Belle's Journey to O Girl

There's no mistaking Belle (darlingbelle). She's the ravishing O-girl with the awesome Aussie accent who makes your day brighter because she's always so happy. She also has this great laugh that's infectious, and a personality that you can't help but love.

I've been her friend for a long time now (well, long in SL time), and we frequently see each other at the Austin voice chats, so when I heard that Avril Aura had set up a series of photographs on display at the West End Gallery at Austin depicting Belle's journey towards becoming an O-girl, I decided to visit.

You can visit the west end gallery here.

The gallery divided the photographs into sections that delineated the different stages of her study and training.

The Girl In Study (GIS) phase was when she was free to roam the sim trying desperately to finish her assignments and talk to all the Masters and O-girls.

The Girl in Training phase was when she was cloistered in the Chateau, with her own room (and free board!), complete with tons of gifts from the Masters and O girls.

And finally the day of graduation was the time when she finally came out as a true blue O-girl, a prestigious title that marked her as one of only  a few girls who had gone through the fire of Austin training and emerged triumphant.

I asked Belle to select some of the best photos depicting her journey towards being an O-girl and give some narration on her picks, and she did just that. So with great pleasure I'd like to present Belle's "Journey to O-girl":

When I was in the Chateau, I was reflecting on what an amazing journey it had been and how much I wanted to share it with my friend and family - and so I did. :)

Status - Girl in Study

1. Making New Friends

I was lucky enough to come in to my study when there were a few other students around.  This photo shows me with Sage D - my real life friend, and Fia - the first person I met on Sim.  We were enjoying the 'naughtiness' allowed a Girl in Study - prancing around in our underwear.

2. Austin Down Under

As one of our Assignments, we are required to hold an event of some description.  Being the somewhat flamboyant creature that I am - I didn't settle for a Discussion or a polite dance, but decided to Build an Australia platform and hold Kangaroo Races where you start at Uluru and end up at the Opera house.  I had a fantastic time creating my  venue - and conscripted your very own Sir MK's help to make my Roos  bouncey and fast and ended up with a different but fun event.

Status - Girl in Training

3.  Aftercare

So you finish your training, go through your initiation and suddenly all that angst which has been building up for the last few months, finds an outlet.  You learn the practical lessons to the theory you have been learning - and it can take you places.  This is one of my favourite pictures as it epitomises what Austin stands for.  Care!  Master Marq used me long and hard and took me far inside of myself - yet I could go there, safely, knowing he was looking after me.  Holding me dearly as I come back to myself, cherishing my gift as I cherish his Mastery.

4.  The Chateau - from a different Perspective

But Austin isn't all about lessons, not all about the serious side of our lifestyle, we have heaps of fun too.   I had recently entered the Chateau, settled in a bit and now it was time to explore.  Sage D and I chose an alternate mode of transportation for our exploration and quickly learned that navigating stairs on a broom stick really does take talent!

Status - Reintegration

5.  Graduation

The big day comes when you leave the place you have called home for the last number of months.  For some this is a welcome relief.   I made myself leave - I loved it in there.  But leave I did and re-entered the world of Austin.  Even for me talking took a while to come back (yes, yes, have a laugh) after being in silence for 3 months.

6. Moonlight Whispers

And so Austin life begins, with some reintegration duties - helping Marion with her hostess duties in the Cafe, helping new applicants with Assignments and starting Moonlight Whispers which is a weekly voice chat in the early morning of SL.  The first session was attended by some up early/late US citizens, Europeans of course, Aussies and our token Kiwi.  We ended up with a vast assortment of critters running around Starbucks, with pigs, sheep, frogs, cats, horses and even Bullsheep.