Second Life

17/365 “what the hell are you?”

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17/365 : what the hell are you?

 

i haven’t been taking the time to post all of my 365’s but today’s i would like to dedicate to something that i feel is becoming a bit of confusion in my second life, and i want to set the record straight, and hopefully give some information on something that many of you might not have any experience with.

when i joined second life, i thought it was a community for furries, like furcadia, because the people who showed second life to me were furries, and we stuck to the furry areas. obviously my base avatar was human, but i thought that furries were the majority. once i started exploring on my own and realized this was not the case, i started to assemble avatars based on my more humanoid role playing game characters from p4rgaming.com. nimil, torch, and 5880, as well as just fiddling around with an avatar that slightly resembled myself but not.

for me, second life became a place where i could visualize people i had written about for years.

in real life, i’ve always been the weird one, the “freak”. the little goth kid, and the weird girl with the weird fashion sense. this obviously traveled with me into second life, but beyond that, i was given the option to augment and change my physical form at will.

this is what made me a shape shifter.

every day i log into second life and i am given unlimited options of what i want to look like that day. most days i dress my mood. shitty day? dead girl or demon chick, happy day? silly cartoony furry avatar. or what ever my close friends are dressing as, i can match them or at least wear something complementive to their appearance.

this is why i stay in second life.

contrary to what some may believe, this is not some major lifestyle or sub culture to me. anyone can be a shape shifter. if you enjoy changing your head every day from one mesh head to another, you are a shape shifter. if some days your skin is african american, and the next day you are a pale white girl, you are a shape shifter. its that simple. that’s all there is to it. there’s no test, no membership card. you just have to enjoy your world and like to change how you look from day to day. even if you just slap on a neko tail once in a while for fun, you are a shape shifter.

of course i am sure there are some people out there that claim this as their true identity, that they do not identify as human in the real world, and instead consider themselves a shapeshifter, but that is not what i am doing. in the real world i am painfully aware that i am nothing more than a human being with one hell of an imagination. however in second life, where my options are limited only by my cash flow, i am happy to have the ability to be all the things.

how can you, dear reader, be a shape shifter? attach a tail, buy a furry avatar, try some skins that aren’t your normal tone, wear colourful hair, wear horns or non-human ears. your options are limited only by your personal imagination (and your $L). if it makes you happy, then enjoy it. don’t let venue rules, “social norms”, or the people around you scare you away from experimenting. i am completely opposed to people telling others that they cannot branch out beyond their humanoid avatars because they are usually human. you are an avatar, be what ever it is that you feel like being! in this world we are all magic. do not squash other’s dabbling in all that second life offers.

 

intermundia

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(trigger warning: please note that some of the images and text in this post may be a trigger for some, especially those who have suffered sexual abuse. please proceed with caution.)

visiting intermundia

an old friend that i haven’t seen in a long time popped into my store tonight. i was so pleased to see nebulosus severine still kicking around the grid. they gave me the lm to their latest installation and i decided to visit. you can visit by going here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kress/216/90/146

nebulosus is known best for artwork that is both beautiful, and powerful. emotional, and educational in a way. i am always in awe when i step into one of their installations and this was no different.

the main entry way is best viewed with the highest of graphics settings, so if your experience doesn’t look like mine, try bumping up your settings.

there are two small installations at intermundia right now, “too many flowers” which is nebulosus’ installation, and ars ludus by sowa mai.

i’m focusing mainly on nebulosus’ installation because i found this piece to be very very important and perfect for the way the world is at present. it really hit me hard. there is a trigger warning notecard available at the teleport so you can make sure you would not be upset by what is shown. and i will warn you also, i have a couple of images from the installation, and they involve the topics of rape, and abortion.

visiting intermundia

i don’t want to give away too much because i feel like you need to experience this for yourself. a photo does not do it justice. this installation is painful, and reminds us of what a disturbing world we really live in.

visiting intermundia

there are many quotes both powerful and sad throughout the installation and many upsetting images. the message here is clear and really there are no words for how this whole thing made me feel.

nebulosus is one of the few artists on the grid that i truly respect. most of the ones i loved have left our virtual world for others, or the real world. sadly nebulosus is soon to lose the ability to visit second life, as their computer is in poor shape. as an admirer of their work, i am also going to add this link, to help them get another computer and continue their work in second life! http://fnd.us/c/1uqae use this link to help them out and support a great artist!

blogger meme thing: movie character meme

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trying to keep up with strawberry’s memes! i forgot to blog the school photo one, and then my computer farted out and i couldn’t do the next two in a reasonable amount of time so here’s this week’s meme which is all about dressing up like a movie character. i decided to pick one of my favourite bad guys from a japanese splatter gore film called “Ichi the Killer”. i’m not sure if he is the villain of the story, or the protagonist, but he is the partial focus of the movie (besides ichi himself.)

