Here there be Dragons... Part III

The dragons seem to have made Blacklist their home. And they've invited some friends. The only empty space big enough for them is by the water tower, and that gets crowded, as well.

The four dragons spent an hour or so breathing smoke, fire and steam on eachother, flying around the city, and wandering the narrow streets of Blacklist - pouncing and nuzzling, and killing campers. Moody creatures, these dragons.

The second image is of Hyang and I, in the full adult versions of the dragon species that you saw in Part I of this series of posts. The other dragons had left the city... this just seemed like a good photo opportunity.

Here there be Dragons... Part II

Something strange has appeared at The Blacklist Bar... up on the roof, where so many people will be unaware... until its too late...

These two eggs appeared... giant things... then two more... I think they're dragon eggs!

Hyang and I both got lucky, and won the dragon lottery. We both ended up buying a second dragon avatar, after picking up our species of choice. Hyang chose Steam and Spirit. I chose Astral and Fire.

In the top image, you see the first two eggs. In the bottom, we've hatched, and are roaming the city, watching over our puny friend, Jo.

So, on your next visit to Blacklist, you may find one or two of four dragons, guarding the city... or... setting it ablaze...

Confused States

We all try to find our way here in Second Life. It seems, there can be struggles here, as in Real Life. The feelings that come about from these struggles are real. The friendships that you struggle to hold onto are real. And the surprising new friends that show up, out of the blue, well... they are real, too.

I see struggles of others here. Those struggles impact me... I care for people, here. It's not love... at least, not for me - not in Real Life. The thing is, life in SL moves so fast... our brains aren't made to adjust so rapidly to changing feelings. When that wall starts to crumble, and the immersion grows, you take on the persona of your avatar. You start to feel the love. And the loss. And the confusion. It takes effort to put both feet firmly in RL, and regain a footing. When you can't seem to make that effort, the help of SL friends can ground you.

You met one of my grounding influences in my previous post. There is another, recently. A special friend of the last few weeks. She's much more than a pleasant diversion. She grounds me... keeps me from floating away, lost in thoughts.

I'm grounded, now. I've identified my demons. They are chained nearby. Just out of reach.

More later.

Awesome Friends, Part 1

I've been meaning to post about some of my friends for a long time. Some of my friends here in Second Life mean a lot to me. How do you boil the essence of that meaning down into a blog post? That's why its taking so long. I was going to make one long post that talked about a half-dozen or so of my friends... but that wouldn't do any of them justice. Instead... when the mood hits me, I'll post on just one.

That's me on the left. You already know me. Move along... Lisa is on the right... Click the pic to zoom in on her hotness. :D

Lisa is the first person I "connected" with in a sincere way in Second Life. Sexy, funny and flirtatious, and caring and real. Sure, there's the fun, in-character stuff... but Lisa was there when I had a real-life crisis... not some SL drama... she was a virtual shoulder to cry on. I never expected to find that here. I found it in Lisa. I think I've been able to return the favor, in small ways.

I met Lisa way back in March. I walked into a crowded club, and "heard" this "voice" flirting with the crowd. I was taken by her outgoing personality immediately... before I even saw where the "voice" was coming from. Before I even saw her on the stage, she welcomed me warmly to the club. I stayed for a bit, chatting and flirting, as others came and went. I made it a point to go back to that club the next night. And the next. It wasn't long before we became fast friends.

Cuddling and chatting with Lisa, while the world moves on by in Second Life... the time just flies by. She grounds me, and yet I can feel high when I'm with her. She's an awesome friend.

Blacklist Opening Party

Top picture: hmmm... I can identify Sindy, Punkkitty, me, BooT, Hyang, Alysa and Bally. I can't see clearly who the others are.

Second picture: Alysa, Hyang, me and Celti. Yes, I'm the only naked one.


The day has come, finally... and it has gone.

We opened Blacklist yesterday. Kicked it off with a big party. We had enough people that we danced in the streets instead of the bar... As you can see.. as the day wore on, some of us got a little frisky and started to strip and dance on the flatbed.

For over two hours, we had people coming and going, dancing and partying, and exploring our city while solving the riddle contained in a scavenger hunt. A total of 3500 L$ was awarded to the solvers of the riddle. Lisa wrote awesome background for the hunt, Bally provided the technical gizmos needed, and I had to work on a couple of items that served as clues.

As near as I can tell, we had around 100 people wander in and out during our event. And we had 32 people here at once. The sim lagged a little, but it was tolerable. Not bad, considering all those avies were dancing on the same street corner.

So, we're open now. The first party has ended... but the partying has just begun.

We Interrupt This Program...

No picture for this post. No event or person to talk about. Nothing like that. I'm waxing philosophical.

Second Life is a huge social experiment. I would guess that it has not evolved as Linden Labs intended. They merely uncorked the bottle. The genie spilled out, and the world has taken on a sort of evolutionary, swarming, artificial intelligence.

The value of Second Life is in its openness. The freedom to explore - not only a virtual world, but one's self, as well. You can truly be all you can be in Second Life. There are no limitations. There are no inhibitions. Only a few liabilities. Social constraints do not apply. The rules are lax. You can be free to live dangerously... to live life on the edge. What happens in Second Life stays in Second Life. It's kinda like Vegas.

Sometimes, shit happens. You become immersed. You lose perspective. Second Life becomes real. Real life is pushed to the background... a dark blur in your periphery. Maybe because First Life sucks that week... and Second Life is more fun. It can be unhealthy. And when you start taking Second Life too seriously, your Second Life friends notice.

This Social Experiment called Second Life slaps its residents around, from time to time. Usually, it is momentary unpleasantness. Then you go on living your dual life, like nothing ever happened. Sometimes, it leaves a small scar - a reminder to watch your step in the future.

