Running away with the Pirates

Yes. I was captured by pirates. Well, one pirate. A "Purple-Eyed Pirate" to boot. He took me to the pirate port city of Laura in Gor and collared me there. Took away all my lovely silks and has me walking around naked, except for the slave papers tied to my thigh. Restricted, he says. For his use only. And if I allow myself to be raped (allow? really?), he will throw me away, he says, make me a coin girl in the taverns. Been there, done that, no thanks! Guess I will start carrying a broom with me to defend myself. Apparently slaves can't even carry a nail file let alone a dagger.

Still, he seems like a nice enough Master. Firm, yet kind. Looks a bit like Johnny Depp/Captain Jack Sparrow. Hot. /me fans my face and whistles

Let's see where this path... er... ship? takes me.

Recap...

It has been a while so I thought I ought to log in and catch you up on what this girl has been up to. First a bit of a recap....

My RL life took a turn for the weird this year... and for stress relief I have found myself in SL
more of late. Now here's the thing: I have been role playing in SL for a while. First it was Firefly sims with "D", then Startrek sims with my friend Mandy. And if you've been keeping up you know I began playing in Gor this year.

The whole Gor thing started as an accident. Sort of. my first few weeks in SL I fell in love--they call it the SL effect--had a torrid affair in SL. Three years worth. When he dumped me, I was broken. Then I thought maybe we could be friends, and for a while we were. Sort of. Back just before he told me to go away, he was building in Gor and roleplaying there. I admit my first interest in Gor was hoping to bump into him. Maybe. See if he was there. But he never was. Sadly, I will always mourn the loss of his friendship. I still think of him; I suspect I will for the rest of my life. But life goes on. This summer I decided to try the Gor thing in earnest.

I began my SL career seven years ago as a "courtesan." In Firefly I played a "licensed companion." In Star Trek an Orion Slave Girl (it's not easy being green!). I like flirting and men with intelligence. Men who can hold a conversation. Men with imagination, and a sense of humor. (I also blame D for spoiling me there. He set the bar rather high!)  What being in Gor has taught me is that in my heart of hearts, I am a submissive. I like playing the role of "slave." It also taught me that I am very very picky about "Masters."

I tried being a city slave girl in a couple of Gorean sims. Not so much fun.  Most of the time the men are busy running around raiding or being raided, the free women are hiding in the basements when they are not belittling the slaves, and the slaves keep scrubbing the floors waiting for the fireworks to end so they can go back to pouring wine. No one talks to or flirts with slaves. It is all "come here slut/beast and do X."

In July I took one man's collar. That turned out badly. While collared to that Master I met a Jarl who told me he would claim me someday. I've been chatting with him off and on in IM since (and I like the conversations), but I haven't seen him since day one although he is online every time I log in. How long does a girl wait to be claimed? In the Gor Hub I met another Master who was interesting and we talked about the philosophy of being a slave/sub in RL. But he wants a slave in RL as well as SL, has a bunch of girls who fly across the country to be with him for days at a time in RL. Nice guy, but I am NOT into that.

So now I am between Masters. Hanging out in the Gor Hub. Hoping for... Hmmm... I don't know what I am hoping for....

SL Places to Visit: Grendel's Children

Tsai at Grendel's Children
Originally uploaded by Tsai Jie

Grendel's Children is a gorgeous sim for the inner monster in all of us. Visit their elaborate series of skyboxes and see what a talented builder can do with sculpted prims.

An Apology to Ms. LilyBell Snoodle

Dear Readers, I have perpetrated a grave injustice on a lovely and delightful Lady Genetic Construct. Yesterday, when I told you all about my visit to the Firefly Bar, I mistakenly referred to LilyBell Snoodle, the beautiful bartender there as a "Neko." Which just goes to show we should never make assumptions about someone based on ears alone. Mind you, the adorable ears do make one form assumptions, but as Lily herself told me in a comment on my blog post: "Her am not a cat!"