Kakihara from Ichi the Killer

kakihara is a very disturbed individual who enjoys inflicting pain on himself through out the film. he is part of a gang, and their boss is brutally murdered. he takes it upon himself to figure out who the killer was. along the way we see more and more than he is quite mad and by the end of the movie he is pretty bat shit crazy.

Kakihara from Ichi the Killer

ichi the killer was my entry into japanese horror cinema, after this i got really hooked on their splatter gore films and other more traditional horror movies. this movie is directed by my absolute favourite director takashi miike, who has directed a few other films that i quite enjoy. they are all extremely weird. we also share the same birthday!

if you like gross movies with impossible amounts of blood, and you don’t mind a bit of nasty sex stuff thrown in, you might enjoy this film, if you are a bit on the squeamish side, stay far far away.

this movie also has one of my very favourite scenes ever. even though it is short, i think it is an awesome show of special effects and makeup.

A Haunting We Will Go: Haunted Valley

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i refreshed my “haunted” search on second life and found a few more places have crept to the top.

haunted valley review

this is haunted valley. a nice little spooky sim complete with a dance club. lots of areas to explore, and a nice spook house on a hill.

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the grounds were kinda dull in my opinion but there is ample space for photo taking without a lot of junk blocking your view. the house was very nice and even though it was just your typical spook house set up, they actually made an effort.

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the interior of the haunted house is well decorated, leaving room for photo taking, and not ruining the ambiance with a dozen ridiculous light/sound effects. the decorations are elegant and high quality. i really want the spooky piano shown in the second photo.

haunted valley was an all around lovely sim and spook house, worth a visit especially if you are looking for somewhere creepy to take photos. i could not find any information on whether this sim was ok to travel to if you have child avatars in your family but as usual, its a good idea to ask before hand. especially since the tp point does take you in front of a dance club.

i give this sim a 4 out of 5

you can visit haunted valley here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yasuka/174/199/43

A Haunting We Will Go: Forever After Haunted House

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spook house review number 2

welcome to another haunted house review! today i ventured to the second haunted attraction on the search listings for “haunted”. this haunt seems to be set up just for the holiday season, and did not have a specific name.

this was a typical walk though style house, with several rooms of spooky stuff.

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sadly this is a very common thing to see in second life. get a big spooky house, and fill it with scripted stuff, add lights and sound and instant haunt. it is not very engaging and tells no story. there were a few nice areas that could be useful for photography, but a lot of the place is ruined by the addition of random flashing lights, and lightning inside the house which made no sense. i did like the jason pitchforking a lady in the upper bedroom, but the scene was ruined by the weird flashing purple shaft of light you see in the photo.

still, for someone who is not as hardened to horror and haunted houses, this could be an enjoyable adventure. the sim also had a spooky graveyard, as well as some shopping areas. most likely family friendly but as usual check sim rules before bringing little ones.

i would rate this a 3 out of 5

you can visit this haunt here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Happy%20Ever%20After/63/79/22

a haunting we will go: The Haunted

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welcome to a news series i hope to keep up with for a little while! haunted attractions are my “thing” in rl and one of my dreams for SL has always been to own a haunted attraction sim or at least a parcel… so far i haven’t been able to live that dream but i do enjoy wandering around the haunted sims that pop up every year for the fall/halloween season. this series will be dedicated to those places where creepy things lurk. i’ll wander around and take some photos, and i’ll give you a good idea on whether its worth your time to see it for yourself.

the first attraction on the list is the first attraction on search when you look for “haunted” because well.. its called “the haunted”!

the haunted boasts several areas for creepy fun, including a graveyard, a carnival, and a zombie combat area.

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the carnival was sparse with a few creepy rides, nothing mind blowing. i do not recommend the concession stands…

there are two small haunted houses in this area, one is a murder house walk through and one is a spook house ride. the murder house was fun but short, the spook house ride was broken 🙁 and that made me sad because i love spook house rides in both worlds, but the train would never leave the station!

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the graveyard is your typical dark spooky graveyard. it is very nicely decorated and there are several areas that could be used for some creepy photography. i especially liked this strange stonehenge-esque area.

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the zombie combat area is a post apocalyptic city landscape with dead bodies hanging from equally dead trees, zombie rezzers are all over this area and you can run around killing them. i did not feel like zombie hunting, soooo i took these photos from the gate. it is a very cool looking area though.

hauntedhaunted

all in all i would give this haunted attraction a 4 out of 5.

the areas were well decorated and thought out, and very few low quality items were used. i did not like that the walls around the carnival area were full bright, because that really wrecked photos in the windlight setting i wanted to use. i feel like the carnival could have been dressed up a lot more. it is a bit weak compared to the graveyard and the zombie area. i could not find any information stating if it was ok to come here as a family, so adventurer beware.

stay tuned to this blog for another haunted attraction review coming soon!

you can visit “The Haunted” here http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cascade%20Falls/230/171/22

Personal Questions – a meme

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more questions from berry!

personal-questions-meme

When and how did you discover Second Life? – 2005 i found out about it from a friend. i had no credit card so i couldn’t sign up, so i watched him wander around furry sims when i hung out at his house… i finally signed up in 2006 when they opened registration to everyone.

