Anne Cloud – Organica & The Wilds

Updates to the shop & some product returns

Hi Folks!

It’s been a while since I wrote – things have been busy IRL both with work and a major home maintenance issue that I’ve only just finished with, so I’ve been struggling to get back to converting over as much as I can from the old gachapon avatars to mod/copy editions.

With that said, recent visitors will have noticed that the Fisheyes and Chimera cats are back, plus a whole second level of the shop has been opened up!

This had to take place simply because there are many products folks seem to be still interested in and I knew I would need a lot more space to house stock which were once gacha offerings.

With that in mind, many of the re-releases of these products will have a Bakes on Mesh component to make for easier usage and customization. The Fisheyes were among the easiest to convert over, and as of this morning, the Frog avatars are back as well!

As such, if you never got around to grabbing your favourite looks for either of these avatars, now is a great time to do so. Each avatar is offered as a two component purchase – 1) BoM body (with animation override, necessary alphas, shapes, etc) 2) BoM Skin.

Moving forward, any updates to these three product offerings will be handled automatically via the vendor system, so if you feel you need a redelivery (for example), just pop by, left-click the vendor you bought from, and click the appropriate buttons to get your items redelivered to you (or to check for an update).

If you had previously purchased any of these items, the automated exchanger will exchange your existing avatar for a fresh BoM version, but it would be wise to hold on to your old copyable non-BoM avatar body to run any further updates, as new packages will offer no way to interact with the exchanger.

I’m hoping to get back in the groove of making more things for SL in the near future – there are a handful of other avatars I would like to jump back in on and update, however these will be more involved and potentially require a complete rework from ground up. I’d also like to sit down and work on some more accessories, hair, and related content given the opportunity.

That’s all I have to report for the moment – Do you have any feedback or questions? Feel free to drop me a line via IM or comment here.

I hope you are all well. Take care!

Gachapon Vendor Sales Have Concluded

In compliance with Linden Lab policy regarding random play vendors, all gachapon vendors for both Organica and Wilds of Organica have been retired, as of 12AM September 1, 2021.

Automated exchangers will continue to operate and service both updates and permission change requests for the lifetime of the shop, so if you have any remaining transfer-only items to lock in to copyable, you should still be able to do so at the location identified in my Picks under ‘Gacha Exchange Policy’.

Thank you to all who have supported this aspect of Organica and Wilds of Organica’s product offerings.

Gachapon vending and related events allowed for a novel way to introduce full avatar content which I would normally not be able to on such a frequent basis, as well as providing exposure for niche products to a wider audience.

Moving forward, I’ll be assessing which items can be returned to normal sale (with or without some updates – various Bento and Bakes on Mesh updates are in consideration ) and which product offerings will be permanently retired.

Keep an eye on this blog for updates!

Recent Changes to Random Play Vendors & How it affects Organica & Wilds of Organica

As some of you may be aware, Linden Lab has recently put in place a new policy in which random play vendors will no longer be permitted use in Second Life. (link)

While the majority of both stores are non-gacha releases, it’s certainly true that participation in gachapon events made up a fair number of releases over the years.

With the presented deadline of August 31 closing in soon, I’ll be taking all of the gachapon vendors offline on August 31 to ensure compliance with the new policy.

Following this, most items will gradually return as generally purchasable items (with copy-perms) with some updates (this is a great opportunity to look in to options as far as offering avatars with Bakes on Mesh capability to help keep some costs to you low), but some will be completely retired.

About the updates and when they will happen

This will happen gradually and largely depend upon available space in the shop. There isn’t a lot of space currently and while I am considering expanding upward, maintaining a clear and usable shop layout is important to me.

Additionally, all of the potential updates I want to do, along with the repackaging and testing, are going to be time consuming.

Updates that largely do not require a complete redo will simply be made and offered as updates to existing product (IE: be loaded up in the updater/exchanger). Anything that requires a majority or complete redo from ground up will be offered as a new product. I have not firmly decided on which products (if any) will get this redo process, but if you have some thoughts please let me know. Customer interest will play a big part in which items get updated first.

As such, this month will be the last chance for you to pick up some of these avatars as is at the current low price of L$100. As always, any purchase of avatars from the Wilds of Organica can be exchanged from transfer-only to copyable using our automatic exchanger at the front of the shop.

