Dancing Under the Lantern Tree

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Three Knots | 1 Comment

From Gwen Enchanted: Some of you know that my real life is very busy. This has been one of those weeks with work, and I’m sorry not to have been blogging more. I’m going to try to up my pace in the weeks to come, but things are very busy where I work, and I can’t promise my post-work exhaustion level is going to improve any time soon. I remain hopeful, though. On to today’s post!

It’s been a quiet week in Lake White Owl Island… wait. 😉 No, really; things have been very quiet. Arahaelon has been away, presumably talking with our Bureau of Supernatural Affairs contact. I haven’t been to visit Saoirse in a few days, but I do feel sorry for her. I know selkies can survive for whole lifetimes without their skins, but it has got to be annoying not to have it and be able to just splash down and hang out with all the other selkies.

I can’t seem to stay away from the Lantern Tree.

I can’t seem to stay away from the Lantern Tree. It’s such a beautiful spot, and I love the oasis feel it has to it, especially with the river of faerie there in the background. At dusk, or just past, when everything is starting to blend down into blues and purples, is my favourite time to be there.

At the same Enchantment event, I found this beautiful dance ensemble from Silvan Moon Designs. It comes in an array of bright colours, so of course you know I had to go with the red. Glamoured my hair (a new style from Queue Marlowe, the genius behind Analog Dog Hair) and my eyes (painted by Jadis Ashland of Mesange) brown and just played in the lamplight for hours last night.

Even as an “adult” (hahaha!) I never stop playing “let’s pretend”.

Even as an “adult” (hahaha!) I never stop playing “let’s pretend”. Of course, at the moment I can’t get the captive faeries out of my head, so I was thinking what if you had a racket like that going in some quasi-Gorean world where there was this idea that all women, be they faeries or amazons or goblins, are meant to be slaves. What would happen to someone like me in a place like that?

How do we get the idea that we’re not beings of power?

How do we get the idea that we’re not beings of power? I mean, I get the concept; I do. I did sociology in secondary school, and I recognise the classic signs of abuse, and I know why abused people don’t “just leave”. But there’s something intriguing about stories of entire races, groups of people, people who were formerly empowered, being enslaved or overcome by another group of people (where “people” is really “any kind of sentient being” here; we could even be talking about an alien invasion, I guess). I guess as a much younger woman I read stories like The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty and was intrigued by them, but in my life, I keep ending up being the person who has to make the decisions. Maybe it’s like that line from The Handmaid’s Tale: “There are two kinds of freedom, ladies: freedom to and freedom from. You are now being offered freedom from. Don’t underestimate it.”

Whom do I trust?

I wonder now. Whom do I trust? Who could I give away my decisions to? Not Nathaniel: He is burdened enough, and he overthinks everything, which means that things seldom get done on his watch.

Arahaelon? Well, he’s great to look at, but he’s a bit of an egomaniacal arse, and he and Skel seem to have something going. I can certainly ask him for help with Island things: he’s pretty much in charge there, anyway.

Dyisi? Gods, no. She hands back any responsibility you give her with a smile.

Memories of the past? Janus. I could have given everything to Janus, but he left us, and I haven’t heard from him since the children were born. Mornoth. If I hadn’t been so soured on the Wylds by the time he came along, maybe we could have had something. I don’t even think about people like Richard any more, unless someone asks to be told the story of how I ended up away from the Realm where I was raised, anyway. Side note: must really look up Fen/Tac and apologise to her at some point. There are rumours that she’s in the Forest somewhere, but they are just rumours, I’m sure.

Nevertheless, I’m in this life now, and I suppose I have to live with it.

Nevertheless, I’m in this life now, and I suppose I have to live it. No matter how weird that sounds to say out loud. Dyisi says I always run away. Well, I’m trying not to run away, but the prospect of Great Adventures elsewhere (not to mention shopping) usually takes me at least a bit farther afield than most of the White Owl Island residents.