According to her blog LilyBell is in fact a genetic construct. Now I am not sure what exactly a genetic construct is, but it seems to have something to do with Recombinant DNA, a computer, the Reavers, and a (cat?) collar. According to her blog, "She was created to achieve one thing and one thing only. But her designer and creator (his name is Mindo but that's another story for another time) had his own agenda. Not a bad guy, Mindo. Just a little...well...a romantic at heart I suppose one could say. And he loved his creation." And what Lily was created to do was to mate. With a computer.

Not so unusual to those of us living second lives. Some of us mate with computers. . . or rather use computers to mate with each other . . . all the time! We call it virtual sex.

In Lily's case, however, something went wrong, someone pushed a button on her collar, and "Pressing the 'recombine' switch was effectively a 'reboot' - Lily as she was known and as she knew herself would go away and the genes used in her creation would recombine in a new sequence. She's still be in there...just a bit in disarray if you'll forgive the pun."

You can read more about LilyBell's adventures at: http://lilybellsnoodle.blogspot.com./

And to you, Ms. LilyBell, I do hope you will forgive my misunderstanding on the nature of your being and accept my apologies. You do serve a fine sake there at Firefly, and I intend to return for another sample!

The Firefly Bar in Blackburne

Last night I was sitting alone in Jhai's airship sipping a cup of tea when Corwyn IMed and asked me if I wanted to check out the bar he'd be frequenting lately. The bar is called Firefly and is part of a role-playing sim based on the Firefly TV series / Serenity movie by Joss Whedon.

Now Whedon's Firefly is one of my all time favorites, sort of like comfort TV for me. When I am down, I snuggle into a fuzzy blanket on the couch and watch all the episodes while eating Jarlsberg cheese dip on rice crackers and sipping green tea. So how could I not go?

The place was not crowded at first, and we were treated to a dance on stage by one of the lovely ladies there. Corwyn flirted with Pariah, one of the dancers, and I checked out the guys, a fairly rugged bunch. The bartender, a very witty Neko Genetic Construct named LilyBell, gave me an excellent sake, and later, after my friend Brise joined Corwyn and I, she treated our table to a nice sparkly champagne. I even got a bit tipsy. By the end of the evening there was a full dance floor, lots of people having fun and making friends. Just the kind of place you want to be on a Saturday night.

As it turns out the bar is only a small part of this sim moon which has some interesting things to explore. Post-apocalytic buildings, caves, and even shopping! I wandered a bit after Corwyn logged off and apparently stumbled into a forbidden area because i got shot at by a flying robot drone that then chased me away. A new experience, being chased by non-humans and for reasons other than sex! I may have to go again tonight just to see what the action is on a Sunday.

Visit the Firefly Bar in Blackburne at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blackburne/215/123/38

An evening in Amatsu Shima

Amatsu Shima is a beautiful sim based in Medieval Japan. One of my oldest friends, Corwyn, is a hogosha to a Geisha house there and a member of the group that does recreation of Japanese history and culture.


Tonight he took me to see the new teahouse he had built. A lovely little building that could hold a tea master and four guests for a traditional Chado or Tea Ceremony. The landscaping around the teahouse including a beautiful little waterfall, was done by Suzanne Logan, who runs the geisha house and school there. The garden has a bamboo grove, flowered walkways, and a sweet little bench where we sat and chatted watching herons in The ocean waves crashing on the rocks, a cat circling among the flowers and the rocky paths, and two friends having quiet conversation. A lovely evening in all.

