Klaus Wulfenbach/Melanippe of Themiscyra Has Died

 

The Newser has some sad news to report. The lady behind three avatars in Second Life, two of whom we've written about has passed away. Inworld, she was known as Melanippe of Themiscyra (Melanippe Karas), Tanarian Davies, and Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (Klauswulfenbach Outlander)

 

A generous friend, devoted dog parent, and role-player par excellence has departed this life. Corgi, aka Tanarian Davies, aka Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, aka Melanippe of Themiscyra, died this morning (Nov.7) after suffering extensive brain bleeds on Oct. 30. Her beloved dogs Piston and Sparkplug are safe in a new home.
 

Melanippe was the oldest of the accounts, appearing in June 2007, the other two appeared a few months later.  

 

 Baron Wulfenback was based on the character of the same name from the "Girl Genius" online comics, the ruler of the "Pax Transylvania," and the antagonist of the strip's heroine. In SL, he was a familiar sight at Steelhead and his own sim Europa Wulfenbach. The Newser would interview him in 2012. While he dropped out of sight for some months in 2023, word has it he came back soon after Jan 2024. 

 

Melanippe of Themiscyra (melanippe.karas) was a familiar sight in the ROMA community, being a part of many events and festivals. Tanarian Davies was of a lower profile than the other two, not really getting the attention of the Newser. 

 

The Aether Salon will be doing an event on  Sunday Novemeber 16 at 2PM in her/his honor, people invited to share memories of the person's personas.

 

The Newser was not previously aware of these three avatars being the same person in real life.

 

Rest in peace,

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Cartoon of The Day: Dying in SL

 

Taken at Furry Fashion. While your avatar can be sent back to it's home location (or a newbie area if you didn't set one), unless you or the Lindens delete your account, an avatar can't truly die. But some avatars make it look like you did.

 

By Bixyl Shuftan 

  

Black Dragon Viewer May Be "Dying"

 

Besides Firestorm, one of the more noted third-party viewers is Black Dragon.  While it can be more demanding than other viewers, it's known for the quality of it's screenshots. Because of this, it's won a number of fans, even if it's not the viewer they use the most.

 

But the most recent blogpost by it's developer, Amethyst (NiranV Dean), suggests it's days might be numbered. After talking about the more recent updates, he got to the bad news ...

 

 A while ago i was contacted by a long time patreon patron who was unhappy with the lack of communication (assuming they meant the Viewer not getting updates nor messages on Discord) who ultimately ended his patronage after 4 years.

Let me say that i feel you. 

I'm sorry for the lack of updates and communication. Life has been steadily getting harder and you aren't the only one who dropped out of Patreon. Over time the amount of people subscribed to Patreon has steadily declined to the point i could no longer keep up with the increasing demands of my dirty capitalist country so for several months now i've been falling short on cash, at first i was able to churn through with some saved up money but it never recovered and i was eventually forced to make a decision, either end it here or find another way. 

I was determined to make it work somehow... it's only a couple eurons missing right? So i started taking comissions after several people requested them, told me i should do comissions because they are eager to pay for my work. So aside from working on the Viewer and my other million projects as well as juggling real life and friends, i'm now also juggling comissions to earn that little bit of missing cash. 

This took away time from the Viewer obviously, which resulted in the development getting slower and slower and more and more comissions had to be taken to make up for the steadily increasing lack of patreon funds. This created a death spiral, more comissions, less development, less patrons, less money, more comissions and so on...

I didn't say anything because i didn't want to worry anyone nor do i want to beg for money, after all if people don't want to support me anymore then that's their choice and a completely legit reason. No one is forcing anyone to support me but as much as i don't want to say it, the Viewer does depend on me and i depend on this money... and with the grips tightening to the point that i feel like i can no longer offset the missing funds and with that one message giving me a big wake up call, i think it might finally time to say it: I do not think i can make this work much longer, the next month might already not work out anymore. So unless this somehow stabilizes again we will soon have to switch from very little communication to no communication... as in shutting the light off.

I hate saying this but: the Viewer is dying.

