By Bixyl Shuftan
Party of our journey in Second Life is the people we meet and the friendships we make. Some have just a fleeting presence. And then there are those who you never forget. One of my closer friends here was Alleara Snoodle.
She had first logged on in July 2008. It's hard to say exactly when we first started chatting. When I first started going to Club Cutlass around 2009 (when it was in it's 'Aztec pyramid' design), we probably just saw one another at a distance as I wasn't very talkative at the time. But one night I lingered a little after the party ended and most left. I was probably going through some notes to write a story for Dana when a white Felis kitty with red hair, dancing on a pole messaged me, asking me to come closer. We ended up chatting for a while, curiosity turning into happiness that I had found a new friend. And this breaking the ice conversation would be the start of a friendship that would last for years.
It turned out this wasn't her favorite form. She had a few. Early on I saw her most frequently as a lioness or white tiger, with red hair, and sometimes with red wings and a red suit. But sometimes she would appear as a red kitsune fox, also with red hair and wings. Later on, that would be the look she was usually in. The lioness and tigress were of an avatar for sale she was helping to design.
I soon found out a few things about her. Besides the Sunnies, she was also active with the Chilbo community, which is known for it's artists. She was also in a SL program called Metanomics.
She also would be part of a discussion at the Second Live Convention, the inworld part, in 2010.
But unfortunately, she had also been severely injured in the past, pushed off a building from a height that would have killed most. She survived, but was never the same again. While she was eventually able to get around, with difficulty, without a wheelchair, it would eventually lead to health problems. In 2010, she would leave Metanomics and stepped down from a leadership role in Chilbo.
As for the Sunnies, despite her injury, she was a busy one. As one of the Passionate Redheads, she helped with a number of builds, such as the "Really Wild West" exhibit for the Redheads' camp on the Relay track in 2009. And she wasn't just a good builder, but a downright smart one. I once heard she had somehow made a closing door with a script that contained just two lines of code.
Alleara once showed me what she called a lag distributor, one that would allow those who had a group of sims to spread the processing across the whole area instead of just the one where all activity was dealing with. But only after making it did she wonder if letting Linden Lab know about it might be a bad idea as at the time they could be lazy when it came to development of anything that wasn't "bells and whistles."
Allie also made her way into a few SL Newspaper, and later on SL Newser cartoons.
Allie confided to me and a few others she had an alt, Prouds Flinters, whom at first was usually a tigress, but later on saw her mostly in otter form.
I would also meet a couple people through her, Linn Salamander who was in an anthro dragon avie. She and Allie would tell me they were real-life friends.
And there was Carol Cream, who appeared in either a polar "bearsy," or a white bunny.
I would eventually learn details of Alleara's life on the other side of the computer. While I learned early on she was German, she told me she had been born in Romania, a gypsy. She and her parents would make their way over to Germany and become citizens. She would take occasional vacations to Norway.
Alleara also liked to draw on occasion. A self-portrait of her as her persona.
Alleara very much had a place among Nydia's Angels. I remember when Nydia threw her a rezzday party.
And Allie would have a ball at Nydia's soon after.
She would also tell me she was a clothes designer, helping to make some of the Alessandra line. But she wasn't officially part of the staff, preferring a lower profile.
A few months after the close of the SL Newspaper and the opening of the SL Newser in 2010, Alleara gifted me with this drawing she did. She would say of the cigarette she was trying to capture a "Bogart" look. She would also drop a copy off at the office.
I would go on a few dates with Allie. But we also had plenty of fun together with Nydia and other friends. Here was one occasion the joking around between us led to a cartoon. Much like Nydia, she could have quite a frisky sense of humor, as did Lina, which led to a few memorable moments. She posted a few on her profile, notably when Nydia accidentally stated she was "known for her great heat" instead of heart.
And when it was just her, she was always curious about what you were working on, or what game you were playing. And when she sensed something was troubling you, wanted to know what was wrong.
There was one time Allie's helpful manner got her into trouble. Around May 2012, she had been trying to help a friend who made a sci-fi shuttlecraft load it onto Marketplace for sale, but it was buggy that day. She eventually got the attention of one Linden, who acted like he was annoyed to be called to help someone. The exchange of words soon got heated, and she found herself logged out, then notified she was suspended for three days, "I thought … he would at least react normally, but what can I say, his backyard."
Unhappy with this development, I ended up writing about the incident. That got a number of people angry at the Lab, "Bah on anyone who would hurt Alleara." "Alleara is one of the sweetest people I know. If LL is now banning
people (however temporarily) just for insisting that we GET what we are
PAYING for, then the death of the grid truly is nigh." "Alleara is one of the kindest people. I know. If this Linden got snippy
and banned her, even temporarily, he or she needs to be disciplined." When Allie herself found out, she was humbled by the responses, but would tell me she felt a little embarrassed. Looking back at the conversation, she concluded her banning wasn't entirely undeserved.
