Halloween in Bellisseria

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

So what's the Linden Home continent, Bellisseria, offering for Halloween? As these homes aren't as modifyable as places on the mainland, some might thing not very much. But actually there is. The Lindens have a fun game going on. Plus there are a couple fun places to see.

A few days ago, we reported on the "Great Trick or Treat Event," which was about to take place. Taking a peek the first night, I went ahead and grabbed a HUD for the trick or treating. As I was in the Belliserian community group, I didn't have long to wait to find to place as homeowners were letting people know their place had a pumpkin and giving a SURL. 

Some places had decked out their homes for Halloween as well. One had a mockup of the Belliserian Slenderman, and the homeowner was nearby a chainsaw, which encouraged me to make a quick retreat after getting the candy. But not everything went as planned. Sometimes I'd end up inside the house  Another thing that went wrong from the sound of Belliserian group chatter was some homeowners didn't deactivate their security systems, which they weren't supposed to have to begin with. The result was a number of trick or treaters getting thrown out, getting a trick instead of a treat.

Despite the mishaps, some people were racking up some good candy scores. Already I've heard of a few claiming to have gotten over a hundred, so the competition for the ten "deady bears" is intense. But others are just going about at their own pace. One guy commented the Trick or Treat event was giving him the opportunity to explore the Linden Home continent and what it offered.

Besides the Trick or Treat going on, the Haunted Neighborhood from last year is back in the Millbank sim. The place is just as creepy as I remember it. One thing I forgot to mention last year was the haunted balloon tour. Just grab the red balloon and hang on as it takes you for a spin around the creepy neighborhood while taunting you, "Two paths diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one where people die... BAHAHAHAAH!!!" But eventually you land, "Darn... another survivor. This is going to ruin my 1 star Uber rating."

Picking up the flashlight from the table is recommended as it gives you a little light to see, and there are plenty of creepy and goulish sights from one house with a carnivorous plant making sickening slurping sounds, another with a creepy doll collection, a house that outright explodes with the sounds of people screaming, and more. 

Some people were traveling in groups, possibly for security. Though one group I encountered while exploring didn't appreciate the "creepy fox" around. I should note that sometimes lag will cause people to slow down a little, especially when there's a lot of people at the sim, which can make things a bit nerve wracking when you're trying to leave a place that really gave you the willies.

Oh, and you can now get a Bellisseria stamp here.

 Millbank (217/38/23).

At the Bellisseria Fairgrounds, "Hammieween II" is taking place. Advertised as being "presented by the Bellisseria Animal Sanctuary," with two hamsters in costume on the event advertisement, this place is less scary, and more spooky fun than your run of the mill Halloween happening.

Hammieween takes place in a skybox well above Bellisseria Fairgrounds. It starts off as a walk through a spooky trail, then leads to a party area made up of stones and slimy spaces, with a DJ booth with coffin-shaped speakers. There's also a haunted house that looks abandoned with much of the place crumbling and a ghost in the bathroom. But the black cat in one place suggests maybe someone's been coming by.

 Bellisseria Fairgrounds (163/208/617). 

Before wrapping things up like an Egyptian mummy, when checking the map over Bellisseria, I happened to notice an orange spot on the map. When going online and heading over, it turned out to be one homeowner trying to be The Great Pumpkin. 

That's it for now from the Linden Home continent. If you have any trick or treating tales, or any other Halloween story, feel free to write a reader submission about it. For now, Happy Halloween, in Second Life and real life.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Caledon Llyr Holds Closing Party

By Bixyl Shuftan

Caledon is a community and place familiar to many longtime residents, especially fans of steampunk. The place has a number of sims, over two dozen. But the land area used to be much larger. Much like Second Life in general it has gotten smaller over the years. Earlier this year, the Middlesea sim was closed down. While I heard whispers last week that another sim would be next, I didn't get a name until Saturday: Caledon Llyr. Located on the eastern edge of the estates, it was mainly a large island with a smaller island in the southwest corner and a ship off it's northern coast, water separating it from the adjacent three sims.

It turned out that the sim wouldn't exactly be vanishing but replaced. "It will be renamed, and have a new owner." I would be told later. But it still meant the old land would soon be fading away, "The sim is staying but the name is changing."

The place was permanently at Midnight, and had a spooky air to it with it's misty woods with wolf howls. Where there wasn't woods, there was often tall rocky mountains. The sim had the following description: A wild and magical land on the western border of Caledon; an explorer's last stop before sailing off into the sunset and the open sea, and (if the rumours are true) home to the infamous Black Moon Marauders. Sightings of fae are not uncommon here.

On the night of Saturday August 11, I was told by Cynthia Farshore that Caledon was having a farewell event for Caledon Llyr. But as it turned out, the sim was at full capacity when I got there, so I could only observe from a distance.

 I could zoom in and take a few pictures, though. So I did.

Later on, Cynthia would message me that a few people had left. So I tried again.

And this time I would make it over finally.

There were quite a variety of avatars present at the final salute to the sim.

Andrea Jones was there, sporting her firey avatar from the Burnstock.

Desmon Shang, Caledon's leader or "Guvnah" was also present.

People were of course sad that the place would soon be gone, but took it in stride, one saying, "All good things come to an end.  Maybe a good thing will spring up somewhere else." Tao Mistwalker whom was involved with the sim, responded, "Balance is always maintained. And sometimes things have to come to an end so that they can truly begin."

Jan Stroikavskoi spoke, "My way of saying I'm sad too. Llyr has been my second home since it first started up and it has always offered shelter to those passing through. Sig and I were married here too. ... it doesn't matter who has more.. it's the effect a place leaves us with."

In one of the adjacent sims, a building's owner would hang up a sign in support.

Conversation turned back and forth from jokes, to shopping, to attempts at pirate tales, to the sim being replaced by a new land, "From Des's point of view, it's stayin'. From ours, it's disappearin' and bein' replaced by a new sim." "The new owner will probably e making changes, though. Ya think?" "Well as I said when I first heard about it, everything eventually changes...it's a hard truth."

Eventually, more and more would start to leave. Tao would say, "Llyr has become an incredibly special place over the years. But as I said, that's because of all of you."

And so, Caledon had bade farewell to one of it's lands. Though as the space itself would not be going away, perhaps something special would arise in it's place.

Bixyl Shuftan