Ta Da!!
My series “The Two,” now officially ends on this last chapter, and if you have been following it since the beginning, I hope you will enjoy and approve of how it concludes.
Wow… I can’t believe it’s over, but it truly is! I will not do another prequel, sequel, or spin-off on this story, which originated with my first SL- illustrated series, “The Colored Dreams.” I can see how another could be possible, within this story-line, but I am ready to start something brand new, whenever my muse points me in the right direction. Somebody asked me if this were based on a true story, and I answered them, that in a very poetic way, yes it is.. a story that I know personally, but have chosen to color, for the screen and not for a black and white auto-biographical questionnaire. I have enjoyed preparing each episode, and it has been for me a labor of love, and even a few revelations, that I too had kept hidden from myself. As I was giving free -reign to my muse (which could be another name for our sub-conscious) to move the story-line along chapter to chapter, I felt the incredible freedom, of allowing a current I was not in control of, to thicken my plot, and carry the story onwards. I am first and really a poet, not a novelist, or a filmmaker, but in this series, I learned so much about story-telling and filming in Second Life. I will once again admit, to all the less than perfect techniques used to make these films, but I do hope that some of that was balanced out by my story-line, the original music, imagery and the telling of it. For those of you who would like to catch up and see ones you might have missed please look to my category here entitled “The Two.” I also have a YouTube playlist that makes it very easy to see them all in order, if you like and can be found here “YouTube Playlist – The Two”. So…here it is Chapter Thirteen, The Final Chapter, filmed on both Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand and in Second Life and I offer it to you, my readers and my friends, for your enjoyment, and satisfaction, and may you be pleasantly surprised how it concludes too. As always, the YouTube is in high quality, so feel free to play it full-screen and turn up your sound. Sighs… I am starting to feel a small wave of elation mixed with postpartum depression, which seems to be quite normal after the birth of a large and healthy creative love- child. All good things come to end..and hopefully you will agree that “The Two” fits in that category. All comments are welcome…and Enjoy!!
Digital Rabbit Hole 
Wow! So many incredible effects and creative use of the medium. Quite an amazing and epic saga! Your words, music and visuals, so well composed, and your dedication to the story is heartwarming and evident from beginning to end. Unforgettable.
LikeLike
Aww Menubar..thank you so much for following and enjoying it from beginning to end. Thank you too for all the little goodies of yours I used through out, including once again the particle sculptures that allowed me to bring my “Kitely dark-skinned self” into Second Life..and in this last one, the final on stage scenes you filmed at my poetry reading.. Thanks for being there through out the creation of this series Menubar…so glad you found it worthy and entertaining
LikeLike
I am awestruck. I mean it. Watching this the first time absolutely blew me away….then when i watched it again, i went into an illuminated altered state of awareness, saturated with Sacred Light….where this incredible final chapter takes place. Oh my goodness how stunningly beautiful on ALL LEVELS!!!
God Karima you are some kind of delightfully weird, totally unique and playful, explosively creative genius with a rare generous heart….and your poetry, and now rich multimedia-multidimensional journeys are not only entertaining….they emit some kind of magic that touches deep, when allowed. I say this: if a person takes this journey, …and follows this series, “The Colored Dream Series” and “The Two”, all the way through….with an openness to let it take you…something will be profoundly touched…it will awaken something, be it the deep heart…a way of seeing, feeling…an expanded vista. Another world…even perhaps glimpsing unknown potentials just waiting to be triggered!!!
What an expanded and brilliant, regal character rises into Being by allowing the Transference Fertilization, and all that meant……. …..powerful and pure, and Brilliant.
Just You.
Congratulations on a Master Work.
LikeLike
OH OH! I forgot to mention!!! The use of my painting ” Fertilization”, and all it inspired in you in this series, how you used it, morphed in into fantastic images and movement, is astonishing to me!! Thank you. For seeing so deeply into that image that it touched you….this is such a honor to me.
LikeLike
oh jan…
wow thank you for this incredible comment.. You truly make me feel like it was all worthwhile, as I myself had some nagging doubts, the kind where the dark shadows of “what are you continuing this for?” spread out before me. If you felt something magical, then I too feel a renewed trust in the process of letting the muse, inner voice, subconscious, whatever we want to call it, take the storyline and make it its own. I told you a few days ago, I wasn’t quite happy with it on several levels, but one reason was because I was trying to force an ending, that wished to be written in a slightly different way..When I listened to that voice and gave in..it felt right and this is how it stands..Once again divorced from the production of it, I too was surprised but pleased, and even more pleased that it appears those watching it also approved. Thank you my dear friend for your support and your inspiration ..one of which being your painting “Fertilization” that got my muse musing on the entire possibility of this process as somehow tying into the ending.. Yes this is a big work for me. Without realizing it , it now culminates in 15 written chapters, hundreds of photos, and now 13 Episodes of video, with almost 1 and 1/4 hours of viewing time… Thank you for being with me every step of the way..and for your own beautiful art that sparked the ending..