Still, the whole question of how someone like Saoirse could be so badly used by another is haunting.

Still, the whole question of how someone like Saoirse could be so badly used by another is haunting. And, frankly, depressing. What kind of person uses another’s very nature to enslave and subdue them against their will? I suppose all those stories that titillated me as a kid were about people who chose their fate, or at least found that once they’d been placed in the situation they were in, they found it satisfying. The real story of someone stealing Saoirse’s skin and then blackmailing her with it is significantly less romantic.

We must get Saoirse’s skin back.

So, I shall set myself a task. While Arahaelon is working on the legal ins and outs, I will talk with Dyisi— and we, we will get Saoirse’s skin back.

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa, Lona Bento Mesh Head
Hair: Analog Dog, Theory (Available NOW at Hairology!)
Eyes: Mesange, Dandy Eyes (Available NOW at Hipster Men Event!)
Ears: Eclipse Art Studio, Studio Elf Ears Dior
Skin: 7 Deadly s{K}ins, Destiny (Full face and body Omega applier)
Clothes: Silvan Moon Designs, Princess Parizade Dhoti, (Available NOW at Enchantment!)
Collar: Footpaw Industries Celtic Filigree Amythest Collar (attached rose from Footpaw Industries AeLan necklace)
Shoes: Supernatural, Opulent Anklet

The Lantern Tree, from The Looking Glass, is available as a gacha NOW at Enchantment!

Location: White Owl Island Faerie. If you’re looking for a great contemporary fantasy roleplaying sim, why not check us out? White Owl Island, Where Everybody Knows Your Shape.

Threats

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Three Knots | Leave a comment

Every day, a new threat. The whole Island is jumpy over it. At first I thought maybe it was one of the children pulling a prank — some objectionable graffiti; nothing we couldn’t handle.

And then, they set a boat on fire in the harbour. One of our new residents put it out, with the help of Aodhan.

And I? Well, I fled to Faerie.

And I? Well, I fled to Faerie. There does not seem to be much for it, except to wait until this storm, whatever it is, passes, though I recognise that we are no more safe here than are the souls on the Island proper.

I will send a Wisp tonight to let Dyisi know. And Bran says he can make little signs, but only if I let him use the colour printer.

As always, there is so much to think about.

As always, there is so much to think about. I thought I’d left things like this behind in the Wylds, but I guess every place comes with its own challenges. And I think I’d rather be dealing with this threat than handling mad demifae queens and sadistic ghosts of faerie kings past.

Nothing’s ever black and white.

Nothing’s ever black and white (see what I did there?!). It all comes down to our thinking, our responses, our strength.

Still, there are so many variables.

Still there are so many variables. Who is the culprit? How did they get on to our Island? What’s the end game? Does it matter? How are we to keep hundreds of souls from being exposed to a hostile world?

I notice with some trepidation that the Faery Throne has relocated into my garden.

I notice with some trepidation that the Faery Throne has relocated into my garden. This probably means I’m going to need it.

I don’t know what I think about that.

I don’t know what I think about that. But I do know that sooner or later I’m going to have to step up and be at least seemingly responsible. Or get Bran off the Nintendo and get him to be responsible. That actually sounds much more fun. Maybe I’ll hide it while he’s making those flyers.

Just a harmless little prank, right?

Just a harmless little prank, right? I’m sure it’ll all work out somehow. And if not, well, I didn’t manifest this Realm-hopping ability for nothing, right?

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa, Lona Bento Mesh Head
Hair: Analog Dog, Ima (Available UNTIL JULY 16 at Hair Fair!)
Eyes: Mesange, Elixir Eyes (Available NOW at On9!)
Ears: Lumae, Leevi Long Ears
Skin: 7 Deadly s{K}ins, Savory (Omega all-in-one applier) (AVAILABLE NOW at Mesh Body Addicts!)
Tunic: Pixicat, Breeze Tunic
Jeans: Graffitiwear, Art Jeans (Maitreya appliers)
Headpiece: Bauhaus Movement, Aurora Necklace and Forehead
Boots: Sweet Lies, Ragnarok Boots

Poses: All from An Lar, The Julia Series

Location: White Owl Island Faerie. If you’re looking for a great contemporary fantasy roleplaying sim, why not check us out? White Owl Island, Where Everybody Knows Your Shape.