Patreon is what kept the Viewer alive. Everyone who financially supported me kept this Viewer alive several many more years than anticipated. Thank you everyone for that.

 

I didn't see a link to Patreon, though there was "For anyone interested in the exact numbers, 400 was chosen as the Patreon "goal" because it covers the mandatory health insurance (265€ / ~310$) and internet provider cost (55€ / ~65$). That is with conversion from $ to € that was enough." 

 

If Black Dragon does stop updating, it will remain functional for a while. But after some years grid updates will eventually make it buggy and less practical to use, and eventually unusable. Thus us sad as NiranV's efforts created a viewer that stood out with it's own qualities.

 

To read the blog post in full, click here. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Xzavia Yifu's Memorial Service

 

On February 1, Xzavia Yifu passed away, the news not reaching Second Life until two weeks later. On Saturday March 11, there was a memorial service in her honor. There was much spoken about the content creator who had a following in Mieville, Raglan, and other places, people coming to pay their respects. 

 

Read the story in People.

Sunweaver Jenn Chant Has Died

 

 

 Yesterday the Sunweaver/Angel community received some sad news. One of it's members, Jenn Chant, had passed away.

The community has lost another soul today.  

Jenn Chant has passed away at 4:30 pm  p.s.t. due to heart failure brought on by severe lactic acidosis.

Rest in peace.

Earlier in the day, it was reported in Discord she had been admitted to an ICU with brain and organ damage. 

Jenn was a member of both the Sunweaver community and the Nydia's Angels group. She was also in the Passionate Redheads, Builders Brewery, and the New Bastogne WW2 combat RP. In person (virtually), she was known for her feline avatar which always had animated hearts radiating from it. She had been absent from Second Life since May 2020, but continued to post onto Facebook until November 4.

"We will miss you Kitten."

Rest in Peace

Musician Paul Nowles Has Died

Second Life musician Paul Nowles has passed away. The news was announced by the Second Life Enquirer yesterday that he had died Thursday July 7. Paul had been an active live musician on the grid for a number of years, performing at places such as Veterans Isle, Raglan Shire, Patriot Island, Club Lion, The Firestorm Gateway, and others. This included numerous charity events, as well as for memorial tributes.

The Second Life Enquirer would say of him, "Paul was a beautiful soul who shared his talent with fans across the grid. Not only was he a great entertainer, but he was also kind and a dear friend to not only us but to many. Our most heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. He will be missed by many."

The Enquirer would reprint a September 2020 interview, which can be read (here).
 

Sue Peregrine Has Died

 

Sue Peregrine  2004 - 2022

It is with much sadness that the Relay Rockers announce the passing of our long time member, past Captain and dear friend Sue Peregrine on Wednesday June 29, following a long illness.

Sue owned dAlliez Estates, founded in 2004 by her late mother Alliez Mysterio.  dAlliez Estates at one time consisted of more than 160 regions, and set the standard for region rentals in Second Life.

Sue was a member of the Relay Rockers for many years and served as Team Captain in 2015.  That same year she was honored by Relay as a member of the first class of Community Champions, given in recognition of her many contributions to the ACS community, notably Relay dAlliez, the region she provided for the use of all RFL teams for their events.

Sue is survived by her husband, her three sons and two grandchildren.  Anyone wishing to honor her memory may do so by making a donation to the American Cancer Society.

From the RFL Volunteers group
 

Announcement: Relay Rap April 3rd - "When A Survivor Loses The Fight"

 

On April 3rd, Relay Rap addresses a difficult subject, 'When A Survivor Loses The Fight'

It is an unfortunate reality in Relay For Life that we lose friends and loved ones to cancer.

Join us as a panel of caregivers share their stories and experiences and provide their unique insight into this complex and sensitive topic.

Hear how they dealt with the loss of their loved one.
Find out how we all can better support those who are grieving.
Learn how the American Cancer Society provides support for those faced with end of life situations due to cancer.