SL Sociology 101 by Corwyn Allen

[The following is an article written by an RL friend of mine who has recently discovered SL and who, familiar with the many masks of role-play, has taken a close look at what he sees in the world of SL fantasy. --Tsai]

All the World’s a Stage

So here I am, chatting up this lovely young avatar in Second Life, telling her how I’m going to eventually buy some land and start building a place of my own when she asks me, “So what will you be role-playing?” I had to take a long pause. I’d never heard that question asked in SL. Granted, I’ve only been playing a scant few months, but still, it’s not even a question I’d asked myself. Why? Because to me SL *is* role-playing. I mean, here we are, taking new names, creating new bodies for our avatars, and putting on clothing (or in some cases taking it off) that we’d never be able to wear in Real Life (RL from here on out). We’re creating characters that are sometimes extensions of how we see ourselves in our minds' eye, and sometimes characters that are so far away from who we are as to be completely unrecognizable by even the creators of that character. Then we create personal spaces, homes that are castles or pagodas, or high rise apartment buildings, sometimes even floating in the sky. And let’s not forget the virtual sex. It turns phone sex into a cheap date. Now if that isn’t role-playing, I’m not sure I know what is. To me, all of SL is role-playing no matter what you personally do with it.

You Can Lead a Horticulture…

I guess that needs clarification. There are many more different cultures in SL than one can ever find outside of science fiction or fantasy novels in RL. There are of course those that spill over from RL, the Goths, the Vampires, the Furries and others who inhabit Sci-Fi Cons (science fiction conventions to the initiated). These people create their own spaces and avatars that emulate what they do to a lesser degree in RL. The Nekos, or Cat People, are one example. These folks create avatars that look like Anime humanoid cats. I have seen examples of people in RL getting piercings and tattoos and even skin implants to emulate given animals, like one man who had implants put into his upper lip so he could attach cat whiskers, and then got cat’s eye contact lenses and wears ears and fur and cat makeup. And a guy who got an all body tattoo to resemble lizard scales and skin implants to make his head more lizard-like. These are considered extreme in RL, but in SL it’s all par for the course because the ears, whiskers, and even tails become part of your SL body. And you don’t need to mutilate your RL body to do it. In fact you can change your body any time you want. I only wish I had the physique in RL that I have given myself in SL. Woo-hoo!

Tripping the Light Fantasia

But let’s not forget the folks who just go for a relatively normal appearance. Ok, so there’s nothing “normal” about everyone looking like they just stepped out of Cosmo or Today’s Man, but that’s not the point. No one in SL, at least no one I’ve yet encountered, ever builds an avatar that looks enough like themselves in RL that you could put their RL picture up next to their SL picture and not be able to tell them apart. They want an idealized version of themselves. So even if they don’t go Goth or Neko or LGM from outer space they’re still a fantasy character.

So what does that mean? It means that we’re here for the fantasy. We can do things in SL we can’t do in RL. I’d love to be able to fly without having to use an airplane or even have wings. I’d love to be able to teleport from one place to another. But more than that, I’d love to be able to chat up or flirt with a pretty young woman I’ve never met without fear of getting hit with a sexual harassment suit, or just plain hit. (Ow!) But it’s even more than that. We’re here for the relationships. So let’s talk about that.

There are all kinds of things one can do in SL with a partner (or partners if that’s your thing). From simple cuddling on some cushions, to dancing to . . . well, you get the idea. And there are graphic, um, aids, that can enhance these experiences. And this leads to arousal of varying degrees in RL. I have to admit to feeling aroused while slow dancing with a pretty avatar. Just watching the avatars interact can be very stimulating. And once you get to intimate chatting with your partner the experience increases.

Only the Lonely?

So why do we come to SL to do this? I think because in many cases we simply can’t do it in RL. Oh sure, we might be able to if the opportunity presented itself, but that’s the point. For some people that opportunity is not going to present itself in RL for a variety of reasons. One person may not be what is considered physically attractive. Another may have the social skills of a goat. Yet another may simply be afraid of social encounters. But in SL you can find those opportunities in wild abundance. The chances for casually intimate (no, that’s not an oxymoron) relationships in SL are as abundant as wild flowers in a spring meadow. Let’s revisit the avatar’s appearance for a minute. Someone is going to build the most attractive avatar for themselves that they can. They've created a flower to attract butterflies. In RL they may not be that pretty flower and the people they would want to attract in RL wouldn’t give them the time of day. But in SL it’s easy. And once people come up to you or allow you to approach them the door is open to further social interaction.

