sky platform – but I’ll leave that for you to find.

Offered with a richness of detail, Oscarton Forest Park is an idyllic location, and for a first-time public build, is exceptionally pleasing to the eye and rich in opportunities for photography and for relaxing.

My thanks to William for the invitation to visit; I really enjoyed doing so.

SLurl Details

• Oscarton Forest Park (Dubia, rated Moderate)

In talking to Dema Fairport at the Content Creator’s User Group recently, I was reminded that it’s been six years since my last visit to her engaging, Adult-centric and richly landscaped region of Athenaeum (see The scenic glory of Athenaeum in Second Life).

Part of the reason for this is because the major parts of the region are well-established, and only subject to the most subtle of changes – which can made blogging a little difficult. Not that the region should change just for the sake of blog posts; it has scenic beauty which is captivating to both the eye and the camera which could so easily be lost with any large-scale changes.

That said, six years is a long time between visits, so I was keen to wander around once more just for my own interest; and because so much time has passed, I thought I’d offer another write-up for the benefit of those who might not be familiar with the region or its beauty.

The virtual home of the real life Carter/Johnson Library which is owned by Viola Johnson. The library is a collective history of various kinky communities who have chosen to live and love differently. Come explore the Museum and Photo Gallery, take a walk through the lands, or find a place with that special someone to enjoy some relaxing time together or some special kinky time. Photographers Welcome, please be respectful of all.

– Dema’s description of Athenaeum

The (to me) familiar elements within the setting comprise the Carter/Johnson Library, mentioned in Dema’s description, the manor house, the pool house, most of the major structures, including the main bridges and footpaths, and the overall lie of the land, cut through as it is bye channels and a river.

The Landing Point for the setting is on the west side of the region and takes the form of a deck built over the water and home to a café, which I understand from Dema is a new feature of the setting. This sits close the aforementioned Carter/Johnson Library buildings, which itself is worthy of some expansion.

Existing in the physical world, the Carter/Johnson Library and Collection, is a 501(c) (3) organisation founded by Carla Viola “Mama Vi” Johnson (September 9th, 1912 – January 31st, 2006). It forms a collective history of various communities who have chosen to live and love differently. The collection includes thousands of leather, fetish, S/m, kink and alternate sexuality books, magazines, posters, art and more, dating back to the 1700s and chartered to bring this history to the communities it serves.

It is the Library and Collection which supports Athenaeum within Second Life, with the Library within the region recreating of one of the Library’s physical world exhibitions charting the history of BDS and kink from the 1500s to modern times – and offering a glimpse of times early than the 1500s.

A short walk from the museum is a gallery devoted to the work of New York fetish photographer Darque. Also to be found in the plaza and gardens housing the library and gallery is a quiet outdoor seating area complete with playable chess and draughts (or checkers, if you prefer).

Eastwards from the museum and gallery, a cinder path rises into the region’s central uplands to join a broad bridge spanning a gorge to provide access to the manor house is it sits on a high plateau. For those who prefer, a grass trail leads up to where wooden cabins surrounded by tall pines overlooks the north coast beach. One of the two cabins offers a wooden stairway down to the beach, but another way to reach it is to head north from the landing point, following the signs to the camp site out on the north-west headland.

The manor house itself remains much as I originally found it in 2018, when I noted:

Within its rooms are leather arm chairs, great bookcases filled with tomes awaiting reading, fires in the hearths, bottles of port and cigar humidors on some tables, coffee and After Eight mints on others, and just the most subtle of hints as to some of the activities that might follow conversations in these rooms; activities which themselves might be enjoined in the rooms above, going by their décor.

– This blog, August 2018

The plateau on which the manor house stations hides a secret. To be honest I didn’t work out how to get down to it and back, and resorted to cheating with a sit TP. I assume there is a hidden TP I missed. Another couple of places I don’t remember from previous visits. One was a smaller house sitting on an island to the south-east, is an outdoor ceremonial area one an island tucked into the north-east corner of the region.

Whether all of these are new additions since my last visit or not, I can’t say; six years is a long time; visits, and memory can play tricks. But that aside, Athenaeum is a richly engaging a beautifully put together region offering a lot to see and appreciate, regardless of one’s interest (or otherwise) in kink.

In fact, such is the overall low-key nature of the region’s BDSM elements, Athenaeum can be enjoyed without reference to it more adult nature, offering as it does a beautiful environment with multiple places to sit and pass the time, and plenty of opportunities for photography.

SLurl Details

• Athenaeum (rated Adult)