My request for links to bloggers writing about the Avilion regions, similar to the number of Caledon bloggers I’ve found, has met with a deafening silence. Even with the surge in visits I’ve enjoyed lately, no comments have been dropped pointing me in a direction. Nobody has come back to a request placed on the SL Bloggers Google Group, either; the same with a request in the Linden-run Forums. Short of dropping notecards on officers and members of the Avilion Order, I’m running out of ideas to find any.
This is curious to me. Knowing the tendency of Residents to wax free with opinions and general chatter in blogs, and seeing how much the Caledonians enjoy writing about their semi-immersive RP lands, I would think there would be more peopel chronicling their lives as lords, ladies, elves, and etc. in these fantasy-oriented realms. And, actually, the same may be said for those who reside in the Elven Hames, as I refer to them. Not one word have I discovered for that genre in all my tag surfing and link scanning.
Strange for groups wishing to live such lives. True, a good deal of the history of such genres was orally transmitted; but there were those who practiced the written form o f recording events all the way back to the cultures of the Fertile Crescent. We would know little of the Dark or Middle Ages, where sword-and-sorcery fantasies originate, if not for people who wrote this information down, leaving a permanent record for us today.
Where then, o lords and ladies, reside the Chroniclers of the Avilion Isles? Do they simply hide their talent beneath a bushel, or do any exist at all?
Avilion’s Blog is http://www.avilionorder.com
:) hope that is what you’re looking for
*S
Thanks much, but I was looking for more than just the Order’s site. As I said, I find it strange that more people aren’t writing about their Second Life in the Isles. If you know of any more blogs, please…!
I haven’t seen any real dedicated blogs or sites for a whole lot of anything but Fashion. There have been many sites that have written about Avilion, that can be found with just a simple search.
There is so much to do in our real lives, that I really don’t expect anyone to take time out of their leasure time to scribe the everday adventures of Avilion, since it is ongoing. It would take someone dedicated full time to do so. Maybe that’s why no one has take on the task.
*S
And yet I show 9 blogs devoted to Caledon, and surely more that I haven’t searched out. (Sigh) I may just have to live with it, I guess.
Caledon is… unique :)
We’re not really a set of roleplay sims, we’re a Neovictorian community. Roleplay is not required or enforced. We live love laugh … and talk about it all, a lot. :)
http://caerfyrddin.org/mostlycaledon.htm will give you quite a list of various sites that are Caledon related. Way more than nine bloggers out there :)
In my experience, hardcore inworld roleplayers don’t tend to blog much. They have more of a division between the world of the real and makebelieve. This is far more blurred in Caledon by and large - many people take their Neovictorianism to real life - or it is often the other way around - many folks in Caledon were steampunk and Victoriana fans in their real lives, long before they were in SL - and have rather taken their RL interest to SL instead. The VR environment simply makes it easier to “time travel” or create alternate histories and experience them with many more likeminded people in an immersive environment. I think this explains much of why Caledon is “different” from other roleplaying sims.
This is interesting, and makes much sense. Thank you kindly for the response. At the same time, I find it a little sad that all that history and potential for tales and songs is lost, locked in the adventure of the moment.
we actually have a library in Avilion that has all the stories, and though you don’t think the blog I gave you is of use. All those stories are kept up by one of our admins who inturn are handing it to the person running the blog.
Now, I did not say that. (If you feel I implied it, I apologize.) I simply think that the more the merrier; and any good historian looks for a diversity of viewpoint to fill in as many aspects as possible of an event.
I hope more Residents in Avilion will consider this, and start writing about their experiences. They might find it fun!
The Avilion Order is beginning to publish things on the site you already have. There is also a library in Avilion with stories and histories. I think most of us who are involved in Avilion would, if given the choice, go and role play rather than spending time writing about it. There is a photo blog by Nokithecat Writer that quite extensively covers events and residents of Avilion, and shows up on a google Avilion search.
As someone involved in Avilion role play, it is very hard to describe what is happening in a blog. It is also hard for someone not immersed in the community to understand some of the things that go on. Avilion has a history and structure that are part of the place. The interactions are often between the many non human species and someone would need to understand the characteristics each of the species in order to understand what is going on. If I blogged that I irritated one of the Drow (name) and she threatened to tear my wings off, most people would need a guide book to understand that I am a child fae, and there is an ongoing friction between the fae and the Drow, and the issue of fae wings is a significant part of this role play. I would also have to explain this relationship is toned down due to the history of Avilion, that in fact this was not a totally serious interaction. There is then the question “whats a Drow?” and “What’s a fae?” (In my case a small butterfly winged pixie.) Also writing a blog from inside a role play is hard. Someone playing a non human has a difficult time determining how much to write from the point of the character, which is how they experience the environment, and how much to try and step outside and lose some of the important things that make up the environment. A fae and a human have very different views of the world and you would have to understand the fae view to understand the fae blog. The role play component is strong enough in Avilion that it really doesn’t translate very well into a blog.
I have friends in both Caledon and Antiquity, and their societies are a mostly human period places, where stories are told of the adventures and events of the residents. Antiquity has pirates and sea battles, they have regattas, and balls. These are all events that along with role plays like pirate raids make good blog material. The events are accessible to people from their own experiences and movies, someone unfamiliar with the role play can relate to the kind of events and the time period where the events take place.
Londor
Harper - When I started my own blog I really wanted to find links to other Avilion blogs and I came up empty handed as well. As Lady S (sim owner) stated in her comment above, Avilion’s primary site is up and running with stories of the roles and their part in Avilion history. I’ve since added a lot of poetry and stories written by members of the Order to Avilionorder.com and am trying different ideas to encourage people to submit event reports to me and more accounts of daily life on Avilion. If you have any ideas, my pointy ears are ready to hear them!
Lady Londor has given an excellent explanation of why and how our role play doesn’t lend itself to blogging very well. I’m going to simplify further, because that is what I do (and because Londor is smarter than I am!). Role players may gather around the fire at the drum circle and begin to chatter. The chatter inspires more chatter. The players begin to weave a tale that is written on the spot and is fueled by the others gathered around the circle. Occasionally, a tale is just told You will find an example of that here, http://www.avilionorder.com/?p=73 where someone sent a copy of the chat log to me to post. There are times, when the role play is planned ahead of time to mark an event or to transition someone from one character to another. All of this writing is a sort of a “you had to be there” experience.
All of this lengthy explanation written, I still agree with you. Avilion is home to some of the most talented writers on the grid and I would like to see it’s residents show more of that talent to the “outside”. I can only start with myself. I have dedicated most of my blogging time to adding content to Avilionorder.com and have not spent much time writing about my own Avilion role play. The Double Entendre will not entirely focus on Avilion, but I can offer more of a glimpse of Avilion life than I do now. Maybe others will follow.
I’ve had my head in my own little blogging world and haven’t taken the time to look up and read. I apologize for making this comment a month late!
Lady Mandylia, no problem on the “lateness” of a comment; things are left open here for the most part. As for ideas to get people to write event reports, I would love to help you, but I’m having a time feeding this sucker right now (grin). As you, Lady Londor (who I did read, just to reassure her) and Lady Serenity state, Avilion may need to be more experienced than written about, at least to an extent. Still, I can’t help but feel that it is possible, with thought and the proper inspiration….