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I’d never make Gwyneth tell you how irresponsible she is (again!) without it!

Just One Little Thing…

Posted on November 24, 2016 by Three Knots | 1 Comment

Gwyneth:

So I wrote down that dream, which did not bother me or make me worry about the future of my home Realm as if it were going to devolve into some kind of post-apocalyptic novel at all. I mean, the people of the United Kingdom would have to do something completely bonkers like vote themselves out of the European Union to make that happen. And not only that, it’d have to be followed up by equally stupid decisions in other places, like, oh, I don’t know, somebody like Donald Trump becoming President of the United States or something equally unbelievable. Seriously, some of that post-apocalyptic shit is just so unbelievable. It’s as crazy as imagining Margaret Thatcher back from the dead, or even that there are other Realms out there, full of Faeries and other mythologically impossible beings. Just couldn’t happen.

Yeah, but there was just one little thing that was bothering me about that dream. And it’s going to sound unbelievably shallow and stupid. Yeah; I hear you. ‘Go on, Gwyneth! You, sound shallow and stupid? Say it ain’t so!’ No, but really: I knew I had seen those boots somewhere before. In fact, I was pretty sure I owned those boots.

But most of my contemporary-style Realm clothing has been moved to our house on White Owl Island, for obvious (luddite goddess) reasons. So after I wrote all that down, I hopped over to White Owl to search through the packed boxes.

Never mind that half the house looks like a building site and they still haven’t even finished carpeting the living room yet, and the ceiling and half the walls aren’t yet painted—I found them!

I found them! And I found the matching blouse as well! Go me!

I found them! And I found the matching blouse as well! Go me! Well, obvs, gowns aren’t exactly the going style in White Owl, so I changed into a pair of jeans and threw on the blouse and boots.

There was a little bit of a breeze coming off the harbour, but mostly the weather was good. I decided to head over to the Sasquatch Militia to get an ice cream cone. Never mind that it wasn’t yet 11:0o in the morning. I knew somebody would be there. Someone always is.

Mm, Rocky Road, Chocolate, and Pecan Praline!

Mm, Rocky Road, Chocolate, and Pecan Praline! I got a triple scoop. So what if the girl behind the counter looked at me kinda funny? I can have ice cream for breakfast and still retain my girlish figure.

After I finished the ice cream cone, I couldn’t stop myself from walking past the bookshop just to check the newspaper headline. Because, OK, I was a little weirded out by the idea of some alternative me living in a burned out train carriage with her two little siblings, scared to death of the grownups in the village down the way and worried about being seen with faeries.

And, thank the gods, at least in this iteration of the universe, there was some sanity in the world. The headline was something about President Sanders and a women’s health initiative.

Would you believe after that I just felt like doing nothing but going back to the Wylds and spending the day in bed with Nathaniel?

So, that’s exactly what I did.

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa, Destiny
Ears: Mandala, Steking Ears, Season 5
Eyes: Mesange, First Date Eyes (Omega appliers)
Skin: 7 Deadly s{K}ins, Enya, Powder NEW! (Omega face appliers, Maitreya body appliers) Body appliers available at the 7 Deadly s{K}ins Main Store!
Hair: Wasabi Pills — Marisol (Coming soon to Uber!)
Jeans: Larry Jeans, 907W, black (Maitreya Applier)
Blouse: Paper Moon, Huck Shirt
Boots: Paper Moon, Huck Boots

Poses: An Lar, from the Opal Series

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I never make possibly it’s-too-soon jokes about the state of world politics in the guise of innocent blog posts without it!

“Why So Blue, Mary Sue?”

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Three Knots | 1 Comment

Yes, it’s true.