Expected guests:
Tara Tisane
Eclair Martinek
Ethy Dragoste Firehawk-Knight
Sabrina Rhodes

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/63/218/36
 

VWBPE Announces Delightful Doowangle (Barbara Truman) Has Died

Barbara Truman, 1962-2021

It is with great sadness we inform our community that one of our own Thinkerer Award recipients, Dr. Barbara Truman (sl: Delightful Doowangle), has passed.

Barbara was a campus activist who became a virtual world champion. She dreamt of being a virtual world architect to create the future while empowering others to do the same, especially for accelerating and incubating R&D to improve quality of life.

Barbara had over 20 years of experience in US higher education as an educator, scholar, administrator, and researcher. 

In these roles, she participated in national and state associations, presented on critical educational topics, and published articles related to teaching and learning with mediated technology.

Barbara’s doctoral research, conducted in virtual worlds, explored why vesting in immersive, virtual communities using embodied avatars matters.

Since February 24, 2006, Barbara was active as an advocate and connectivist who built bridges for virtual world communities and championed learning in virtual worlds.

She donated her time to over a dozen virtual world groups, organizations, and conferences to strengthen virtual world education.

Her doctoral research, exploring why vesting in virtual communities matters, anchored her transdisciplinarity research with the MIT Presencing Institute, advancing our understanding of embodiment as virtual physioception and virtual-intersubjective presencing.

Barbara received the Thinkerer Award in 2019 for her outstanding dedication and leadership in education. We are so fortunate to have been able to recognize her and her efforts.

If you would like to offer a tribute in memory of Barbara or send condolences to the family you can follow this link https://www.acommunityfuneralhome.com/obi.../Barbara-Truman/

From VWBPE Facebook Page 
 

Remembering Cerdwin Flanagan

Fans of the Fantasy Faire, which took place just days ago, got some shocking news. Cerdwin Flanagan, a host of the event whom featured the festival prominently in her profile, has died. Word began getting around a couple days ago.

On the Fantasy Faire group, there were a number of comments expressing surprise and sadness. one,Sweecahcahche Ah, had a tribute for her.

Morning everyone, I would just like to pass on my Love and best wishes to everyone who knew Cer (Cerdwin Flanagan) who passed away too soon from this life. She will be sadly missed by many of us and I for one only met her at this years events but immediately was made welcome and had some fun times fooling around during the Coffee (Covfefe) Mornings hosted by cer. I have a link to my Tribute to cer on Flickr with pictures of many of you in it, please feel free to tag yourselves and leave comments. keep safe Love Titchy SweePea https://www.flickr.com/photos/89231395@N04/49915584092

You left us without warning Cer
Not even a goodbye
And I can't seem to stop
Asking the question Why?
We met one Fantasy Faire morning
For coffee and some fun
But when you left to Heaven
You took from us the sun.
Your coffee could brighten anyone's day
No matter what they were going through
But this world became much brighter
For having just met you...

For those wishing to pay there respects, a memorial has been set up at Acres (74/18/24). People can check out her screenshots on her Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cerdwin/ .

Looking Back at ComCat Fenstalker

The Sunweaver community and the Meli's Maniacs Relay team got some sad news this weekend. ComCat Fenstalker, also known by her display name CC, had passed away. The Newser talked to a couple people who knew her, Dusk Griswold and Violet Solano, who both had a number of things to say about her.

Read more in People.

Musician Chip Takacs Dies, Was Minutes From Performance on Stage

In Second Life, we often take many things into consideration. But seldom do we think about death. Sometimes when it arrives, we have a little warning such as when someone announces he or she has cancer and has to take a break from the Grid and later on we sadly hear the person has passed away. Other times, the news comes to us as shock and surprise as someone who was doing fine one day is suddenly dead. Last week however, there was a case in which a man died at his computer just minutes after talking to others and with his avatar still around.

Over the weekend, I heard about the passing of a musician named Chip Takacs. Jen Smith had posted the news on Facebook early Wednesday February 13. She would later post something from Lisa Lavoie.


