Ageplay, RPing–another rant

So I read a blog on “ageplay” in SL and how the blog writer is creeped out by it. I think first I need to clarify what the blogger meant by ageplay and what I mean by it.

To the author of the blog, “ageplay” meant any adult pretending to be a child (as in, having a child avatar) in any capacity at all, sexual or otherwise.

To me, and to LL, “ageplay” means pretending to be a child (again, having a child avatar) for sexual purposes. That does NOT include being an adult and having an adult avatar who wears pigtails and a school uniform. It means the whole “want some candy little girl?” thing being played out.

“Who?”

I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

–Emily Dickinson

Me at iheartsl: Living the Dream is closing.
iheartsl: Who?

Me at Puzzle Pirates: Ardea has left already, but I’m saying a late goodbye.
Puzzle Pirates: Who?

Me at ProfileSLive: Come hear our band!
ProfileSLive: Who?

I’ll be the first to admit it, I like a degree of obscurity. I like that this is not some hugely popular blog that gets hundreds of hits per day. I like that my sim gets a little, but not a lot, of traffic. Too much popularity invites grief and drama, and who the hell wants that? Clearly some people must, because if nobody wanted grief or drama there wouldn’t be any. Or, at least, there’d be way less.

So I’m perfectly content with “who?” or “I’ve heard the name before, but can’t for the life of me remember where…” Those who know me, I’m glad to know (mostly ). Those who don’t have better things to do than flame my blog–like, flaming someone else’s blog. Wait. Damn.

Cat Agus Cu LIVE today, noon SLT

Join Cat Agus Cu today as we help a friend with the Grand Opening of their new sim, Highland Decadance. Because it’s a kind of Scottish-heavy sim, we’re going to do a kind of Scottish-heavy set for them. Come and join us!

Highland Decadence Entry Point

If you can’t catch us inworld, have a listen at http://orange.neostreams.info:12958

About the venue: Highland Decadence is a mature medieval-style RP sim. Combat is suspended during OOC events (like live shows!). Garb is very much encouraged.

I got yer “limits” right here…

I’ve been a gamer for many years. Good god I don’t even know how many. I was playing D&D in high school, which was a long time ago (I won’t say HOW long; let’s just say I remember when they added the A and made it AD&D). I’m well familiar with the concept of RPing, probably moreso than a lot of people who bandy the word about today. And not just in the medium of dice and paper; I RPed on MUDs on Telnet, on forums, in chat, and on MMO games long previous to SL.

And never once, in literally decades, did I have to put anything in the way of “RP limits” anywhere in my profile. In fact, I’ve been in SL for a year now, and I’ve gotten away with not having to put such foolishness in my profile.

Well, tomorrow we got a gig in a sim that caters to tastes other than my own. They insist that it’s not Gor, ok, whatever, but its copious rules do mention that women “may be captured” if they don’t put RP Limits in their profile. I think it’s ridiculous sexist bullshit. But, as Floyd said in Muppet Treasure Island: just play the gig, man, don’t get into the politics.

But, to clear up any possible ambiguity, I’ve added the following to the front page of my profile:

“RP limits” huh? How about this: lay one fucking hand on me without my consent and you’ll be sipping all your remaining meals through a straw. Sound like a plan?

Bad Poetry (oh noetry)

Last night in a dream
You put your hands on my shoulders
looked me in the eyes
(your eyes were green)
Told me it’s going to be all right
And kissed me
(your mouth tasted like vanilla)
Just a kiss
A long
delicious
perfect kiss

And I woke up knowing
You’re not that guy
And to you I’m not that woman

And I sighed.

WTF of the day:

Australia apparently wants to attempt to legislate the world’s biggest anarchist experiment–the Internet–by imposing a ban on such things that are too “adult” for, you know, adults to have on their computers, as Second Life. The ruling propagandist argument is “protect the children”.

Un-fucking-believable.

http://notallpoppies.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/australia-to-ban-second-life/
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html

News Flash, Jackass(es)

There are men out there– women too, don’t get me wrong– who get themselves into one bad relationship after another, and then wail and cry that the problem is that they’re just too damn nice.

News flash: that’s not the problem.

These misguided souls have somewhere along the line been taught an incorrect definition of the word “nice”, I guess. When you’re nice to someone, you’re genuinely kind and helpful to them. You may not always put them ahead of yourself, but you really do think of their point of view and their feelings before acting in a way that affects them. When you’re nice to someone, you’re honest with them (even when it’s hard) and you’re honorable with them.

Never saying “no”, especially when you wish to, is not being nice. It’s not being honest. It leads the other person to think everything’s all right when it isn’t. It can lead to hopes built on false promises which will most certainly get dashed later.

Yesterday’s Festival – or, the Swan Naiant

I’m reminded yet again that Mistletoe’s personal arms should feature a swan naiant (swimming).

What everyone saw yesterday (up until the Crash From Hell in the middle of Cat Agus Cu’s set…) was a smooth-running and fun festival. Some new people have gotten an interest in fencing and joined the local fencing team, the archery tournament went over as planned, people got refreshments and enjoyed them during 2 and a half great shows, I hope the merchants got visited… all in all, a really fine and enjoyable time.

A couple of my closest friends get to see a bit more of what goes on behind the scenes. I get tired and frazzled, I get a fear of every possible thing that can go wrong, but I pretty much have a handle on things.

Archimides, god love him, sees every panicked motion of the feet below the surface of the water, so to speak. In order for the swan to glide so gracefully and apparently effortlessly over the water, those webbed feet are paddling to beat Jesus. It’s exhausting, nerve-wracking, even tearful sometimes. I’m so grateful to have someone who sees that side of things–because I trust him enough to show him–and is as supportive and patient and helpful as I could ever hope for. The “wind beneath my wings” is such a god-awful maudlin cliche. Archimides is much more than a god-awful maudlin cliche to me; he’s truly my partner and best friend and the single most important asset on my side in both the planning and execution of this and other events.

The parcel is so empty…

It’s done. The shop and my old house are gone.

Off to RL business. Then it’s on to Festival preparations.

It’s like they know me…