Yes, it’s true. My name is Mary Sue. Mary Sue Volandu. Because my parents are freaking sadists. And that up there? Is what kids used to yell at me in elementary school. I am eighteen years old, and I am a Svart Alfar, a Dark Elf. That doesn’t mean I’m evil. It just means I … find beauty in things that other people might not. Yeah. We’ll go with that. I live in the completely boring town of White Owl, which is on White Owl Island, which you’ve probably heard of, because it is a Haven. That means I don’t have to glamour my skin and hide my ears when I go out in public, because everybody else on White Owl Island is just as weird as I am. Some are even weirder.

Nothing interesting ever happens on White Owl. And there are no interesting places to go, because I’ve been to them all before.

This is the Park.

This is the Park. We only have one, so it’s just called The Park. Stupid gargoyle fountain. Stupid apple trees. And that house you can see outside the park belongs to Arahalon, who’s like a million years old and founded the town after he came here and, I don’t know, fell in love with the rainforest or something. Or maybe it was ley lines. We had it in school, but who cares. Across the Sound is Seattle, and I’m not allowed to go there, though mum and dad go there sometimes. The only reason I ever go through the park is — can you see that gazebo through the trees? Yeah. The only reason I ever go through the park is to get to what’s behind that gazebo.

Maybe you can see it better here.

Maybe you can see it better here. Yeah: there it is, right behind me, beyond the sickeningly picturesque wishing well. There’s only one wishing well in town, so it’s just called The Wishing Well. Because we are the most creative island ever in the history of islands.

Do you like my shirt? I got it from this travelling merchant who said he’d picked up at a place called Fable. I like it because it’s got a guy turning in to a wolf on it. And because it’s purple. Well, pinky-purple. And it matches my shoes. Anyway.

Blah, blah, blah, gazebo

Blah, blah, blah, gazebo, blah, blah, blah, how romantic, blah, blah, blah every couple should come here, blah, blah, blah, whatevs. It’s the only gazebo in town, so (say it with me now), it’s just called The Gazebo. Anyway, can you see where I’m going now? Yeah. There’s an easy path up to that building you can see behind the gazebo just here. No, there aren’t any steps. Yes, it’s a little tricky to get to: that’s what makes it cool.

Yep, here we go. Now, there are steps. You wait here for a minute; I have to get ready, because I am the oldest kid (right!) in the village: everyone else has fled. That makes me the leader here. So I have to get my hat.

Let me just tuck this ponytail up. There.

Let me just tuck this ponytail up. There. Hats look stupid if you’ve got a ponytail, so I just bunch it all up and stuff it into the pointy bit.

Right! Welcome to the club! It’s the only clubhouse in the village for kids, so we just call it The Clubhouse.

Oh! You want to know about the hat?

Oh! You want to know about the hat? This hat is a super special hat. I would tell you it’s been handed down from generation to generation of children on White Owl, but that would be a freaking lie, so I won’t do it. I actually won it playing a game of chance at a place called the Fantasy Gacha Carnival. My parents actually took me to another realm last week, and I won it, and it’s my favourite thing ever, so I keep it here at the clubhouse, because it’s special, and it gives me powers when I wear it. It gives me the power of being the leader of the clubhouse. It has special crystals that can turn different colour if you know the right magic to glamour them.

No, you can’t try it on. It’s mine.

Before I show you the rest of the clubhouse, I have to do something.

Before I show you the rest of the clubhouse, I have to do something. I have to cast the evil spirits out of the clubhouse by standing on the bridge and saying a spell. With my hat on. It doesn’t work unless I’ve got my hat on. I won’t teach you the spell: you’ll learn it when you’re older. Believe it or not, there are two bridges in town. So this one is called the ropey bridge. The other one is called the beach bridge, but you’d never know you were on it if you crossed it, and if you crossed it, you’d be at the Faerie Queen’s house, and she is a Lios Alfar, a Light Elf, so I think she’s meant to hate my guts, but she also runs the bookstore, which isn’t just called The Bookstore; it’s called Codex, which means something old and ancient, and anyway, she is super nice and I think she is much nicer than my mum and dad and one day she is going to take me to a big city and let me buy high heeled shoes. I’m sure she told me that once.