Just to maybe save someone from having to repeat what happened... Chip was in SL Tuesday morning, around 8am SLT to do a show. He was typing to people in local...and joking around with them, like he always did. A couple of minutes before 8am SLT, they put his stream in as he was getting onto the stage. But he never turned the stream on and never started playing.  After awhile, they thought maybe he'd fallen asleep. When it was time for the next performer to go on, they bumped Chip's avi off the stage so the next performer could play.

This afternoon, they found out that Chip had passed away. A RL friend of his, who is also a performer in SL, confirmed it after speaking with Chip's RL wife. Speculation is a massive heart attack, but they are going to do a private autopsy to verify that.

As of the time I write this...which is nearing midnight SLT...Chip is still logged in and standing in front of the stage where he never got to do that final show. His computer is still logged in and no one has shut it down. Once that happens, or the sim restarts....he won't be in SL anymore either.

Around 9pm a small group gathered where Chip stands to try and console each other and deal with the shock of losing another SL musician and friend. It started with a handful of us...and as I logged out at midnight SLT, there were 60+ standing around swapping stories, passing the mic and spreading the word that we lost another one.

 The uniqueness of this loss was that Chip was still with us in SL. He's still there, as we remember him....but he's not really there. He's really gone. It was both eerie and comforting to be able to stand there with him...in honor of what he meant to each of us individually. It was quite a moment in my SL history. When we all just stood there with a fallen friend, not wanting to leave him standing alone....knowing that at some point, he will be logged out for the final time.


There were numerous messages of condolences after Jen Smith's post, "So sad to hear of his passing (sad) He was one of a kind. He will be missed. RIP Chip." "RIP Chip my friend.You will never be forgotten, always in my heart." "Chip was a Great Person." On Second Life, there was a memorial concert for Chip on the night of Friday February 15, scheduled to last until Saturday morning, "it is booked solid until 9:30am SLT on Saturday morning....and that's just from the performers who were standing there with Chip tonight."




Chip, or Michael Taska as he's known there, does have a recording of him singing on Youtube.

For many users, the sudden passing of someone is something they do not know how to react to. To many others, it's a reminder that death can come without warning, even while you're seemingly safe at your computer. In any event, it's a sad time for the friends and family of this musician in real life and Second Life.


Hat Tip: Annie Oh (AnnieBrightstar Resident)

Bixyl Shuftan

When A Friend Passes Away

Deaflegacy recently experienced a personal tragedy when one of her closest friends in real life died. Saying goodbye to someone you care about is never easy. It's even harder when that someone departs to the hereafter. Deaflegacy wrote a few words about her friend, mentioning she's not alone in having lost someone they care about.

Read Deaflegacy's story in People.

Sunweaver Akea Grommet Has Died

On the evening of Tuesday October 9, sad news hit the Sunweaver community. Longtime member Akea Grommet, had died following a five day stay in the hospital. His partner, Angel Scaraborough, gave the following announcement.

We have lost the Coon (Akea Grommet)

Akea was in the hospital from October 4th - October 9th.   He was starting to do better, just waiting for some further tests, when he passed away very suddenly this morning. Sunweavers was very important to Akea and I know many here cared for him so I wanted to let everyone know as soon as I could.   I am sorry that I don't have any other information.   I was going to call the hospital tomorrow to check on him and then received word today that he had passed this morning.

Akea has been a part of the Sunweaver community for most of it's history, since 2008 or 2009. As a DJ, he would perform at Club Cutlass, often dressed in theme for the event. There is one record of a song he sung, "Rocky Top Tennessee." For the past few years, he was seen less and had stopped DJing. But would still come on once in a while. I personally last saw him at the Happy Vixen some weeks ago at an event, in good spirits, and welcoming those he hadn't seen before.

As news of his passing spread, various Sunweavers, and some of his friends from Seal Cove dropped by Akea and Angel's house. People shared memories and talked about good times they had with him. Angel would put up a slide show of pictures.

"Thank you again everyone for coming," Angel told everyone, "I truly believe that Akea knows about and is touched by this gathering for him."

Rest in Peace.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Your Mother Has Cancer"

Deaflegacy told be recently it was her mother's birthday. It was a happy occasion in the past, but today it was a sad reminder as she had passed away almost five years ago, from cancer. In her article today, she writes about her last time with her mother, and goes on to say the cause of her death is why she supports the Relay for Life in Second Life.