All remaining gachapon vendors for Wilds of Organica are now located exclusively at the main store in Organica.

Wilds of Organica at Fantasy Faire 2021!

Hi Folks!

Fantasy Faire is rolling around again and Wilds of Organica will take part from Featherfall!

This year, I’ll be introducing a new Tiny Body, the WoO Chibi Body!

This diminutive character body is based upon the default SL armature and system shape, but can be used for both feminine and masculine presentation. As offered currently, the avatar comes with both a feminine and masculine skin, basic clothing and hair, eyes, and a basic AO (though as a biped, some other third party animation overriders may also work!)

It’s offered as a BoM wearable, so you can wear skins, eyes, system clothing, and Universal assets which are intended for the Chibi Body! Looking forward, additional skins and clothing will be made available, and UV layouts are available for interested content creators upon request. Purchase includes lifetime updates as they become available.

100% of proceeds from its sale will go to the American Cancer Society for the duration of Fantasy Faire!

Full details can be found on the main info page .

Fantasy Faire begins at NOON April 22 and ends on May 9 and this is a great chance to pick up some of the other Wilds of Organica RFL exclusives too. See you there!

New Trees, Home, and Tropical Plants

Lakeview House, unfurnished. 61 land impact, mod, copy, no transfer, w/ copy only scripts.

A recent move to mainland with an oceanside view prompted this build. It’s strange how, after almost fourteen years in SL, I continue to hold on to mainland, but I do mainly because it often presents localized situations which demand creativity and localized solutions. In this case, I found space I enjoy but which is not terribly expansive, and also found I didn’t really have anything that fit the locale or size of the parcel.

So this is the result – The Lakeview house has a 17 by 15m footprint, so it should fit on most common 512 or 1024sqm parcels. It features two floors connected by stairway and allows for great views from front or back, with access to patio and balconies from both sides.

Mod, copy, no transfer with some copy-only scripts. Come see this in-world, here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Organica/152/208/28

Ficus Elastica (ruby & plain variegated). 1 land impact, with or without pot. Mod, copy, no transfer.

Vendor graphic: Ficus Elastica (green & burgundy). 1 land impact, with or without pot. Mod, copy, no transfer.

These two releases are great additions to indoor and outdoor gardening situations. Each include a variation on the original texture and come both with and without planter. Each tree is 1 LI at packaged size and offered mod, copy, no transfer.

Come see these in-world, here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Organica/121/61/29

Nikau Palm Trees 1 – Animesh Tree Product. Sways with real region wind. 23 LI, mod, copy, no transfer with copy-only script.

It’s been a long while since I produced palm trees – there were a couple of releases back in the sculptie days and I made some others which I never released publicly. In light of recent developments with Animesh, as well as the fact that I haven’t offered palm trees for years, I felt it was a good time to spend some time on some.

With the help of scripting from NeoBokrug Elytis, these trees make use of animations and region-side wind vectors to move realistically and in direct reaction to current wind conditions (the strength of these movements can be adjusted or turned off entirely – They can also be set to animate in a specific direction if you wish.

Please note: As an Animesh product, this tree is *not resizable*. This cluster of trees is indivisible – IE: you will not able to detach a single tree from the rest. Modify permissions will otherwise allow you to edit any other aspect of the model, at your risk.

Come see these in-world, here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Organica/17/218/23

All of the above releases are also available on Marketplace, here: ( Lakeview House ) ( Ficus Elastica – Green & Burgundy ) ( Ficus Elastica – Ruby & Variegated ) ( Nikau Palm Trees 1 )

Organica New Landscaping Releases

This batch of releases includes three new products fundamental to landscaping for small and large parcels.

It’s been a while since I added to the pure landscaping side of things, so I figured I would get a whole bunch put together this time around!

All of these releases are scripted for texture change, but all include non-scripted versions for those who are script-conscious.

Let’s get in to it!

Organica last released a selection of rocks many years ago, and while those have done well, folks have been asking for a bit more variety and resilience for use in multiple environments.

This pack includes four different textures (plain, green moss, fall moss, and snowy) for three different rock shapes. Each are available both as non-scripted, separate items, or lightly scripted for texture change, and are 1 LI at packaged size.

