This morning I was collecting vintage 2009 pix of my interview with Honey Puddles to resurrect here at KateNova.uk. I logged into SL to look up some info. Of course I TP’d to The Pink Institute and plopped my pixels down in a glorious pink & gold Baroque Roche Chair by Precious Restless. After a while an IM came in: [07:37] Valarie Thor: hey there – lovely look today – hope your weekend is treating you well so far. We had a nice conversation. Then I finally decided to look up from my self-absorption and see who I was talking to…After I finished drooling, I picked my butt, and the rest of my pixels, up off the chair and sauntered over to where Valarie was standing.Valarie has a shop, Appliers by Valarie, “ABV”. She has this cool process combining BOM + Appliers. The outfit (current prototype) you see her wearing is all BOM. But then she adds SL Materials effects with an Applier and BOM-BAM-WOW! Besides looking awesome, what I love about this is that she’s able to make something beautiful without having to go to “Overseas Manufacturing” in Blender or Maya. If you aren’t already a 3D modeler I think it takes about a full-time year to get up to speed on modeling, texturing, rigging, etc etc. Mesh has taken SL creation and apparel to a new level. But the cost is that instead of everybody being a maker, now only a skilled few are. That Valarie can make something contemporary and awesome with only SL+Photoshop is so cool. And the results! Hang on while a get a towel to wipe up the drool.Not that I noticed, because I totally did not, but Valarie has the perfect lips.Valarie and I had a nice conversation about her work and SL generations and whatever else. After we parted I went home and what should be waiting on my doorstep but a package from Appliers by Valarie! What could be inside??? I had to fight off the cats to grab Valarie’s package and take it in the house. I can’t wait to see what’s in the box! You will have to wait till tomorrow!
Valarie Thor
Owner / Creator @ Appliers By Valarie, specializing in materials-enabled latex/rubber clothing.
Chances are, I’m wearing something shiny, if my clothes look bland and dull, check your graphics settings 🙂
Also, if I don’t respond to your IM, I’m probably AFK, or working on the other monitor / window, etc. Additionally, I’m generally friendly and happy to talk, etc.… please see picks ♥
Retired latex model. Flirt, tease & friend without benefits. Say “Hello!” I won’t bite! (not even if you want me to) Over the years so many “SL Killers” have come & gone: Cloud Party, Blue Mars, InWorldz, Sansar, HiFidelity, and more. Mostly gone now. Zuckerberg’s “Metaverse” is in trouble. Meanwhile, SL keeps pressing on. Even so, don’t take it for granted. SL could die, or changes to SL, or changes in your life, could cause this beautiful dream to end. Even if the dream does continue, beloved characters might exit the stage. Savor every moment.
I’ve worn many hats and tried on many identities as an avatar. I’ve been young and I’ve been old. Skinny and full-figured. Black and white. And red and green. A cheerleader and a derby girl. A barista and a host. I’ve seen so much love and beauty, so much desire, so much hunger for love and connection in the virtual world. I’ve seen that hunger and need expressed in unhelpful and destructive ways. Ways that can make living in this world as frustrating as living in the first life we came from. I’m touched by the tiny acts of kindness that surround us every day. If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere.
I was the facilities manager at Medici University. Currently semi-retired. Leisurely strolling the SL grid. A little salsa dancing. A little salsa & chips. Maybe looking for a new job, who knows?
I’m an Urbanist! I’m into bikes, transit, and walkable cities. I’ll walk instead of TP if I can. Is that possible in SL? Not entirely! Ban lines, security orbs, curtain walls & “fake” sculpted land that traps you between it and the actual ground all make it hard. But I try! If I can walk I will. I blog about my adventures on the railway systems of SL. Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities is a bible for me. I try to live my avatar life consistent with her ideas.
I love Guest books! It’s so great that you can wander by someone’s small, cozy parcel and leave a little note that you were there. And read notes from others who have made this similar discovery at some earlier time. I love SL memorials and cemeteries. They’re bittersweet to be sure. But a world that appreciates lives lost, also appreciates lives being lived. It’s an incredible virtual world!
Retired latex model. Flirt, tease & friend without benefits. Say “Hello!” I won’t bite! (not even if you want me to) Over the years so many “SL Killers” have come & gone: Cloud Party, Blue Mars, InWorldz, Sansar, HiFidelity, and more. Mostly gone now. Zuckerberg’s “Metaverse” is in trouble. Meanwhile, SL keeps pressing on. Even so, don’t take it for granted. SL could die, or changes to SL, or changes in your life, could cause this beautiful dream to end. Even if the dream does continue, beloved characters might exit the stage. Savor every moment.
I’m a VR Raver! A Big Girl in the virtual world Second Life (SL). Lover of EDM, Deep House, Afro, Funky, Tech, Reggae, Ambient & Underground. I love the diversity of SL! In SL I discovered my love for an avatar body filled with endless curves. The Physical World (PW) can be so complicated. In VR I just live my life. A journey discovering who I am, how I like to be, dress, and live in this world.
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