So anyway, I have to stand on the ropey bridge and repeat the spell three times — no, you stay back there; you can’t hear this — and then it will be safe for you to go inside the clubhouse or cross the bridge or whatever.

Of course there are evil spirits here. Look: you can see the haunted lighthouse from here, and if you turn around and squint you can see the great forest, and that place is full of scary stuff and you should never go there without an adult; do you hear me? Never. Well, of course I could go there by myself if I wanted: you just take a rowboat and you row across and then there’s a dock and you go into the forest and then you get lost and probably eaten by dragons. Of course I’ve been there. Shut up and let me concentrate.

I always feel a little dizzy after I do magic; don’t you?

I always feel a little dizzy after I do magic; don’t you? Oh. Well, you will, when you start doing real magic. It’s not hard, but it will give you a headache when you first try it, but then when you get it right, it feels wonderful. I swear.

I love looking down, too! Because that makes me feel even dizzier!

I love looking down, too! Because that makes me feel even dizzier! Sure, you can come on to the bridge now. No; you shouldn’t spin. Because then if you fall off the bridge, your mum and dad will roast me over an open fire and eat me for dinner. Yep. I read it somewhere.

One day soon, I’ll get off this island.

One day soon, I’ll get off this island. And then I’ll find out what everybody here is running from. Everybody here is running from something, my dad says. They all have some kind of demon in their pasts. No, not like Charlie at the grocery store. He’s a nice demon. Of course there are nice demons. I mean, they’re not like Faery Queen Nice. But they’re not going to chop you up and use you for dark magic: they have to live here same as everybody else.

What? Oh, yeah. Come on in and I’ll show you the rest of the clubhouse.

Welcome to the island, kid.

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Hands: SLink Elegant
Head: LAQ, Trinity
Ears: Soul Uni Ears, High Elf
Eyes: Soul, Flock Eyes (berries) (Coming soon to Enchantment!)
Skin: Soul, Emma, Generation 2, SE Midnight (Coming soon to Enchantment!)
Hair: Pr!tty, Taylor (available at Hairology. Hairology is NOW OPEN!)
Hat: Soul, Mystic Hat (Ultrarare) (Available at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Top: Vindiktive, Wolf Tank (Available at Fable!)
Shorts: Gee, High Waisted Shorts (Available at Pretty Things Showroom Event!)
Sandals: Reign, Sophia Sandals
Poses: Photos 1-4: Nantra, High Society (Available at Collabor88!)
Photos 5-9, !bang, from the Good and Evil sets; 10, !bang, from the Intuition set
Setting: White Owl Island (almost ready!)

Thanks and credit are due to Moxy Macbeth and Dyisi Oppewall, who have been busily building White Owl over the past few months.

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I never create characters out of whole cloth because of blue skins and amazing hats (Thank you, Charlie!) without it!

A Dream of White Owl

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Three Knots | 1 Comment

Gwyneth:

You know how sometimes you have this dream that just seems completely disjointed when you try to remember it later, but at the time, it all seems connected, like nothing could ever be out of place?

I guess most dreams are like that.

What’s odd for me is the image of the white owl that keeps fluttering through these dreams. I’ve never had a particular affinity for owls. I mean, they’re lovely, and I enjoy watching them, but they are creatures of air and I am a creature of water, inasmuch as I can be a creature of anything except pure magic.

It began in a Winter Garden

It began in a winter garden. I found myself dancing in front of a crescent moon. Not that that’s unusual or anything: I remember thinking at the time that it was probably a symbolic dream and this was all allegorical. Yeah: I even edit my own dreams. I’m an intrusive and unreliable narrator. It’s like the cast of a weird paranormal fantasy novel up in here.