Prior to moving the store back down to ground level in 2018, all existing Floating Island sets had been retired. It wasn’t until recently that folks seeking out these older products encouraged me to work on some updated ones for general use.

Please note: This product is specifically designed for display at sizes 10m by 10m by 10m or larger – as such, they are optimized for this purpose. While they can be sized as small as you like, the land-impact for this item at smaller sizes will not be as low as a rock product that was specifically built for use at smaller sizes.

Four textures are available for this mesh item, both separately as well as scripted. 18LI each at packaged size (~18m cubed).

These low-poly rock formations are great for off-region or mountainside use. In Organica region, you’ll see them as both, making use of vertical planes to add variety to a flat horizon or to interrupt the smooth slopes of regional terrain.

Available as separate, unscripted items OR with scripted texture change – Textures can be switched between snowy, plain, bright and dark moss. LI ranges from 35-45 at packaged size (~64m cubed).

All three of these products are now available for in-store viewing and purchase, as well as on Marketplace. ( Rocks , Islands , Granite )

Organica New Releases – June 2020

Having moved to my current home in late 2018, I have since been thinking of ways in which I could better make my back yard work for my needs. As I may have discussed in the past, having a yard was pretty important to me because I needed space to develop my bonsai hobby and be comfortable in my container gardening in general.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about DIY alternatives to buying greenhouses, and making such a design work within my available funds and space. I’m not sure that I would be able to start on such a project right away if I did have the money, but I’ve been finding it helpful to plan things out and figure out the pricing ahead of time.

This greenhouse came out of that line of development. It’s probably not the solution I will end up with if I do move ahead, but I’m happy that I was still able to come up with a solution *someone* might be able to work with. (Plus I can *make* it work for my situation in-world too, right? 😉 )

Anyhow, this package includes a version of the same greenhouse oriented such that the door is on one or the other side, making placement a bit more flexible.

Of note: Because of the semi-transparent plastic texture, I recommend that any plants placed inside or adjacent to this building have their textures switched from Alpha Blending to Alpha Masking, so as to avoid alpha texture laying issues (where one texture sometimes appears to supercede others in front of it).

Both houses are 10LI and mod/copy, with a copy-only door script, which can be removed if need be.

These watering cans are unscripted props that are great, simple additions to your garden. Four colours available, 1 LI each, mod/copy.

Organica has had field-type ferns for a while – I was out in my garden the other day and realized it would be helpful to have some that grew more in clusters or were more suitable for container plantings.

These come with three plant shapes (young, growing, mature), where the fronds can be found in a variety of growth periods to best fit what you want to place them with. I’ve also accessorized with a hanging and standing planter, but they would do fine planted in the ground or in a raised bed as well, for example.

All pieces run from 1-2 LI each at packaged size.

All of these releases are available in-store now!

Specifically, the ferns and watering cans can be found here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Organica/109/60/29

and the greenhouses can be found here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Organica/78/52/29

All three products are also now available up on my Marketplace listing, here.

Wilds of Organica at SL17B Hop & Shop!

Hey folks!

Quick update – Wilds of Organica is on-site at the SL17B Hop and Shop running now thru July 12!

All products there are 20% off and you can pick up the new Octopus Hat there too, also at a discount!

Pop on over and have some fun both at the Hop & Shop and SL17B proper!

WoO is located on Golden region, here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/23/159/52

You can also visit the SL17B regions by searching for ‘SL17B’ on the World Map.

A number of new releases are coming up this week from Organica as well, so keep your eyes open for a notice if you’re on the subscription list!

What’s in a name?

It’s been a while since I first chose a name to pair with my last name in SL. As of July 22, I’ll have been in SL for fourteen years (pardon me as my heart crumbles to dust and I emit a haunted internal scream).

And while I can say that not all of that time was spent working full-time here, there has never been any extended period of time during which I deliberately took a break away from the platform.

I also don’t see that changing much in the future, although of course working situations change all the time.

What I *will* say is that, while I’ve always been very attached to my account and the things I have made with it, I’ve grown apart from the name.

When I joined SL, the Final Fantasy movie had come out five years before. It was in no good sense of the term anything resembling Final Fantasy, but at the time I thought it was cool for what it was. I was an anime nerd, had just been accepted to art school, joined having heard of the platform via a tech writer I followed at the time.