Did you know about virtual worlds before or was this your first experience with them? – yes, i had already experienced them a little before second life came into existance. there was some weird virtual world that a friend of mine in high school loved. i cannot remember the name of it now, just that non-paying members were forced to use a penguin avatar.

Has Second Life met your expectations? – met and exceeded my original expectations.

If you could teleport back to the first ten minutes of your avatar’s slife, what would you tell yourself? – nothing. i love everything that has happened in my second life, even the bad stuff. i have gained much from my time here and i don’t want to change that.

How long did it take you to master avatar flying and driving vehicles inworld? – flying took about a month to figure out, driving vehicles i still suck at all these years later!

Do you have a mystery alt? – i have 2.

Is your SL avatar a reflection of you, or someone you wished you could be? – my avatar is a representation of what i call my “soul” she is all the things i love, both about myself, and others, and story characters. she is my super hero.

Is there an individual you met in SL that inspired you in your RL? How? – there’s a lot of those! many people who encouraged me to be more confident in myself and what i can do, people who pushed me to try harder which made me also try harder in real life.

Do you feel it is easier to create stronger bonds/relationships with people you meet inworld as opposed to the real world? – for me personally its a lot easier to create bonds and relationships in a virtual world. i am not hindered by my inability to drive and i don’t have to find a baby sitter to hang out with people in second life and get to know them. in the real world i have a hard time finding and making friends, and equally i struggle with maintaining friendships because i just cannot go hang out with them.

Did you ever imagine or believe people could fall in love with someone they never met before Second Life? – honestly i personally never thought emotions could be properly expressed over a long distance. i always felt like people just became infatuated with the personality another person displayed. then i met lucas and i did fall in love, and i felt it, it really shocked me. it turned my whole world upside down. ending that relationship was more painful than anything i have ended in the real world as well.

How has your perspective of dating changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – i was open to long distance relationships before second life, now i think they are a horrible thing to put yourself though. kudos to those who can endure it.

How has your perspective of employment changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – its not really.

Name three things in both your lives that overlap each other significantly. – friendship, and social stuff..and i can’t think of a third, not much overlaps anymore…

If you could live your life more immersively in a virtual world, would you? (Kind of like the Matrix) – HELL NO! i want no part of being physically connected to a computer. when tech moves towards that i will probably just go live in a cave.

How do you think behavior changes for people if they’re inworld vs in real world? Why do you think that is? – as with all formats that encourage anonymity, people can be asshats, and they are more likely to voice their shitty opinions because they feel like there is no repercussions.

How has second life consumerism changed your perception of spending habits, the value of money, the need to be “bleeding edge” with fashion? – it hasn’t really, i’ve never been bleeding edge anything, and i’ve always been kinda miserly… none of that has changed.

Do you think virtual worlds like SL drive and redefine human interaction or do they narrow and limit it? – they definitely drive it, and open up new ways to interact with others.

If technology progressed tomorrow to allow you to send emotions to people the way you’d send text or voice messages, would it enrich your SL experience or infringe on it? – it would destroy my experience.. i have enough emotions, i don’t need more…

Name three skills you attribute to having learned or honed in second life alone. – advertisement writing, photoshop, blender

If your grand kids googled your Second Life Avatar’s name, would they be intrigued, disgusted, proud or something else? – i think they would probably look at me a little funny…

berry’s friends list meme

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fenni face I'M GONNA GET'CHU

oh look! another meme! i need to really go back and do the rest of these. today’s meme is all about my friends list. we were also asked to take a photo with a friend and since i was in IM’s with my good buddy fenni, i dragged her to a creepy hotel and made her pose with me.

ON TO THE QUESTIONS!

What is the number of contacts on your Second Life Friends List? 208

Who is your oldest contact? (check your calling cards) Lindsay Noonan

Who is your newest contact? (check your calling cards) Elysiane Sapphire

Do you know every single person on your list? i know or knew them at some point in my second life. i do not accept random friend requests.

Who on your list do you have the closest relationship with? my sl family, elijah, arianna, casey, lindsay, caile, fenni, mali, and foehn

Who do you wish you knew better? i wish that i could go back and get to know some of the people i met years ago and added. i’ve lost touch with a lot of people.

Who on your list is the funniest/most entertaining? probably fenni (shown here) she is so random!

How did you meet most of the people on your list? various situations. some of them through my years in content creation, some of them from plurk, some from the artist world, some of them i picked up at sex sims.

Do you ever clean out your list? i’ve never done a mass cleaning, i only remove people who give me reason to remove them.

Do you have a crush on someone in your list? maybe.

Is there anyone on your list that you would trust with your password? i have given a temp password to a couple of people for assistance.. like lucie bluebird got it back when i was nearing my son’s due date because he was due right before twisted hunt, and i needed someone to be able to place my box for me lol since she owned the sim i had my shop on, it seemed logical to ask her :p. i change my password after stuff like that though.