At first, I was
almost afraid to review this amazing display of SL talent, because there’s just
so much going on there. For that very same reason, I knew I had to. I will try
to my best to do it justice.
A giant metal woman springs from the water
logged Earth, kept upright by barbed wires wrapped tightly around her sternum,
and sank deep into the ground. I recommend spending some quality time here so
you don’t miss out on the details you may not notice at first.
There is a broken, exposed dome covered in tree roots, and
it in itself is worth a thorough traversing. There’s a fountain, seeming to
provide the water to this soggy landscape, and it’s face is that of a lion,
vomiting forth the water in which you stand.
A pair of open,
welcoming hands have a swing dangling from a caressing finger. All over the sim
you find these doors, like the one where you landed, that have a small piece of
a story about the Gray Child, an ominous creature who seems to take from,
control, and abuse the person telling the story. Well, here’s the person, to
tell her own story.
Interview with Storm Septimus
Inspiration, what inspired this beautiful display?
The words above were the inspiration for the sim. I have had
depression on and off for as long as I can remember, and I thought it would be
an interesting, if not very challenging, idea to try and make into a visual
physical display.
SS: I used the first line of the above bit of writing as you
enter the sim as it is I think it highlights the overriding feelings of
depression. Death was a strong choice as
it could be read in a few ways, obviously the suicidal way, but if read another
way depression can feel like a kind of death of its own. You do not function,
you are numb.
Have you done other works and displayed them here in SL,
if so, what, when, where?
SS: Oh god yes! I
adore making sims, though at the time it may not sound like I do to my friends with
all the terrible moods I go through. My first was a wasteland sim called “The
Last Stop,” which I kept open for quite a while! Usually my builds have a short
shelf life because I get the need to try something new. After I closed that I did my first LEA ,
which was called ‘The Void.’ That was a
very, very, dark build dealing with insomnia.
When ‘The Void’ closed, I had a bit of a break before making the last
place before ‘The Gray Child.’ That one was called ‘The Chamber Library,’ and
is one place I was so very proud of. It was beautiful, and actually useful, as
it contained hundreds of short stories from both classical writers, and the
residents of SL! It was hard to close
that as it was well loved, but I'm sure so many are singing the same tune when
I say the cost of keeping a sim is ridiculous now.
Who is the "Grey Child" and what causes its
failure to thrive?
SS: When writing my
little thing about my feelings, (there is more I just focused on for that
particular paragraph for the build,) I wanted to give my emotions a form, and
that came as a child. In my mind, there
were a whole series of children walking with me through life. Sometimes they
were hiding, or dragging behind , sometimes right beside you holding your hand,
so it just felt right. The ‘failure to
thrive’ part was oddly a completely separate thing to begin with. I was having
a hard time with the design, and lots of heated discussions with a friend about
how things were shaping up. He suggested
I try something different, and I begrudgingly did, claiming it was pointless, I
would fail at what he was suggesting, and it would never grow into anything. So
as a bit of a go fuck yourself, I named the sim ‘Failure to Thrive,’ knowing
next time he stopped in he would see it, and know how I felt. After a while I realized it was actually the
perfect thing to keep, because when dealing with depression you are in fact, in
a way, failing to thrive… emotionally. Thus it stayed :)
Anything you want to share with people seeing this
display, maybe certain things you're hoping people take away from the visual
experience?
SS: Oooh, that’s hard! (Laughs) I never really set out with a goal, in that
respect. I mean people make their own minds up about what something means, and
what they want to take from it. That, however, is one of the things I love in
doing these places is being able to see it through others’ eyes. I love reading
the blogs, and seeing all the pictures and videos… It’s amazing how many
different ways one thing can be seen.
Anything in the works? New projects you're a part of?
Events? etc?
SS: I think when the
sim closes I will have another of my possibly long breaks lol. I enjoy that
time with friends who have to put up with being on the sidelines for a while
whilst I'm busy. Luckily I have a good set of friends who know the drill and
support me. Also I need to WANT to do something new, I
completely suck when it’s a forced thing lol. Right now I can’t think of
anything I MUST do, so I'd say there’s nothing in the pipeline for a while.
I'm looking forward to making some additions for the holiday and holding a
masked Halloween party on sim.
Failure to Thrive [ The Gray Child ], LEA15
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