Written by Liandra Aries & Edited by Liza Blackwood
Pictures by Fenella Baily

Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse…the list of Scifi shows and fan groups within SL for those groups is large. However, throw in the fan bases for not just SciFi but for other things like anime and you have a great big dollop of fan bases scattered across the grid.

Back when I was less than a year in Second Life, there was the old SL SciFi Expo and the older SL SciFi Convention one of which was ran by the American Cancer Society. This year there is no distinct SciFi Convention, instead a new SL FanDom Convention has popped up. Ran by Senet, Ariadne, Cory and Roxy (names any regular at the old Scifi Con’s would know) they have come up with 6 regions which have all been themed and opened up to not just Scifi fan bases, but fan bases of other fandoms within Second Life.

The whole event is, like the old Scifi Con, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and the six regions are parked to the north of the main ACS region.

At the time of writing this (1am on July 17th) the “build” phase of the Con has just started, so the pictures are going to be lacking any actual booths since a lot of them (including our own) are not finished. However, what we can do is give you a sneak peek at some of the sights to be found in the main themed regions, the first of which is the main convention centre region.

As the name suggests, it’s a convention. However, unlike practically all of the other Scifi Conventions which came before it, this one actually HAS a convention centre with smaller booths for groups and fandoms which don’t have the budget to get one of the larger sim bound 32 x 32 or 40 x 40 booth spaces. Again, the pic you are seeing of the convention centre still has a lot of setting up to do inside, so don’t expect it to look the same when it all opens to the public…

I have been to a few expo’s and conventions in both my current job and my old job and yeah, this does have that convention center feel to it!

Next up is the Void Incursion region which is labelled “Space”.

What they have gone for is some sort of futuristic colony feel to it, with ruins of an ancient civilization embedded within the main colony build.

This region, like all the others, have a clear distinct path that winds through and in between the major 32 x 32 and 40 x 40 booths which the region sponsors and large booth renters are in the process of setting up. The Space region looks almost like something which you would expect to show up in the up-and-coming game from Bethesda Softworks. As a Sci Fi fan, the region layout for this one is awesome!

Next up,. and where you will find the booth for us three lunatics…New Tokyo.

The Akira region is well named. With a futuristic Tokyo vibe, with older buildings interspersed, its got the feeling of a close to city center, but not quite within that city center border of a possible future colony holding the name of Tokyo. It’s also where you will find the booth for the Charlies Angel’s, which right now looks all Mondrian (Lizzy’s idea).

Yes, that is a huge moon (or planet maybe?) in the sky with the fandom logo embedded into it. This region is obviously going to attract some anime booths into it, there is already a couple of smaller anime fan booths being set up close to where the Angel’s booth is. Why did we pick the New Toyko region to set up? Lizzy liked the sound of it, so that’s where we decided to pick!

Up next, and one of the regions still being heavily worked on, Noir New Orleans.

Only one image of this because this region is still being laid out while booths are being built. As the name suggests, it has a much darker vibe than you would expect for “New Orleans” but the “Noir” word directly in front of New Orleans immediately pops up images of those old Film Noir movies of the late 30’s and 40’s. Think Bogarts Casablanca…but in New Orleans.

Up next, the Fracti Tempus region… “Lost In Time”

This was originally the region Fenella and myself (Lia) was thinking of going for, but the images of ruins and “old stuff laying around” as Fen said…yeah, it wouldn’t have suited what a Charlie’s Angels con booth usually looks like.

The region itself is laid out like one massive sim wide ruin, with the plots for the booths intermingled with the ruinous state of the buildings around the place

As you can see from the picture above, it harbours some buried and not so buried terrible secrets as to why the place had become such a large ruin in the first place.

Up next, and the last of the “Convention” regions… Le Mertica

This one is my personal fav. A fully built-out underwater city with lanes and streets to swim along

Including all of the things, you would expect to see in an underwater city and a few things you wouldn’t. The Underwater themed region does what it says on the tin. A multiple-layered city under the waves…this is going to be a must-visit region for all you mer folks out there.

Now, of course, because this is an SL Convention there is bound to be a place to party. From the looks of it, there are two regions set aside for events, conferences and full-blown partys, one of them has a Lego ground texture which Lizzy thought was awesome…

The Second Life Fandom Convention is currently in its build phase but will be opening to the public from Friday July 21st and closing Monday July 31st 2023.

You can pop over to the main ACS region and cam over to see how building is going on here… http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/78/235/70

Also, pop into the Charlies Angel’s booth when everything opens up to the public! – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/78/235/70