Most of the time, though, Second Life is a fascinating virtual world. You make real and lasting connections... develop attachments to virtual friends from different countries around the globe. You can work, side by side, with these distant friends - creating fantastic virtual landscapes. Global, virtual collaboration! Bringing together people with different cultural backgrounds and completely different lives to accomplish something beautiful. How cool is that?

Second Life removes political and social boundaries. It removes distance. It sets everyone in-world on equal footing. It is a fantastic socio-cultural learning experience. The "place" of others in this world matters not. It's about making connections with diverse people. This is something that, not long ago, was not possible in any meaningful way.

I yearn for this type of philosophical discussion in-world. So many people see the whole thing as a toy or a game. On the surface, it is... but the power of diversity is at hand. Don't let it pass you by. Interact. Talk sociology. Talk culture. Philosophize. There is a world of knowledge at your fingertips. Give a little, and take a little.

Linden Labs must tread carefully with their creation. Their genie has escaped and evolved. The social experiment is in the wild. It cannot be stopped. The genie can't be put back in the bottle and the bottle cannot be capped. Nor should it be.

Ninjas, Nekos and Catwalks

I've been a neko in Second Life for quite some time... but I do like to change things up a little. I've been looking for a good ninja outfit for a while. Seems if I can't be a neko, ninja might be the next best thing, no? Or.. maybe... neko ninja!

Anyway, my new friend Alysa took me gun shopping (see her Lost in Thoughts blog posting on that ;p), and then took me shopping for Ninja stuff! I know, ninjas and guns... not a great mix... but I believe in being prepared!

Whether its the neko in me, or the ninja.. I'm not sure.. but I kinda liked the idea when someone installed catwalks in the new Blacklist. Gives me places to creep around. We needed to make some adjustments to the initial layout, to minimize the impact on the city... but its very cool.

So, next time you're in Blacklist... beware! You could be being stalked from above. Nekos and Ninjas in Blacklist.. Oh My!

-Shye

Here there be Dragons...

Hyang and I, in dragon avies, blowing off steam, you might say... as we ponder some tasty visitors to Blacklist.

Big Feet

My neko friend, Livie, is being all kitten-ish. But her feet don't fit in the box! Maybe she's not a kitten, but she looks cute in the box, anyway.

New Projects, New Friends, and Paradigm Shifts

The Blacklist is a bar that has existed in Second Life, in some form or another, for quite a while. Its last incarnation expired in July, when the old Dark City evaporated from Deviant. I never went to the bar in its heyday, only in it's waning moments. But, I hear, it was quite the hangout.

Three of my best friends and I decided to bring the club back, and rebuild a city around it. This is not a recreation of the original Blacklist. It is not a replication of the original Dark City. The build is our own...

It started with Hyang... who had the crazy idea to bring it back. Hyang mentioned this idea to me back in July... said we needed to talk to Bally... one of the builders and owners of the original Blacklist. Hyang was talking about the bar... not the city.

I mentioned the idea to Bally the next time I saw her. She started talking about building a city, building attractions, vendor spots, etc... and how the original Dark City grew from a tiny spot on the map to most of a sim...

Never did I imagine, in August, that Hyang, Bally, Lisa (another dear friend with connections to the original Blacklist) and I would embark on an adventure to build a new bar... and build a city around it.

With about $500 USD between us, we purchased a 16k parcel of land in Shaitan, bought a few building supplies, bought another 1k of land to bank its prims, and kept some money on account to pay tier fees until the city is self-sufficient.

Hyang and Lisa didn't want to build... they just wanted the excitement of something new. Bally and I got excited about the build... and expected a build time of 6 - 8 weeks.

We set to building on August 23... Bally and I, with Hyang looking on. We had a surprise visit from Darkchylde, the original builder of Dark City, who left SL some time ago, as we were laying the first prims.

Then I talked to my roomie, Hirundo. She's relatively new to building, like me... we do okay, given time. Then Viola came on board. Then I convinced Nedreck to join in... then Selena and Alysa. Ned contributed some Lindens, then Jo bought some land... the build progressed for 10 days, by which time all of the major structures were complete, most of the secondary structures were well on their way, and a process of optimizing the prims began in earnest.

I still can't believe what we've done in less than two weeks. The Blacklist, except for a few details, is complete. The city is 90% finished. Only detail work and prim shaving remains. And signing up some vendors. And holding a gigantic party...

Along the way, I've met some new friends... Viola, who I sorta knew before.. but not really... Selena, who seems to have a knack for building that she didn't really tell me about when I asked her to join us... Alysa, who has an adorable sense of humor and good building sense, as well... All new friends in an all new place.

Each of us brings something to the project... whether it be money, ideas, skills, or management ability. Only a few of us knew each other well at the start, yet we worked harmoniously. Each of us has friends who have visited. Those friends have brought friends. The old Blacklist group members are finding us... checking us out... our traffic is good, and we haven't even announced ourselves to the grid.

We have the Blacklist bar. We have a working cinema. We have a macabre doll factory... a liquor store, a chinese restaurant, a hobo village, a hotel, a working basketball court, and shops which echo in their emptiness (until we fill them).

I find that I'm happy in Second Life, again. I was in a rut. I would log in, not wanting to go back to the same old haunts. Don't get me wrong... I've met some good people at those places. And I still go back to them. But I have something else now. Something new and fresh. With new faces as well as old friends.

It's a paradigm shift. Once, I went to other people's places, and accepted a world as they wanted it to be. Now, I have a place where I can influence not only the game... but the playing field and the rules, as well. It's not a God thing, because I am but one member of a team. But this team has created a world, defined its shape and purpose, and made something good and exciting.

Welcome to the new Blacklist, Shaitan. Opening for business, sometime this month... (but stop in any time you like).