Read Deaflegacy's story in People.

Raftwet Jewell, Co-Owner of "The A List" Has Died

On Monday January 8, Xavier Thiebaud, one of two co-founders of "The A List" group in Second Life had a sad announcement. His wife inworld, and fellow A List co-founder, Raftwet Jewell, was no longer alive.

With heartfelt tears. I wish to inform our members. Raftwet Jewell co owner of The A List! passed away from a heart attack. She was incredibly proud of what her and I created with the community we meticulously cultivated.

I will be organizing a celebration of 2nd Life on what is her 10th Rez day this 3rd of February. Any of you who knew her, knew how supportive she was helping. if you wish to assist in anyway. Please drop me a note card. Further information will be given soon

Raftwet Jewell , February 3rd 2008 - 2018

Grease Coakes wrote about "The A List" in 2012. It bills itself as "Second Life's premiere destination guide on being the first to know what is happening," and is a group where events in General and Mature-rated areas can be announced. Events in Adult areas cannot be mentioned there, even if there will be nothing lewd going on.

Announcement: Dassani Storm of RFL Team Bonanza Has Died

Yesterday afternoon, there was some sad news for the Relay for Life volunteers and Team Bonanza. Team Captain Bella 1Abbot announced one of their members, Dassani Storm, had passed away.

It is with the deepest sadness that I tell you that our dear friend, Dassani Storm passed away today, December 27, 2017. She fought a brave fight against a very aggressive cancer. We ask that you remember her friends and family both in SL and in RL at this time in prayer. We will have a memorial service for her in the next few weeks. We will let you know the arrangements. 

We will miss her , We loved her. 

Dassani was in Second Life since August 12, 2012. Besides Team Bonanza, she described herself in her profile as the manager of Gull's Wing Music and Gull's Wing Under the Sea and event's manager for Lin's Art Gallery.

Some day......you might learn of me. Til then.....smiles
They ask me: "Why are you always there for the others,
even though you are not feeling well yourself?" My
answer is: "Because I know how it feels when everybody
looks the other way"

Reader Submitted: Mourning in Second Life

We enjoy being with friends and family. But unfortunately, accidents and illnesses can happen, and eventually there comes a day for each of us when we pass away. In real life, there are obituaries announcing the person's death, funerals to go to, and usually a lasting place for the deceased. Online however, often the only sign something is wrong is our friend suddenly stops coming on. And if we do get word, what is to be done? For those in Second Life in which people are free to build what they want to on their lands, there are those who chose to make places to honor those lost. Alura Messing recently sent a reader submission on the subject, describing her personal experience, and three places in Second Life where those whom have departed have a place where their names remain.

Read Alura's reader submission in Extra.

"I May Be Done" The Husband of A Warcraft Couple Talks about His Wife's Passing

We often think of computer gamers as immature loners, and when they do find someone and get married, what comes to mind is the game being a source of friction between a computer-free wife and game-addicted husband. But there are couples whom happily game together. Recently however, one such gamer has had to deal with the grief and lost as his wife, whom played "World of Warcraft" with him for years, had passed away. Feeling some of her friends would wonder why she was gone, he posted his feelings on the Blizzard forums. He didn't expect the outpouring of sympathy that followed.

Read more in "Other Grids, MMOs, and Games."

Flonne Ninetails Has Died

Ranchan Weidman, the owner of HV Community where the SL Newser office resides, announced that a friend of hers, Flonne Ninetails, had passed away.

For those that have known Flonne Ninetails, either in passing chats or on more deeper levels; from being friends or family with Flonne, both in Real life and Secondlife, it saddens me to pass along the news that early this march, for those that didn't know yet,  Flonne passed away.  Our hearts and wishes go out to you.  The strength and personality shared by Flonne, even under the medical issues being battled, will forever resonate in our hearts.  May you Rest in Peace, Sis. 

Flonne's profile listed her age as 29. Besides Tiny Empires, she was involved in a few sci-fi roleplay groups.