LikeLike
What a wonderful ending Karima ! What can I say that hasn’t been said already ? You have taken us on a journey into the far reaches of existence, and brought us back to Earth safe and sound, with a smile on our face ;-D
LikeLike
Emperor, thank you for being such an intrepid space traveler alongside me and also an admirable fencing partner, when the script called for it:) But really, your comments and your obvious enjoyment in this series, was an important part of my own joy in the developing and the finishing of it.
LikeLike
All good things come to an end……oh yes, how true and at the same time, how sad. This final chapter with its great solution is like the very last page in a beloved book. We almost don`t dare to turn it, knowing , it will be the end. But otherwise, we are free to read and enjoy it over and over again. And I will do this with your fantastic serial, right from the beginning of “The coloured dreams”. Back to the roots , smiles.Till now , I wrote a couple of comments and tried to express how extraordinary and outstanding this saga was, including your phenomenal adaption of new abilities like composing music, filming etc. My words never came close to what I felt, I will fail today also 🙂 I only can say, following your work, was an undescribable and unforgettable experience ****
And I knew, your next project will even be better 🙂
Let me end with a phrase of Steve Jobs :
“Stay hungry, stay foolish ! ”
Abrazo carinoso 🙂
LikeLike
Isabel, you have been one of my closest traveler’s too down this story’s highway, and I repeat what i said before..people like you make me want to never stop writing or in this case, making films;) Your encouragement and your obvious delight in my tale, have been some of the best motivations for me through- out. Thank you dearest of friends for your comments, your “entrega’ to allow yourself to become so involved in my long running project. I know I would not even have attempted this machinima series, if I had not been so well received into your heart and gently pushed on to do a little more:) abrazos y mucha gratitud:) oh and I love the Steve Job’s quote..may he rest in peace
LikeLike
Oh I forgot to mention…your radiant smile at the end…after all the terrible sadness and suffering, it’s like the first ray of sun after a terrible storm, is just perfect, a beautiful touch. I hope you keep smiling like that in real life too, Karima, you deserve to !
LikeLike
Smiling (just like in the end) thank you so much Emperor for these words.
LikeLike
Karima,
What can I say that others have not said. Your work is nothing short of fantastic. I think I liked the last video the most. You tied up all the loose ends neatly. I loved the questions and the answers our heroine had for herself. I believe these are questions that have applied to us all at one time or another. They are brought forth nicely in your work. As Jan says, “stunningly beautiful on ALL Levels.” I am not worriied to see that this is the last chapter, because I know that your creative juices, at this moment, are boiling and more of your innovative talent will spring forth. I am proud of you!
LikeLike
Thank you Hoyt for this comment, and for all your support of me.. be it in poetry, prose, or film, you have always been there for me, egging me on to do more than I think I can. Everyone should be so lucky to have someone like you nudging and applauding behind the scenes, You know how much that truly means to me.You were one of the ones..who truly got to know and love “our heroine” 🙂
LikeLike
I have never seen anything like what you have created. Of course, that is because you had not revealed it even unto yourself ‘until’ it poured out of your soul. I feel so emotionally…*full*, having consumed so many chapters in a sitting – starting with the last, that when I finally returned for my 2nd viewing of Chapter 12, it was with a focused determination to ‘understand’. WOW… had to walk away and think on all I had seen, heard, felt and asked myself, ‘Is it [the series] because you love her that everything tugs deeply, or is it because it is magnificent in its own right?’. Apparently a silly question, because obviously it is both. I feel blessed to be among the many who have followed this evolution of Your poetic journey…. from its embryotic stage to the glorious end. And I now understand (and believe, smiles) that you have truly arrived at a satisfying close. By the way, loved the original music scores and variety of visual techniques – truly uniquely and magnificently done! Inhales… and exhales slowly… then waits… with simmering curiosity about what we will all witness when we join you on the next adventure.