Sadly, around mid to later 2012 I think, Alleara got into a bad accident. Her car was totaled, her dog was killed, and she was badly injured, especially one of her hands. Although she was able to regain partial use of it eventually, she would never be able to draw again like she had.
By 2013, Allie had somewhat recovered, and was able to make the Second Life Tenth Birthday Celebrations in June.
In Oct 2014, Alleara would gift Nydia with a guardian statue, it representing how the Angels group felt about protecting one another.
Sometime in the mid 2010s, Allie made this press tag for my fedora (this is a new picture, but shows it more clearly than those at the time)
For the Relay seasons, Allie would help with some Sunbeamer team outfits, such as the women's tracksuit, which she is wearing here in August 2016 in the post-season team meeting. One season she did one for all of the Relay for Life volunteer group.
And then there were the music videos Nydia did. Alleara was a part of many of them.
She and I were in a few together. "The Fox" in December 2018 was one of my favorites. Unfortunately, it would also be the last one she would take part in.
In March 2019, Raphie wanted his Yinglet avatar ready by the time of the release party, but was having trouble ironing out the bugs. So Alleara stepped in to help.
I would see her less often in the later 2010s. She had gotten a job working for Tesla, doing so remotely through her home desk (at the time, the owner was much less political than today). She would say it involved a new plant in the USA devoted to the manufacture of electric car batteries. I never did ask how much money she made, but was hoping it was plenty and for a good retirement.
But not all was well on her side of the computer. Some time after her auto accident, her mother passed away. Also in the later 2010s, her father died. It would be just her and her real-life friends.
2020 was the year of the Coronavirus Pandemic. She continued to work remotely, and stayed isolated in real life. The few times we met or chatted, we talked some, and wished each other well.
In June 2021, we ended up meeting up and walking about the Chilbo community she was still part of. After many years, it had less territory, and some people were gone. But it was still active and the artists were still coming up with new things. Since I was still writing my science-fiction tale, she mentioned a series being done by another beginning writer, "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)" by Denis Taylor.
We talked, chatted, joked. Perhaps we were both a little older, a little less perky, but it was still nice to meet up with good friends. When it was time to go, I felt happy, and hoped it wouldn't be too long before we met again.
But sadly, this would be the last time we met.
In
October, Nydia was messaged by someone saying he was a friend of
Alleara's, and he had some terrible news. He would say Allie had been
increasingly ill for days, showing signs of the Coronavirus she had
isolated herself from. On Friday night, she messaged a friend to take
her to a clinic Monday morning. But when the friend got there, he found
Allie dead at her desk. She had fallen unconscious sometime over the
weekend, and had passed away sometime the night before.
Our beloved gypsy, the woman who had escaped death twice before, who had a great brain and a great heart, who had done so much for so many, was gone.
People would have much to say, "She was one of the few that showed care and compassion to many, myself included. She will be missed." "Alleara was always creative, always funny, and had quite a horrific personal history. I hope she is at peace now." "I know the goddess herself met her on the other side to welcome her home with a warm embrace."
Shockwave would have this to say, "She
was my equal in building, though she had lots more time than I did
early on. She was one of the first people I met inworld (Lusk if I
recall.) We spent ten years trying to outbuild each other and finally
just settled on mutual showmanship rather than competetion. She was
horribly crippled from a car wreck, and got around the physical
deformities by living in SL instead.
"May God grant you ALL the answers, dear lady. Your suffering is ended at last, and your wings will free you from your prison."
A surprise was soon revealed. Earlier I mentioned I'd met a couple friends of Alleara's, Linn and Carol. But it turned out they were actually her alts! I'd never seriously considered this possibility.
Two memorials to Alleara would be done. The first was she would get an Eternal Flame at the Sunweaver Memorial in Sunweaver Eclipse.
Later on in the Purfection Estates, near the Happy Vixen Beach club, Alleara would get one of her own, in the style of a Japanese shrine.
A German friend would also do a small one on his land, but as his place is private property, it's location is not given here.
Four years have passed, and the Sunweavers/Angels, Chilbo, and Second Life, have continued on. Alleara's friends in my quirky community have dealt with a few more problems and trimphs, gotten a little older, we've gotten new people, and sadly other people passing away.
But we never did forget Allie. We still talk about her. We still think about the fun times we had. Her statue remains in Pacific Waters. Her drawing she left at the Newser office is still there. A Coke bottle she left at Cutlass as Carol remains.
Alleara's legacy in Second Life remains far and wide, the clothing she designed, the pride felt by the communities she was a part of, the items she built, and the many memories she made with her friends. She is an example of what one can accomplish of one doesn't care too much who gets the credit (and sometimes somebody will make sure the credit is given), and what one can do with great brains, an unwavering spirit, and a great heart.
We'll meet again, our beautiful, brilliant, loving gypsy.
Bixyl Shuftan
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