But it’s not all about the appearance. That’s just the initial attractor. Remember I said that our characters are extensions of our RL selves. How we physically see ourselves in our own minds. So once the initial virtual pheromone has been sent out by way of the appearance of the avi (short for avatar) one now has to introduce the persona. We have to speak and act a certain way in order to maintain the attractiveness. Some personae, once they open their virtual mouths immediately turn other persons off no matter how attractive they are (gee, just like in RL). Still others have a way with words that enhance the visual attractiveness. This is what I call the Romance Factor.

Romancing the Grid

I think we are all looking for romance in one form or another. For some romance can take the form of the casual liaison or even just sex, virtual or otherwise (I have to pause here and quote a favorite writer, Spider Robinson, who had one of his characters comment on making love vs. just plain having sex as saying, “I tried fucking. There’s nothing wrong with it. There’s just not enough right with it”). For others it’s all about how the person you’re with makes you feel by what they say to you and how they phrase it. Some people in SL are looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend that they can’t manage to find in RL. Someone who makes them feel special or cherished. They come to SL because they’re lonely and need that romantic lift in their lives. They need to be able to speak openly and freely without fear of the consequences or repercussions one might encounter in RL. Some want to have multiple and varied partners perhaps because they don’t want to be tied to one avi or because their own fantasies cover different venues, one time being an elegant Regency Period gentleman, the next a Medieval Lord or a Harley Biker with a jet pack. The roles can change in SL. They don’t have to be static. And so the Romance Factor is further enhanced.

Lookin’ for Love in all the Virtual Spaces

We must, however be sure not to confuse virtual romance with real love. And of course that brings us to an interesting question. Just what is love and how does it equate through feeling romantic in a game? I’m not sure I know the answer to that. (Anyone? Bueller?) I think there is a danger of “falling in love” with an avatar as opposed to the persona behind the avatar. I’ve known at least one real person who has come to love an SL persona, but their relationship, while totally electronic (they live in different part of the country and have never met outside SL), has been fulfilling for both and they have related on both an SL and an RL level. This is a romance between the real people behind the personae, not just between role-played avatars or those avatars' personae.

In any case, I think one should approach SL relationships with caution. Feelings can be just as fragile in the virtual world as in the real. Be up front and be honest. You may find it’s much easier in SL than in RL. In fact, SL may actually make social interaction easier for the person who is more socially inept in RL who can interact here with people up front and honestly without being overtly offensive or worse, being terrified to act at all.

The Final Frontier

In summation, what we have is a lot of people leading dull, dreary, lonely or just plain uninteresting Real Lives looking for the excitement of romance in a personally tailored Second Life. But unlike RL, in SL you can put less in and get more out of it. But of course SL isn’t inhabited by only those looking for romance. A good time can be had by all, and that good time varies with personal interests. The intent of this article is to only focus on the role-playing and romance aspects of SL.

So at the end of the day we find ourselves drawn to our fantasies, be they bodice-ripping romance novels, a favorite television show in which we become invested in the characters on the screen, or Second Life. The real world around is vast, but at the same time too constricting. We must obey the laws, whether of physics or of government. We must be aware that in RL one person’s charming conversation is another person’s sexist or racist remark. If you bump into someone you should ask their pardon, and you can’t walk under water. But in SL, if at first you don’t succeed, redraw your avi and start again. No one is going to have you arrested, or sent to court and fined, and the worst that can happen is that you can get booted off SL for abuse (see their terms of agreement). You can do a lot with SL as long as you remember it’s only a role-playing fantasy and RL is still out there waiting for you to get up on Monday morning and go to work so you can continue to pay for your SL account and Internet access. Just a final word of caution; be careful about letting your SL spill over into your RL. That man you’re kissing may just turn out to be a woman.