‘
LikeLike
Ohh Diz that’s the best compliment in the world you just left me, when you told me you felt “emotionally full” after eating up a few chapters in a row. Yes you have been on my whole creative journey that began soon after I landed on the shores of Second Life. I am so grateful that you have too, sis and grateful too to the magic of the virtual world to ignite and inspire creativity, my own and so many others (yours included) too. I am starting to build a new world and I too will be interested to see what story might be locked inside of it. As soon as I find out…I promise to share it with you and anyone who enjoy hearing a story told. Thank you sis for your wonderful and long term belief in me as a poet. and your unconditional love and support always..
LikeLike
Well-that is quite a story! The visual graphics were stunning! The textures in visuals matched the complex textures of the personalities involved. The most amazing part of all is that the story line found it’s own direction-it’s own way. This subconscious writer of this story is older than Skakespeare. Maybe older than time. This is as close to automatic writing as I have ever seen. You can reach to an unknown place and massage and teleport some amazing ideas. Relationships.Real people. The truths here are quite solid yet….ephemeral.
I could not exactly follow everything ….those are my limitations. This complex story will need re-reads. One of the basic ideas is that you and the beings around you evolved into a new person. The new person was inclusive but more than just the sum of the parts-the future of ourselves? Is this how we become the next “us”? Do we recycle thru family and friends in an ever-turning wheel?
This is the brilliance and creativity of a true poetess. Your raw material is the entire universe and all of history and all of the future. Not to mention all of the subconscious. No shortage of stories or material to work with there.
I think there is still a story left about the Texas truck. That is a haunting and powerful image and an idea with enormous “impact”. (Sorry). Our heroine is saavy and beautiful. We all fall in love with her. And, maybe we should. Maybe she is our future or in our future. Maybe she is the new leader holding up the lantern for us to follow. In many real ways we are the accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and hopes of our forebears. Moving off into the future. I suspect our blue lady is not too far off the mark. Thanks for an incredible story. Beautifully told. You are prrobably ready for a little vacation about now! I cannot wait to see where you charge off to next. Katie bar the door…..
Peace.
Tube
LikeLike
Tube, as always, and although I say as always..not one comment is like another, but as always…your comments on my work, delight, and stimulate me to continue to listen to that voice (“older than Time itself” 🙂 and see where it might take me..what new project it might whisper in my ear. If I talk like a person who has separated into various personalities, really I am feeling more whole than ever, after finishing this series..btw your sense of humor was showing a few times, which is a delightful rare occasion..I always associate your words with profundity, depth, and insightful perception..but nice to see a little playful humor peek through too. As I told you in a talk.. I do believe, you act as a wise counselor, an open audience, and my friend. and many layers more, as a guide.. Thank you for your belief in me, your continual support and amazing way of looking at my work. Your comments and your perceptions are uniquely yours.and please know and believe they have acted upon me in only good and productive ways.. I sincerely thank you Tube……
LikeLike
Sis, I have pondered what to say here in order to try and do justice to this latest epic of yours.I haven’t been able to come up with anything even remotely as eloquent as yours but you know I speak from my heart when I tell you I have been profoundly moved by this story, and how perfect that in a sense it came full circle and all the players came back to reside where they were created.Such perfect symmetry and as it should be. Their journeys so interwoven and endless, bound together in love and creativity,and how to accept our demons and open our hearts to embrace all that we are.
A wonderful wonderful work Kari, and as your skills grow and your talent finds new currents to soar on I can only wait breathlessly for your next adventure.
Maria xxxx
LikeLike
Thank you sis for your beautiful comment (See? you did find the words!) and thank you for forming part of this tale..I even loved seeing you standing on stage with me in the last scene. Thank you too for believing in this project and me, and for participating in two of the episodes, which without your help, i could not have filmed..Thank you for coming to those middle-of-the-night (your early morning0 screenings and giving me the sound control high nod..for upping it to YouTube. Thank you for being so close to me in so many ways, and I too look forward to what I might get into next..and just love that you will be right there peeking over my shoulder, with sincere interest as we take off on a new adventure..a new creative stream to ride…
LikeLike
Karima, How bravely & beautifully wrought, your story, your words ,music, images, your Truth. Most Profoundly the simple beautiful realisation of the OneSelf, often percieved as so deeply hidden and layered. It unveils and dismantles the illusion of separation, that, which has plagued us forever .
