Category: Reviews

I’ve covered a lot of regions inspired by, or in tribute to, Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. There are several reasons for this; such regions are oft highly imaginative, for example; I also particularly enjoy much of the nonsense and quirkiness with the stories, which helped end a period of literature in which it was believed all children’s stories should be didactic rather than being entertaining, and they are rich in allusions and symbolism. So, when I came across a region with intriguing name Malice in Wonderland, complete with an equally engaging description:

Not quite Wonderland, the place perhaps where Alice gave into her Malice? This destination is a fantasy, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, wonderland. Swim with mermaids, drink at the Cantina, and avoid the rains of the run-down streets. Secrets abound to explore.

– Malice in Wonderland Destination Guide entry

The work of July Foxglove, Malice in Wonderland more than lives up to the rich and enticing mix of of genres and ideas promised it the description; so much so that while there are clear references to Alice and elements of Carroll’s stories, the region contains so much more, such that a better description for the region might be found in July’s Profile:

Malice’s Wonderland 2.0.

Is it finished? never will be – it’s a work of my madness! Its my second avatar! But with many more attachment slots!

– July Foxglove

What is evident as one starts to explore this world sitting under an astounding night sky is that just as it has been born freely of the imagination, so too does it require an open imagination to fully appreciate all it has to offer. Surrounded by a mountainous region surround into which it blends, Malice in Wonderland is not so much a single setting as it is a series of settings – vignettes and chapters, if you will – containing their own story or stories. Many of these are in plain view and easy to find, others are hidden away and require discovery; all of of it quite marvellous to witness and photograph.

To walk through the region in words would actually be pointless simply because it is genuinely a place that should be experienced first-hand. To help people get around, the region has a Stargate-style system of ring transporters with a list of destinations. Most can be reached on foot and by keeping eyes open for ramps, tunnels, elevators and the like; however, several can only be reached via the teleporter system (such as V’s Apartment, the Tardis, the ballroom, for example), so use of it is recommended during visits (accept the system Experience) if required.

Routes (and, one might say the roots) of exploration commence from the Land Point, as one might expect. Taking the form of a subway station, this offers an obvious exit up to ground level, exiting into the rain-drenched setting of a small town which in turn anchors an interconnected archipelago of island floating overhead. However, check the tunnel mouths either side of of the portrait of Malice at the Landing Zone and you’ll discover why I reference “roots”.

A further way of getting around is using the various zip lines dotted around the settings, so its is worth keeping and eye out for them as well.

Within the ground level space it is possible to find a very steampunk Tea Party, bubbling streams, a winter scene, nightclub, a stunning model of a certain spaceship for which I have a lot of affection (and had me singing about not being able to take the sky from me 🙂 ), an X-Wing whose pilot is liable to see his or her insurance premiums go up, the rain-drenched town, to mention a few of the more obvious points of interest. There’s also a tree house and a deep quarry with another series of secrets awaiting under the surface of the water – possibly best reached via the teleport rings.

Above this, the floating islands offer multiple vignettes (including an actual Stargate), reference to popular fairy tales, a floating bridge leading to a manor house where time can be spent – and where two of the zip lines can be found, one leading down into the quarry while another provides an alternate route to the manor house from the other end of the floating islands.

When exploring, keep an eye out for the smaller vignettes, the use of art (2D and 3D) and the rich mix of genres and ideas. As noted I don’t want to go too much into specifics here, as exploring and encountering really is the best way to fully appreciate all this region has to offer, underground, on the ground and above the ground (can you find Mjölnir, for example? Or Cthulhu? How about Little Red Riding Hood?).  However, there is a slight spawn issue with the mini subs, when you find them, which means they may not allow you to sit &require resetting to Guest mode. Keep an eye out as well for the Stargates (upright and laid flat); touching one  will offer URL listing regions – enter a destination using local chat as “/d [region name]”  – without the quotes – to teleport to the region.

I do recommend using the local environment setting when visit Malice in Wonderland, and also in setting aside as much time as possible to explore – even if you split it over several visits, because it really is the kind of place where just as you think you’ve discovered everything, you find something else.

So enjoy!