Second Life Places To Visit: Grendel's Children Revisited

A week ago I told you about a lovely sim called Grendel's Children, well . . . since then I have had the chance to revisit that place, explore it further, and it is even more impressive than I thought. Grendel's is the brainchild of Flea Bussy who has made a secondlife career of unique avatar design. From dragons to dark fae, robots to raptors, sirens to succubi, trolls to tanks, you can find anything you can envision becoming in Grendel's. In a recent interview with Not Possible in Real Life, Flea says that: "I'm one of those people who's bread and butter is imagination. I always wanted to make, say, 'stuff for video games,' a very common dream of teens 'n such, 'n then you grow up realizing it's not easy, and not like you'll just get scooped up by some game company 'n be all hailed. And, over a bit of time, I realized I'd hate (it) if all the things I invented existed as they do in 90% of games to: 'just kill it.'" Fortunately for us, Flea diecovered Second Life. Now, 4 sims and 800 avatars later, here's Grendel's Children with Flea and a staff of 23 builders cranking out some of the coolest avs in SL, as well as building and nmaintaining a vast and gorgeous landscape to role play those marvelous creations in.

This is me in my new Lust Demon hair, eyes, and wings from the av collection there.

There are three floors of skybox shops in Grendel's, and all the avs come with full pacakges of skins, shapes, hair, eyes, and clothing--most of them for under $100, and many of them for free.

Don't just take my word for it!

• See some of the amazing pictures of Grendel's on Arahan Claveau's Flickr set.
• Read Natalia Zelmanov's extensive post about Grendel's Children in her Mermaid Diaries!
• See what Lillie Guildenstern has to say about the sim and her new siren av in her Lilikin's Blog.

And then just go visit it yourself in Avaria!

Hot Sex Trends Worth Trying: Fulfill a Phone Fantasy

From the pages of Cosmo Magazine online comes this tidbit of advice that may be well worth applying to your love life in SL. . . .

Hot Sex Trends Worth Trying: Fulfill a Phone Fantasy

These days everyone and their dog has a cell phone. Okay, maybe not everyone. More like 156.6 million Americans over the age of 12, according to the global market-research group GfK NOP. But how is our main mode of communication impacting our sex lives? Turns out, it's making couples more courageous. "Interacting via technology rather than face-to-face provides an anonymity that often makes it easier for partners to express their desires," explains Lisa B. Schwartz, Ph.D., a sex therapist in private practice in Pennsylvania. "More couples seem to be exploring this freedom and sharing fantasies this way."
If the thought of partaking in phone play leaves you kind of speechless, this passion plan will loosen you up. First thing in the morning, lock your guy in for the evening with a firm text message. (Cancel your plans. U R mine 2nite.) At noon, divulge more of your pleasure plot in a second text (My place. 8. Bring a necktie and whipped cream).
When he shows up at 7:25 (the man will be eager, girl), grab the props, make him comfortable on the sofa and quickly retreat to another room. Then dial him up on his cell from behind closed doors and tell him step-by-step exactly what you wish you were doing to him ("I want to tie you to my bedpost and lick whipped cream off every last inch of you"). Keep up the delicious banter until he has no choice but to hang up and barge right in.



Now how to translate that to SL? For one thing, before you even hit the virtual bedroom start in IMs telling him what you want to do to him when you see him. Just as the Cosmo Tip suggested build the anticipation for him.

Let's face it, SL is basically phone sex when you use voice. Use the private call feature in SL voice. Your sim doesn't have voice enabled, you say? NP! Get your partner to load Gtalk, or AIM, Yahoo Messenger or any other voice capable chat program that both of you can run. Then run your voice conversation separate from your SL role play. In fact the connection is often cleaner and clearer through a chat program than in SL voice.

Why add this dimension of sound? Believe me when I say it is an incredible turn on to hear your partner's pleasure. No more typing of an emote (/me moans softly)--just do it! Hearing your partner's voice can help you gauge his responses better, too. Is he quiet, not saying much? Take a different tactic. Move from vaginal to oral sex talk. Is he saying "yes, oh god, yes!" in that I-am-going-to-explode tone of voice as you tell him what you are doing to him? Then you are heading in the right direction. Voice adds a whole new sensation to SL sex. Give it a listen!