AFTER A WEEK OF EMOTIONAL UPS AND DOWNS when I soared from feeling on top of the world, to being downcast into a crying heap I wondered if other people found SL a 'warm and fuzzy' place to be.
I came across the beautiful green-haired Isabella Lubitsch over at the Autumn Writers' Exhibition (AWE) and she replied, "Not often, but occasionally. I find some of it dull."
"For me, SL is about artistic and creative stimulation. I mostly hang in nerdy places where people talk A LOT! I've been inspired to write poetry and try new ideas."
"So what about your personal relatinships?" I asked.
"A few avis are meaningful to me ... I like the chance to get to know someone's mind."
Isabella then commented on how voice has made avis an "interesting new way" to know avis differently. She had noticed that there were a lot of "old voices" from young avis.
"And I've had vice versa! That for me was a big shock with one friend. They have a very wise old avis and a very young voice.
"It was actually delightful to have my pre-suppositions shattered," she remarked, but he is such a great guy that it didn't matter that the 'wisdom' was coming from someone so young."
Over at a 'Master and Slave' sim, Brenna Primrose was waiting upstairs to go join the action below in the maze. When I asked if SL was a warm and fuzzy place to be, she rhapsodized about the attractions of being a submissive on the hunt for a dominant.
"I love SL. I am a long-time text-based roleplayer, so coming here and bringing my character alive is amazing," she enthused. "So, yeah, SL does make me feel all warm and fuzzy, especially around good folks."
Brenna conveniently had her personality type in a tag above her head: "CARP Tag 3.1 - Prey/Submissive; Difficulty - Easy; Straight and Human Pref."
She explained that anyone participating in the roleplay below, had to wear a tag so people would know what role they were playing. She said that she and her friend came there "every night" to make a bet on who would lose their clothes first or find the best roleplayer under the Dominant tag.
While Brenna isn't giggling her way through the maze, she said she was out shopping, decorating, dancing and having lots of fun.
"There's all kinds of people down in the maze," she continued. "People you'd never think you'd meet - Dom/mes, Subs - all running around, playing and laughing."
Oh alright, she was so convincing I promised I'd give it a go ... sometime. But I'll warn you all now, I'm definitely a DOM!
"So what is it that's so satisfying about dominating and submitting?" I asked Brenna.
"I'm a natural submissive, " she replied. "I've always been the one to give and try to please others. Finding decent Dominants isn't always so easy, but I've made some great friends here."
"It's all about give and take, but it's all consensual."
NOW my next couple of landings in the SL world were a bit frustrating and I kept being reminded of that movie line, "I see dead people!" CAMPERS!!!
Sitting on park benches, pushing brooms, sitting at the seaside - blank, staring eyes. No animation. Nothing. And certainly no conversation! COLD LONELY ISOLATING. SL at its coldest. No warm and fuzzy here!
Over at 'The Edge' - they were in party mood and I just couldn't distract them from Mandy Mayne's urgings to:
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /);;;( /;;;;;;;;;;;;\ /);;;(
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /);;;( /);;;( /);;;( /);;;(
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /);;;( /);;;( /);;;( /);;;(
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /);;;(____ /);;;(__/);;;( /);;;(____
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /);;;;;;;;;;;( /\;;;;;;;;;;;;/ /);;;;;;;;;;(
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /______ / /_______ / /______ /
and ...
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: *** OKE PEOPLE, REMEMBER ITS .......... ***
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: ___ __ ______
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: | _ \__ ___ _| |____ __ |__ __|_ ____
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: | _/ - \| - )_ _/ \/ / | | | \^/ | - _)
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: |_ |/_/\_\_|\_\ \__\_\ / |_ | _|_/\/\_|\___/
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: /_____/
[
[2007/10/20 0:00] Mandy Mayne: *** SO LETS ROCK THE PLACE ***
ALTHOUGH, Dusty Gray did call out, "I'm furry! Does that count?"
Then Mandy Mayne instructed me, "Go ask the lindens how they feel!" Before Markita Bing observed, "Sometimes you're on top of the world, and then you're pissed off as you can be."
My next couple of victims were young players, dressed in black, ready for a night's entertainment - "killing nerds". Did SL make them feel all warm and fuzzy?
Megazord Flossberg replied, "It makes me feel alone and cold" and then laughed out loud, adding, (while he polished his 'imperial necklace'), "I am wearing my AWESOME clothes, and they make me AWESOME."
(I suspect that the size of Megazord's guns makes him feel all warm and fuzzy, judging by the dimensions of the equipment he strapped on to go and practice his skills).
While his friend, RanRan Torres reflected, "Only my friends make me feel like that (warm and fuzzy)." Their companion, Cecilia Franciosa said, "I'm grateful for my loves, as they're also my friends."
Talk turned to Identity Verification and the group observed how they had tried to talk to the Lindens about this issue, but had been frustrated in being directed to several Lindens, who, each in turn, referred them on to other Lindens.
As we chatted, RanRan announced, "Uhhh, this topic is making me angry! lol Let's go chop each other up Megs!"
So here ends another perfectly delightful evening in SL ... some of us feeling "warm and fuzzy" with our friends (like old-timer AlterKatze Barnstormer, and other running through chambers looking for someone to dominate us, and yet others, having a perfectly wonderful time "chopping one another up for fun!"