And of course the scene changed, like they do.

And of course the scene changed, like they do. I was descending this weird staircase, which obviously led nowhere, but it made perfect sense at the time. Then I noticed this white owl around my neck, which only clocked because I keep noticing white owls turning up in my dreams everywhere.

Then, another crescent, and a sense of profound disorientation.

Then, another crescent, and a sense of profound disorientation. Where was I, anyway? Why was everything covered with snow? It’s summer. Obviously, not in Australia. But that was “real” world geography, something I shouldn’t even be measuring things by any more. So, yeah. Some kind of dream world and me all underdressed as I often am in dreams, but at least feeling comfortable. I’m sure I was wearing sandals, though I don’t think I ever looked at my feet.

And speaking of disorientation….

The scene changed again, and I was on some kind of pier, watching a ferry disappear into some kind of mountainous distance. Why was I even watching a ferry? Is that how I got tot this place?

Frankly, it was even weirder than my usual dreams.

Frankly, it was even weirder than my usual dreams. There was nobody around; the whole place seemed deserted.

I made my way up a set of steps to a boardwalk.

I made my way up a set of steps to a boardwalk. In the distance, there was this gorgeous house, and I promised I’d made my way there. On the boardwalk, it looked like there should have been a market in place, but again, there was no one to be seen. Stuff was just lying around as if all the inhabitants had just disappeared.

So strange.

I walked further up into the town.

I walked further up in to the town and flicked my hair back from my— yeah, everything had changed again. The clothes notwithstanding, I felt completely out of place in this odd, deserted town. Where were all the people?

I made my way to sort of an observation area that led to a smaller boardwalk.

I made my way to sort of an observation area that led to a smaller boardwalk. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the house on the beach. It seemed so familiar, as if I should know who lived there, only again, there was no movement except for the waves against the rocks. I could hear birdsong, but I saw no birds.

I let myself look out over the ocean for a few minutes.

I let myself look out over the ocean for a few minutes. It really was beautiful.

But then I got this strong feeling it was time to move on. More to explore, I thought; more to see.

But then I got this strong feeling it was time to move on. More to explore, I thought; more to see. Again, the world seemed to spin.

And it was the middle of the day, but I was dressed to the nines. And nervous.

And it was the middle of the day, but I was dressed to the nines. And nervous. It felt like I was waiting for someone, someone important, but I couldn’t have told you who it was. The house in the background, again, that feeling of prickly familiarity, that I should know who lived there. And wasn’t there a house like that, sometime, some time ago, in the Bower? My old Bower, lost now to Faerie’s intermittent remaking of itself.

The feeling of anticipation was heady, like that feeling you get when you’re waiting for a first date.

The feeling of anticipation was heady, like that feeling you get when you’re waiting for a first date. What on earth was I doing in a little seaside town — at least I thought it was the same town, dressed like that and feeling like that? I’d even brought out my best jewels for the occasion. I smelled something; was it moss? More than the flowers all around, this was a wet smell. As if everything was wet.

And then I was walking out the door of a grocery store?

And then I was walking out the door of a grocery store? What was that all about? And wow, torn jeans, and a feeling of comfort, of belonging, like I lived here… and yet still there were no people No one.

Fresh fruit and veg for days, and no one to buy it.

Fresh fruit and veg for days, and no one to buy it. What was that about? I felt comfortable just picking something up and taking a bite, though. I think it was a cherry. No pun intended.

So. That house. I had to find that house.

I spotted the chimney in the distance and plotted a path.

But before I got there—just before I got there, as a matter of fact, I stopped short. There in the front garden, or what might have been the side garden, of this house, was a statue. My statue. The one I bought at the Great Faire auction for … well, for quite a lot of gold, and I won’t say how much. The statue of the harper, called “The Last Hope”. What was it doing here?

It felt like I stood there for hours, wondering.

Then, I turned and walked toward the house, which appeared from a short distance to be completely empty.

