Interview: The Little Mermaid @ Enchantment

I am officially enchanted! Today, I had the great opportunity to have a little talk with two adorable and well-known ladies: Sorchiee, and Duchess Flux. They are currently setting up their upcoming event Enchantment with its theme „The Little Mermaid“. It will run from August 14th until September 4th, 2015. 

„When we came up with our theme, it was, of course, as suprising as funny for us to notice that other events had similar themes as well. But at the same time, it seems very understandable for July and August to create a theme around and under water“, they tell. „What differs our theme from the other events is, that we didn’t choose a general approach to a mermaid theme but the fairytale of The Little Mermaid. It matches also our event concept: Enchantment is a Second Life Shopping event, that is focused around fairytales.“

The Enchantment bosses are all excited and have started with a few little events around the upcoming "The Little Mermaid" theme round already. 
- picture shown with kind permission of Duchess Flux -

Enchantment has been around before already, four times a year, but with another concept which was originally created by Voshie Paine. Voshie brought us the „Hop-Around“ and the Stamp Machine which was much fun because we got to see all the mainstores and were hunting for those stamps on the cards. But the event became too much for Voshie. She was going to close Enchantment down. Duchess and Sorchiee wouldn’t want to accept that. And we are glad they didn’t, and that Voshie – still supporting as team member - allowed them to take over. „All our incredible designers were handpicked by the two of us. We strive to offer the best of the best“, they explain, and the line-up on their official homepage approves it: FDD Stories, Alegria, Dead Dollz, !gO!, Lumae, Pure Poison, just to name a very few at this point. While most of the designers are taking specific choices on The Little Mermaid, some designers like The Plastik, Aisling or Azoury are taking a more artistic route in interpreting the fairytale. „And we love it!“, they claim.

The rezzing-friendly, fantasy-inspired sims Ippos, Pegasoi and Nymphai have many nice corners to explore under their forestal cover

The artistic route does certainly not come out of the blue. The three sims Ippos, Pegasoi and Nymphai, where such events like Enchantment, Totally Top Shelf, The Secret Affair are located – as well as The Fantasy Collective on a neighbour sim – are home to many creative minds. Various creators & designers from fashion to decoration to poses and more, photographers, bloggers, event managers, roleplayers and all in-between are living here next door to each other. It allows to offer a place with a huge exchange of ideas. „All three sims are fantasy inspired and built by our sim designer Divine Paine. They were created with photographers and bloggers in mind. That’s also the reason why they are rezz-friendly. We want them to be able to take the pictures they want. But our Ippos Community is not just a place to take pictures. When we started to rent out, we wanted to have an environment where people feel equal, safe, and where they can contribute to a big community of like-minded people.“

It looks all so calm and quiet but don't be fooled ... 

But with all those on-going events, didn’t it become all about competition for everyone? „We have indeed various events on the sims with different influences from roleplay worlds such as Elves, Gor, or Sci-Fi. But with all those varying backgrounds, we are not competitive at all. We really complement each other. Everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand. It makes our Ippos Community something really special.“ 

Ippos, by the way, is one of the first sims to be released by Linden Lab. One day, Pegasoi popped up somewhat out of nowhere and they took their chance to purchase it. When more new events started and people asked them to host their events nearby, it inspired them to buy the third: „Though our sims are residential and commercial, Nymphai is our first totally commercial sim with stores from Figment, Rowenwood, Ravenshot Interiors, Mer-Chandise Cove, and more.“ Is there anything else they have in mind but business, you might now wonder? Oh yes, they have! They always try to bring more inspiration to the grid and the fantasy roleplay community. Just recently, a lot of bloggers and photographers from the Ippos Community gathered to contribute to a big story called „Defenders of Ippos“ where they presented not just their prefered fantasy fashion but gave an insight in their virtual adventures.

... these are not sweet little waves chopping around archaic stones. These are racing vortexes!

Their adventures and sims are also source of inspiration for their event themes. And what was the inspiration for the „The Little Mermaid“ theme of this round of Enchantment? „That film is one of our favourites!“ – As unexpected as this may sound, film is and can be art, too. And Enchantment is into many arts: „We have also other events going on during Enchantment. We have an art opening from The Last Unicorn Gallery. We have a Movie night. We have also our own Little Mermaid show at Lady Garden Cabaret on August 22nd.“ 

The whole event location design have been set up by sim designer Divine Paine

Then I have to step quickly aside. „The art behind you is being set up for the event“, the ladies explain griningly. And I realize that I have talked to them for about nearly an hour already. Time to stop to pester them with more questions because they have only a few days left to finish the setup. And while we are unpatiently waiting for the event to open its doors, the three sims invite you to be explored. Trust me: you’ll be officially enchanted as well!

LINKS & SURLS

>> Official Homepage of Enchantment <<

>> Flickr Picture Stream of Enchantment <<
>> Flickr Picture Stream of Ippos, Pegasoi & Nymphai <<

>> Ippos <<   >> Pegasoi <<   >> Nymphai <<