SLurl Details

• Malice in Wonderland (Enchanted Woodlands, rated Moderate)

Beloved is the name Anu Papp has given to the latest setting presented on her Homestead region of Poetic Moon. Designed by Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), the setting is – to me, and for various reasons – potentially one of the best he has produced thus far.

There is a genuine and natural flow to the landscape which is captivating, and the placement of building and structure within it, the form of the island, just draws the eye through it, offering both a photogenic beauty and a sense of tranquillity and wholeness with nature, the industrial elements scattered about notwithstanding.

A creative talent herself, Anu is perhaps best known for founding and leading the Muse Dance Company, however in-world she is also a designer, photographer-artist and builder. These are all talents reflective of her physical life presence and talents, which extend into music, spiritualism, yoga and more, as noted within her Second Life Spotlight article, published in May 2023. All of this is also reflected somewhat within Beloved.

The setting itself forms a rugged temperate island, its coastline mostly cliffs of hardened rock or softer sandstone, the later carved by time and tide into shallow bays or ribbons of low-lying shoreline. Whilst hardly what one might call beachy, the latter offer opportunities to walk alongside the push and pull of the tide, splash through pools of seawater temporarily cut off from the rest of the waters surrounding the island.

This is a place with a high water table of its own – across its rugged back are two large and one smaller bodies of water (one of which carried subtle hints of perhaps being man-made rather than a natural occurrence. It is close to the largest of these bodies of water that the Landing Point is located (although it is not enforced), and it was on arrival that I immediately felt a comforting sense of Deja-vu; despite it being my first visit to the setting, I felt I knew it. As I cammed around, I quickly realised why: with the windswept ruggedness, the large body of water with a trail running alongside it, Beloved bought to mind an old-time favourite those who are long in the tooth (like me) might recall): Roche.

Now, to be clear, there is nothing intrinsically linking the two designs; in fact when taken as a whole, there are utterly different; but the fact that Beloved did bring memories of my multiple visits to Roche between 2012 and 2015 nevertheless gave me a sense of belonging as I started to explore Beloved.  Many of the buildings scattered across Beloved perhaps aided that sense of the familiar with me, again not because of any similarities with Roche, but because they offered a similar sense of space between them, a space visitors can wander and absorb in quite solitude or in company.

Anu has a love for the works of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, the 3th-century poet, scholar, theologian and mystic; she quotes him in her Profile and with Beloved, she offers part of A Great Wagon, a poem associated with spiritual growth.  In particular, the verses she has selected offer with might be considered a pivotal truth on the journey to spiritual awareness: that we are not human beings sometimes having moments of spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings travelling through a human experience.

In stating this truth, Rūmī, notes that as humans, we function in dualities: beauty and ugliness; truth and and lies; good and bad; black and white; and this duality of mode is the cause of all our conflicts. But as spiritual beings, we should recognise that nothing is either one or the other; that within the void of being, everything flows – there is no black and white to divide us; no sectioning of thoughts or emotions, we are simply one.

This is a concept that can get the grey matter working overtime to try to understand – and in this, Beloved is an ideal place in which to consider Rūmī’s words and the notions of self and oneness. As well as the region’s rugged beauty, there are multiple places to sit in contemplation, listen to the local sounds, to enjoy the ebb and flow of the waters surrounding the island – and the ebb and flow of shared company, if desired. Places where we can – as Rūmī might have put it – see beyond our physical bodies and understand our true essence as beings of the spirit.

In acknowledgement of this, and  – if I might be so presumptuous – I would add to Anu’s use of the poem, I would perhaps offer a further quote:

In the body of the world, they say, there is a soul
and you are that.

But we have ways within each other
that will never be said by anyone.

For those who prefer to focus on the region’s picturesque beauty, there is certainly no disappointment to be had. Dandy’s attention to detail here is superb, with many touches to draw the eye and the camera lens, from the cost interior of the brick cabin by the lake through the egrets gathered above the northern cliffs to the little birds gathered on a powerline  – something which might, except for the absence of a shoebill, put some in mind of a certain Pixar short and thus raise a smile – and more besides.

An engaging and visual setting, ideal for exploration, contemplation and appreciation – kudos to Anu and to Dandy – and my thanks to Susann De Cuir for the hat-tip.

SLurl Details

• Beloved (Poetic Moon, rated Moderate)