Does anyone approach Second Life knowing the name they want the first time around? Back then, with no such thing as display names and a narrow selection of family names to choose from, I went with a last name that sounded cool and was relevant to my interests at the time. And why choose a Japanese last name if I didn’t use a Japanese first name? So of course the FF movie was on my brain when I chose Aki, and that’s where Aki Shichiroji comes from. (Side-eye acknowledged here – I’ll touch on this later).

I signed up, I spent the first 24hrs attaching plywood boxes to my head, trying on all the free hair and clothing I could get my hands on, accidentally stumbled on to one of Astrin Few’s weekly performances in Clementina, hung out with a group of folks in Club Pyramid in Thams… and by the end of the week I was hooked.

Easy access (both technologically and personally) to other creative people? Hang out in clubs designed in any way imaginable? Build my very own TARDIS? (I later learned a great many colleagues also chose this as their First Thing to make in SL) What’s not to love?

Years later, I’ve graduated from art school, moved away from home, created content for various dev companies and other clients as well as built my own brands in SL. I’m still happy with how things are going and am likely to continue for quite some time to come.

But what I’ve been unhappy with for a while has been my account name.

For starters, as someone who is not Japanese, it’s felt appropriative for a while. Secondly, though, I’ve wanted to feel more of a connection to my main account than I actually have now. Rather than just feeling like this is just an account where I make and sell things from, I’d prefer that it feel like an extension of my daily experience and personality.

The me behind the keyboard *now* is also a lot different from the me behind the keyboard *then*. I still watch anime now and then, but I’m not attached to it. There are parts of Japanese culture which still interest me, but I would never now claim that I have any right to a name from that culture. I’m also growing to understand what it means to be part of my own culture as a Chinese-Canadian.

So… name changes.

I had been thinking about changing my account name for a while. The original offer LL had on hand before their announcement this year was going to be too expensive, so I compromised by changing my display name to my RL initials.

Then LL made their name change announcement and I was quick to say it was too expensive because that’s how it felt. But more recently I saw they included the last name ‘Cloud’ and figured I would pull the trigger.

The $40 is a one time thing, and my account has been premium for a while anyway.

My new account name, Anne Cloud, is not really all too far off from the truth. My Chinese given name (安雯) roughly translates to safe/secure/quiet/calm cloud, and my middle name is Anne, so it’s a good fit.

TL;DR: Aki Shichiroji is no more. I’ve changed my account name to Anne Cloud. This change should be reflected in-world and on MP within the next twenty-four hours. I’ll hold on to @akishichiroji on Plurk, Twitter, and Instagram, but display names will be updated where necessary.

Also, please feel free to continue calling me Aki. or FC. or Anne. This has mainly been a change to edify my personal wellbeing and encourage better engagement with my own experience in-world. I just figured I would post about the change and why I made it.

New Giant Ghost Crabs at Fantasy Faire!

Greetings Dear Readers!

I hope things have been going well and you are all safe & sound – My thoughts are with you all!

Today, I’d like to announce this new release through Wilds of Organica for Fantasy Faire, which I’ve been working on with NeoBokrug Elytis of Desolate Studios!

This new critter is both a wanderer and a mount. If rezzed on land, you can set it to explore a given range and it will move around & animate at random.

If worn, it will play animations for both itself and you as the rider.

Currently, 8 versions are available, plus two RFL exclusive releases!

These are premiering at WoO’s shop in Cassiopeia for the duration of Fantasy Faire, after which they will be available at the main store.

Try a working demo and explore the Fairelands here!

Fantasy Faire runs right now thru May 10! Check out their website for full details, ongoing events, shopping guides and more!

On a personal note (as it applies to Organica & Wilds of Organica), I’ve been quite occupied with a work project for the past 8 months, which has led to a relative lack of updates here.

Starting this week I will finally have some time to work on personal projects (and by extension O & WoO). I am hoping to revamp some of the older tutorial videos with a focus on Blender 2.8 & Blender Avastar 2.8 update (which is in development and will be released soon).

To these ends, if there are particular shortfalls of my existing material and/or you’d like to see some other topic covered, please let me know! I am working on some content already behind the scenes, so hopefully I can share that with you soon!