Summbitch, they're threatening me!

Ok, sooo... I'm Jupiter, otherwise known as the one who ignores blogs and loses herself in her own head a lot of the time. Yes, yes, I get it. Post, Jupi. Or Eisie will.

I'm posting! See? Now, you can't! Heee!

I'm what you might call... twisted. I like bloody, weird, gore-filled. Anything that makes me shudder is a good thing. I also like to laugh and I adore anything abstract and against the normal. I'm not normal, so I wind up making things against the norm. Normal is boring, people! Give me weird, any day.

So, I fell down the rabbit hole (to borrow Eisie's term) a bit over three years ago. Yes, three years! Just a few days older than our own sohma, even... and without the long hiatus.

I was getting bored with SL. I was uninspired and without any sort of focus. Secondlife had become a place to just hang out with friends and lament the loss of focus. Then, one bright and shining day, sohma came back to SL! I was ecstatic, but didn't tell her. Don't wanna inflate the ol' ego, right? ha!

sohma came in with such a passion for learning how to build. That is damned contagious, let me tell you! Her passion for building started to spark my own. Soon enough, I was creating things again! Sure, most of it wound up being things for various hunts and not for sale, but it was definitely a start!

One day, I logged in and immmediately got a request to join a few friends (including sohma and Eisie) at the Wastelands to find some tree. Okey dokey, tree hunting! Sounded like a plan, right? Everyone loves a good tree.

While we were there talking on voice, Eisie started giggling. The rest of us went all Scooby Doo... "Errrr? Rut's rat, Raggy?" She pointed out the typo in the land's name. Of course, given we're all smartasses... some by nature, some though coaching... I said, "Beware the Wastlenads!" Of course, there were a few other comments about it before Eisie messaged the sim owner.

Annnnd, thus... the Wastlenads were born... or something.

We've all been nudging each other on in building, creating... not losing focus. Losing focus is a rought one for us. We tend to get distracted by shiny stuff a lot. heh

So, that's it, in a small nutshell. I'm weird and goofy... sarcastic and easily amused sometimes. I like creepy stuff and things that freak out most people... and I get to make things to reflect all of that. It's a nice gig, really.

I own a store in Secondlife called Absentia. It's on Absentia island. Convenient, no? C'mon down and visit sometime! =o)

Yes, Even Typos Can Inspire!!

Indeed, as sohma has explained below, the name Wastlenads emerged from an OCD moment that I had. Now the typo didn’t bother me, it more amused me, like “did they do that on purpose? To see if we were paying attention?” I am blessed and cursed with the gift of observation sometimes…

As can happen in SL, the typo itself and the inquiry as to why it was there took on a life of itself. Yes, we now have a gesture (that makes it official? Right?) And yes, I had to IM the sim owner and poke at him a little (I am a sister-in-snark after all). But mostly, it coalesced an idea that had been bouncing around between several of us for a while. And I find it appropriate and poetic that it began in the Wastelands sim, Bloodmoss Swamp, where I went hunting for a particular type of tree…

SL is a funny place. Many people say that two years is the cut-off point for many residents in SL - boredom sets in, many move on to other "games" and platforms. I felt I was hitting that point, disappointed that I wasn't feeling the inspiration to do more creative challenges in-world. SL is an interesting social platform, but it has this amazing creative side that I'm not sure enough people are experiencing for themselves. Because of the platform’s structure (remember, repeat after me - it’s NOT a GAME), pursuing creativity often depends upon a collaborative effort. In other words, if you ain’t got friends and ain’t talking about how to make and break stuff, you're only going to get so far in here. Curse you, Linden Labs, curse you for forcing us to interact!

So, I was facing my own SL wasteland, when sohma showed back up on the scene, raring to go with the creative stuff. After so much primmage and idea generation, a group like the Wastlenads was inevitable. Make sure you read our little mission statement in the sidebar. We aren’t going to go all Masonic on y’all, but we do have our own gesture, and we are working on a metaphorical tree-house fort (or clubhouse, not sure what yet). Yes, we are dorks, and no, that is not a bad thing.

I’ve arrogantly given myself the title “Wastlenad Wrangler,” I guess it means I’m a loose organizer of tangled threads. In-world I’ve been heavily involved with arranging, playing with and managing the sims of Absentia and Pirate Point Break, and I also design pirate-themed jewelry in an alt for AZE Designs. Now I’ve taken on this little party, but I’m excited! I want to push the envelope, I want to see what else we can do, I want to take creativity in SL to that next place. Stay tuned…!

Pokes Jupiter Vale, come on! Write something or (deep threatening voice) I will!

Hey Y'all, meet Stabby!

Yup, to our left is Stabby, the Wastlenads' mascot, inhabitant of the main building platform, and apparently sohma's molotov cocktail target - poor Stabby (he'll get his revenge). BTW, he's available at Grim Bros. and all proceeds benefit Nothing but Nets charity - go check it out!

More to follow, I just thought all of you should meet Stabby first!

In the beginging...

l-r, sohma Dix, Jupiter Vale, Eisie Etchegaray, Shinra Paine

The Wastlenads started as a joke. A very funny joke that I am sure you just had to be there to get. See, I am prone to walking around The Wastelands and just daydreaming and admiring how wonderful that community of people grew from one sim to many and kept in theme. I really like t hings that look old and forgotton and wrought with time yet still hold onto some semblance of who create and strong humanity can possibly be.

And yes, I also love to play Fallout with my boyfriend.

So I was a wondering around The Wastelands and looking at one of their newer sims built with Gutterblood Spoonhammer when my pals IM'ed me and asked where I was and what I was doing. They know my affection for wandering those parts and two had been there earlier in the day admiring the trees, so they all decided to map me and see what I was gazing at. That is when good ol' Eisie's OCD kicks in and she notices that Wastelands is spelled Wastlenads. Being in the typical Jupiter and sohma (yes, it is a lower case S) fashion, we start making up things about wastelnads and even making up songs. Eisie writes the owner of the land and politely informs him of his spelling mistake and says she hopes his genitals are okay.

Days go on and we keep saying the word such it is a very fun word to say, to the point we make actions with the word and us cheering. I have just recently seriously started to learn how to build which has re-invigorated my friends in wanting to build more. Also due to my wandering nature, I just happen to stumble upon some amazing builds, clothing, and environments. Being an artist, i am drawn to something wonderfully built in not the typical cookie cutter fashion. My friends having a penchant for weird (well, they deal with me and are kindd off in their heads as well), know of so many people/places/things as well.

we turned a typo into a group about creating, causing inspiration to each other, and valuing creative and well done endeavors of others. the four of us have group outings and weekly challenges to keep us going which we'll update with as often as we remember. 3 out of four of us have stores while the fourth will buy anything amazing under the sun and make outrageous outfits.

and Jupi was supposed to be wearing a skirt in the pic... but she she's not. just wante dto let you know.
now i gotta go talk the other girls into introducing themselves and then i'll get around to it! ha!