And I woke up. Without ever seeing the house up close. So much for the mystery of why my statue was outside.

Style Cards:

Winter Garden Photos:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: BentBox, Sylvan Ears
Skin: Lumae Eirtae, Tone 3, Bluebell (Available at Enchantment!)
Hair: Damselfly, Finch (Available at Hairology!)
Circlet: Independent Objects, Mearwen Circlet
Dress: Moon Amore, Wild & Free (Available at Collabor88!)
Shoes: Bubble, Mithril Sandals (Available at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Necklace: Empyrean Forge, The Dreamer: Enlightenment, Barn
Setting: The Outer Garden (Another great find from Ziki Questi’s Blog!)

White Owl Pier Photos:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: BentBox, Sylvan Ears
Skin: Lumae Eirtae, Tone 3, Bluebell (Available at Enchantment!)
Hair: Analog Dog, Julieta (Available at Hairology!)
Clothes: DE Designs, Escape Top & Nina Capri (Available at Mesh Body Addicts!)
Shoes: Bleich, Mesh Rey Sandals (Available at The Chapter 4!)
Necklace: Spell, Branch Choker (Available at The Chapter 4!)
Setting: White Owl (which shall remain a mystery for now!)

Town and Observation Pier Photos:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: BentBox, Sylvan Ears
Skin: Lumae Eirtae, Tone 3, Bluebell (Available at Enchantment!)
Hair: Runaway, Sophie (Available at Hairology!)
Clothes: Jangka, Corset, Pants & Short Boots (Available at The Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Setting: White Owl (which shall remain a mystery for now!)

Garden Pavilion Photos:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: BentBox, Sylvan Ears
Skin: Lumae Eirtae, Tone 3, Bluebell (Available at Enchantment!)
Hair: Amacci, Astra (Available at Hairology!)
Dress: FurtaCor, Giovanni (Available at The Instruments!)
Shoes: KC Couture, Huelva
Necklace: Empyrean Forge, Aglaea’s Splendour
Setting: White Owl (which shall remain a mystery for now!)

The Last Hope Photos:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: BentBox, Sylvan Ears
Skin: Lumae Eirtae, Tone 3, Bluebell (Available at Enchantment!)
Hair: Phoenix, Janet (Available at Hairology!)
Clothes: Lybra, Ada Leggings & Tunic (Tunic is rare) (Available at The Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Boots: Illi, Blue Medieval Archer Boots (Available at The Fantasy Gacha Carnival!)
Necklace: Empyrean Forge, Aglaea’s Splendour
Setting: White Owl (which shall remain a mystery for now!)

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I never have disturbing dreams without it!

Hope in Blackmoor

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Three Knots | 1 Comment

Gwyneth:

Rest turns to sleep, sleep turns to dreams, and the FaireLands turn over into a new day. A day that made me realise something. Well, a lot of somethings, but we’ll get to those in a minute or twenty, as soon as I’ve collected my thoughts.

Our universe, our metaverse, is full of a million wonders. And I, without humility (what Sidhe is possessed of humility?) can say that I am one of those wonders. But the magicians who make the FaireLands? The magicians behind the magicians who create this once-a-year spectacle of light and sound and literature? These are the wonder-makers.

It’s because of those magicians, in so many ways, that I can be who I am: Gwyneth Evans become Gwyneth, Queen of Faerie, born in the mind of a different kind of magician and risen, kneaded, and risen again in the kitchen of story.

Many of my wanderings during this year’s Great Faire have been informed by magicians behind magicians: in this case, the wonder makers and thought experimenters of the Fantasy Faire LitFest. Each day, a different Realm came up as a tour for writers, and word-weavers came along to look at the Realms and write something down about them.

A different guise.

So I shall take on a different guise for you today. I am Gwyneth, but I am something different.