I cheered at the unfolding , Thank you lovely lady I feel much closer to you ~smiles~*
LikeLike
Oh Sanne, I made a really well-thought out reply a few days ago to your comment here, and it looks like wordpress had it for desert, as I see it is no longer here:( Yes in the end all the parts joined back together, and I am reminded of the metaphor of Humpty Dumpty..We do get cracked and scattered sometimes, especially if we have lived a few lifetimes already in this one here.. Traumas, and whiplash changes, and loss, can make us not quite whole..and it truly does take all “the king’s horses and all the kings men” but in my view. in my glass half full view…yes,we can get put back together again..:) Thank you for being a wonderful audience, and much more than that, a friend who has taken the time , many times, to give me such clear and sincere feedback. Hugs Sanne..
LikeLike
It’s truly amazing to see what is possible here. Am humbled & thankful for the wonderful journey you’ve shared with us Karima!
LikeLike
Thank you so much joyce, for jumping on this runaway series, and riding it out to the end.:) I am so glad that you truly did enjoy it, and that makes me just want to do another soon…I hope you will accompany me on that journey too..wherever it might take us all..Yes I agree with you, the virtual world has opened up the talents of so many..This series never would have been possible without it..and all is possible here,,if you can imagine it..you can learn to create it:)
LikeLike
What you have done in all your Machinima is nothing short of astonishing. I have written praise at different times earlier, but want to once again congratulate you on creating such a remarkable artwork. The fact that you have managed to do this with very simple tools, and have been on a constant learning curve to acquire new skills, makes your achievement even more worthy of praise.
I have always resonated to your magical and evocative use of poetry to convey layers of experience and emotion, so of course your story line carries all the beauty that resides in your poems and stories. But now you have added visuals, which are in a real sense, journeys into the heart of the soul. Words plus images plus color, properly deployed, can take one on unexpected travels into the unconscious, and you do this with unusual talent and flair. Your films are delicious to watch in motion, but also create a magnificent gallery of still photos, and I continue to see them in a beautiful art book. I am reminded of some of the more stunning visuals in the Disney classic, Fantasia, although your work, in its layering of transparencies, is much more sophisticated. Even if there were no story, with its poetic and suspenseful flow, the images alone would be deliriously beautiful to watch unfold. But in addition to images, poetry and story, you have now added music, and again and again I have been amazed at what you have accomplished in the originality of your musical scores. The music can stand on its own, but becomes all the richer for the way it weaves into your text and unfolding images. So, one must ask, why do we do art, and while there are many reasons that can be given, a simple truth is that we do art to get in touch with our Inner Muse, with the God that lives within, and if we do this with skill and love and understanding, the passion we bring to a work will find its way out into the world and touch others lives with magic connection as well. You do this gloriously, Kari, and I wait eagerly to see what you are going to focus on next, for surely, there are more stories, more images, and more music waiting for your touch, to bring them to life. Bravo, Bravissimo!
LikeLike
Thank you so much Happiness for this comment, and for your continual support of me in all the areas I am experimenting in.With friends like you, I feel encouraged to just keep going, learning, along the way what works and what doesn’t. I am always happy, very happy, to know I have been able to touch someone deeply, make them think or feel for just s second, with only my words, and now images, and to imagine what images in them they might be conjuring up. In the end we are all individual planets spinning around, how nice to “fly by” close enough to make contact and that I think is the great personal joy for me, in having this blog, and filling it with all my odd ideas, videos, music, etc. It’s about reaching outwards and saying “Here, have you ever felt this way? and when they answer back “yes..no maybe”…Bingo ~We have contact” You have been a wonderful and loyal friend and promoter of what I do.. Thank you Happiness for all you have done to inspire and motivate me to try new things and to trust my creative voices..
LikeLike
Sorry its taken me so long to reply but in view of the scope of your oeuvre, we can consider this work of art outside of time and space, so with that in mind, this reply is not too late 😉 Of course, much much praise for your work. People have articulated much better than I can in the comments above about what is wonderful here. Like any fine work of art, this story expands our awareness about the universe. As you grow, you take us along for the vision and we thank you. We all look forward to see where you go from here. Perhaps you are wondering the same thing?
LikeLike
Thank you RAG (Mr. Goldberg:) and you are right, in an out of Time and Space way, your comment comes right on time..as there is no late or early.. I am so pleased that you followed, watched all 13 episodes, and found it a worthy series. This means a lot, because when you add it all up, it means you took out 1 hour and 20 minutes out of your life to do that. Every comment and show of support is an act of generosity., and takes a stopping of one’s life for a few minutes, to do it too. I am very happy that this series held your interest, and that you let me know that in your comment. I treasure your friendship and respect your art, so, this makes it a special one for me too. By the way, you are right..I have no idea where that muse might drag me next..but she seems to be into poetry again..which is a good sign:)
LikeLike