Well, to get this blog-thing rolling, I've decided to kick it off by starting the 100 THEME CHALLENGE!
⊱✿ 1. Introduction ✿⊰
Greetings fellow interwebs traveler! My name is Ｓａｓｈａ and I'm currently involved in an interactive social simulator known as "Second Life". Perhaps you've heard of it,
" Second Life is an online virtual world, developed and owned by Linden Lab. It has about 1 million regular users, according to Linden Lab. In many ways, Second Life is similar to MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), Linden Lab is emphatic that their creation is not a game: “There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective”. The virtual world can be accessed freely via Linden Lab's own client programs, or via alternative Third Party Viewers; Phoenix Firestorm. Second Life users create virtual representations of themselves, called avatars (also called Residents) and are able to interact with other avatars, places or objects. They can explore the world (known as the grid), meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, build, create, shop and trade virtual property and services with one another. It is a platform that principally features 3D-based user-generated content. SL also had its own virtual currency, the Linden Dollar – which was exchangeable with real world currency. Second Life is intended for people aged 16 and over, with the exception of 13–15-year-old users restricted to the Second Life region of a sponsoring institution (e.g. school)." - Wikipedia
I've been on SL for over 2 years and have watched the community and creativity grow in the vast community by leaps and bounds - especially now that MESH is available to use. I still have much more to see and do as new things and events are created EVERY DAY.
( Due to RL moving, I had to go on hiatus for 2 ½ months, but now I'm back and want to continue where I left off - exploring new places, seeing all the new things, and meeting a ton of new people. :3 )
Prior to signing up, I did a TON of research to try to better understand the world/environment of second life, as well as simple things like keyboard controls (how to move around), in-game camera controls (how to look around), what viewers were out there that would best suit my computer (like Phoenix Firestorm - which has an excellent filing system that you'll need desperately once you have a lot in your inventory!), and much, MUCH more. I strongly suggest you do the same to familiarize yourself with things BEFORE going in headfirst.
To any newbies out there, I suggest keeping the SECOND LIFE WIKI bookmarked, and refer to it often when you have a question, or just Google your problem. There's a great chance someone else has encountered your issue and has figured it out. ;) Each viewer also has it's own wiki for Q&A troubleshooting, so refer to those for further instructions.
⊱✿ Avatars ✿⊰
When I finally joined I was pleased to see that SL had a wide variety of free, beginner default avatars of both genders, and some of no gender.
(female & male default avis)
I chose a gothic vampiress as my beginner avi and took off. It was a bit of a rocky start, but with the greatly appreciated assistance of an experienced player I met, (Sam Dragoone) I was soon off to a great start. =^.^=
As of now, I've helped my own share of newbies get on their feet and begin exploring and enjoying the vast virtual world I've come to know and love.
As for myself, and my own avi, I chose a variety of avis to suit both occasion and my mood. (In-world as such is usually referred to as a "shapeshifter" to less complicate things either in chat or your bio.)
♥ Fox ♥
♥ Doe ♥
♥ Snow-Felis ♥
♥ Draft Horse ♥
♥ Sergal ♥
♥ Fawn ♥
♥ Human Female ♥
♥ Sabertooth ♥
♥ Border Collie ♥
♥ Miku ♥
The majority of my avis are anthropomorphic (antho) animals because I've found I enjoy being "Furry" much more so, and have enjoyed the community. (In a world that you can literally be WHATEVER you want, why not? ;D)
In RL (real life - eg: offline life) I would say I'm not really a furry, more in the fringes of it as a Neko (Catgirl). At home, I like to wear a cute collar, cat ears, and a tail. When I go out, I sometimes wear the cat-ears, but not usually. My family has come to terms with my lifestyle, and my friends support me wholeheartedly. My sweetheart absolutely LOVES it. X3
⊱✿ Likes & Dislikes ✿⊰
♥ Friends & the community
♥ The wonderful art that can be found!
♥ Building her own characters
♥ Her sweetheart ;p
♥ Taking photos of the different places she visits
♥ Going to the clubs to dance and listen to excellent music by the talented DJ's
♥ Going to educational lectures (shit's useful as fuck bro. forealz)
♥ PROGRAMMING 8D (best part. Fucking 10/10 )
♥ Sex (I use the site called F-List to convey quickly what I do and don't like - https://www.f-list.net/c/sasha-grimlkin/ I strongly recommend everyone to make one, furry or not. It really helps ^-^ )
♥ Learning how to mod stuff
♥ Building stuff
♥ The water (when I got a better graphics card, I wanted to swim in the water forealz sooooo bad XD )
♥ Being a sexy Mofo ;P
♥ Literate people (Seriously guys... Good spelling & grammer goes a hella long way...)
♥ D&D/Pathfinder type games, oodles of syfy/fantasy shows, Anime & Manga, Minecaft, Skyrim, comic books, etc.
♥ Roleplays (both sexual & non)
✘ Pushy guys who only want sex... -___-; Shit's annoying as fuck... (No, I'm not here to be your personal sex toy. Contrary to popular belief, I AM A HUMAN BEING WITH SHIT TO DO THAT'S NOT YOU. ಠ____ಠ )
✘ How a lot of human avis look the same✘ Assholes and "trolls" - especially "trolls" in sandboxes or dedicated "safe zones".
✘ "Furry Haters" and "Furry Abuse Trolls"
✘ People who upload and sell copyrighted content. (Not cool guys, not cool....)
✘ Illiterate people (N0 u cnt tlk lik dis. U finshd 2nd grde, SO FRIGGING SPELL LIKE IT. ಠ____ಠ )
✘ People who leave their frigging mic on all the goddamn time... (Nobody wants to hear you breathe, eat, drink, cough, shit, or you kids in the background... Just fucking stop pleeeease...)
✘ Overpriced stuff
✘ The $10L image upload price & $30L buying Lindens tax (Yes, I understand why they're there, I just don't personally like it)
✘ People who try to use a blanket IM 'disclaimer' in their bio (Linden Labs has a specific rule stating that you CANNOT post an IM or video of anyone anywhere else on the web WITHOUT the individual's prior consent. Some people wish to bypass this by stating in a 'disclaimer' their bio that they have the right to post whatever they want whenever they feel like it. REGARDLESS of this idiotic 'disclaimer', which holds no grounds, if you do so and are reported, you can lose your account and be permanently banned from SL.)
✘ Some of the tacky images & gifs used in-world. (As a graphic designer & webmaster, this hurts me deeply... Any fellow graphic artists will sympathize...)
Despite all the bad, there's certainly more good to look forward to all the time. :)
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