Something, perhaps, from a sonnet:

Hope Always Remains
In this dark land, she spreads her golden wings
And calls for mist to clothe her shining limbs.
Before the dawn, her smothered spirit sings
As if her destiny lies in a hymn
Or maybe some inhuman synonym.
What calls to her at last? It is a sound
And when she stirs, her steps feel tugged by whim
Her feathers lift her just about the ground
And when she finds the source, she stands, spellbound.
Where river pours itself onto the rocks
And makes the stones and crevices rebound
As if the water goddess bends and talks
And calls the mist to clothe her where she stands
To bless her with the waterfall’s pure hands.

(Gwen Enchanted, LitFest Tour, Blackmoor)

In this dark land, she spreads her golden wings and calls for mis to clothe her shining limbs.

Blackmoor. Land of darkness. Land of gargoyles. Land of enough cemetery architecture to make the most eyelinered up goth in Gothtown, Gothy McGothface, tear up and buy every Sisters of Mercy album. On vinyl. Again.

In fact, it would be easy to walk through Blackmoor and not see anything but the darkness.

But did you look up?

But did you look up? Up into the trees? Up into a night lit with stars beyond counting?

Did you look up?

Did you travel to the edge of the land and look back upon the glimmering stars?

Did you travel to the edge of the land and look back upon the glimmering stars against the waterfalls?

Did you balance between a meadow and a waterfall?

Did you balance between a meadow and a waterfall, trying not to be distracted by the glimmering lights overhead?

I looked back from where I’d come.

I looked back from where I’d come. Such a long way. That may have been the point where I realised I had hieroglyphs painted on my golden (!) skin, a scarab around my neck, wings like a bird’s rather than a butterfly’s. And I thought of myself as a vessel carrying the past into the future. Carrying my story. Carrying all my stories. Carrying my friends and family, and being carried when I cannot carry myself.

Sometimes it seems like the hardest thing to reach for is hope.

And yet, like the golden-winged girl in that poem made by my personal magician, I think sometimes it is not so far away at all.

Hope Always Remains

What if, even in the darkest of lands, hope yet remains? What if the golden light of hope fills us, and our bodies, our souls, vessels that carry the past into the future, also carry hope?

Every life is a box.

Pandora’s box.

And every bit of hope is a star in the darkness, the mist of the water goddess, green shoots from the earth, ideas from the air.

It’s in every box. It’s in every life.

Far away from Blackmoor, on a cliff above the beach at White Owl…

Far away from Blackmoor, on a cliff above the beach at White Owl, there sits a harper made of stone. She plays hope. Her box, at the bottom, contained a little sliver of hope named Words, and Music. Other people have the same kind of sliver. Still others have slivers named Science. Other slivers are named differently, but everyone has at least one.

Hope. Like music in the night, like stars in the darkness, like a cure for cancer. It lives in every body. And in everybody.

Feed it.

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: Catwa Jessica
Ears: Soul, Uni High Elf Ears
Skin: Fallen Gods, Blessings of Isis
Eyebrows: The Skinnery, The Lyre Brows, 5
Hair: Analog Dog (natch), Epsilon (Available at the Fantasy Faire!)
Necklace: Musa, Seraph (Available at the Fantasy Faire!)
Dress: Poet’s Heart, Joy (Available at the Fantasy Faire!)
Shoes: Bliensen & Maitai, Dreki Anklet (Available at the Fantasy Faire!)
Setting: Blackmoor and (last photo) White Owl

Yes, the Second Life Fantasy Faire officially closed last night! But the sims are still up and will be for a few days! If you haven’t been already, go check them out now!

Thank you, everyone who works together to create and sustain the Second Life Relay for Life, and thank you, everyone who creates and sustains Fantasy Faire. The event itself is uplifting and inspiring, but nothing prepared me for the joyful and understanding and creative magicians I’d meet there. You are all stars in the darkness.

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I never explore the Fairelands without it!

Three Twisted Knots

Not all those who wander are lost.

Tag Archives: White Owl

Dancing Under the Lantern Tree

Threats

Just One Little Thing…

“Why So Blue, Mary Sue?”

A Dream of White Owl

Hope in Blackmoor