Are you "Comfortable" with your avatar?

Wow. I kind of know what you mean. I was other things before I was a kid but then a kid just fit. I wanted to try it because I can't remember my childhood. Then that didn't work great because I've only found other kids sto do stuff with a few times and the rest of the time I go dancing where everybody is loveydovey since they're older or do stuff alone both of which are ble. Nobody knew me before I was a kid and now I feel I can't grow up and if I'm going to be grown up I have to be somebody else and Variable has to stop existing. I didn't think it would be like that when I started.

I have a few non-human forms, a dragon, fairies, neko, tiny kitty etc and when I want a change or roleplay according to a particular mood they come out
I have only one human form however. When I say human, what I mean is vampire. Depending on the situtation she may be able to pass for human completely, other times it is obvious she is one of the truly undead. She was not always this way, but once turned forever turned it seems.

My changes tend to reflect my moods a lot, it is unusual for me to be anything other than vamp though but my vamp can be very human a lot of the time - after all isn't life a masquerade?

I am comfortable with my avi her face looks like me (Spanish/Asian), I change skin like I change my nail polish, but this has been my shape foreva and 5 days.

I have never worn anything other than a human skin. I sometimes wear angel wings but that is just to lure potiental husbands.

I am very comfortable with my avi, who looks quite like a cartoon version of me. I want to feel as much as possible as though I am actually in-world, and unless I'm a short, chubby brunette in granny-glasses, I simply won't feel that way. Sometimes the shortness is a problem--I often have to leap (page-up/forward key) to climb stairs that most avis climb with no difficulty. Some prim clothes just won't fit no matter how I edit them. But I prefer it that way. If I could reach everything easily and everything fit perfectly, I wouldn't feel like me.

Like a few others who have posted, I also have a few non-human avis, but when I am in them I feel more like I'm in a costume--great fun for a while, but not really me.

I am very comfortable with my avatar, and used to him to the point that changing would feel quite awkward.

I can't say he really resembles me in the way that seeing him would lead you to pick me out of a police lineup, lol... my facial hair is different (often not there at all), my hair is shorter, stuff like that. But we have the same level of, umm, "normalcy". We both dress low-key most of the time, no jewelry, nothing ostentatious, and to look at either one of us (I'm told) you'd likely think "there goes a pretty nice guy - not the last word in excitement or that aura of bad-boy danger, far from it, but a decent guy all the same". And since I prefer not to RP here in SL, you'd be right in both cases.

I so relate to this, Milla. I'm an only child RL and truly love solitude. Groups of people tend to aggravate me as well (depending on my mood which, as a redhead, can be a bit mercurial...lol). My favorite interaction RL and SL is with one or two friends at a time. When I'm in world alone I'm usually at home organizing inventory, building, taking a class, preparing a class, playing the video games at Rha's arcade, etc.

Some people find that odd in a social platform, but for me it's very relaxing.

No apologies needed. To you, wearing a non-human avatar IS a costume. A very good one. I respect that.

To me, it is somewhat annoying for people to come up to me and say "that's a nice Dragon suit/costume you are wearing". Folks, there IS no other me. I'm scaley, I'm spiney, I'm horny (on the head-type, people ); I have big wings, talons, and sharp teeth. I haven't clad myself in the virtual flesh of a soft-skin for a LONG time, and the only one I have left in inventory is a Drow, whose body I "appropriated" because he decided he couldn't resist the mistake of helping himself to a bit of my hoard. I'll give it back someday. Maybe.

Anyway... *waves paw in the air* in this place, it is an outlet for a reflective inner self-image. Something wrought of pain, joy, self-loss, and self-rediscovery. Don't ask me to explain it, because it is something so intimately and intensely personal, it wouldn't make sense to anyone else if I could. It barely makes sense to me. Some people categorize it as dragonkin/otherkin, and it may be remotely related; however, I do not identify with those labels, states, or the groups they represent.

Yeah, I know. Weird. Complex. Like a giant mass of strings, wadded up in a knotted ball. Yet, tug on any one end, and things come apart in a rather random, sometimes spectacular way. *shrug*

Yes, I am comfortable with my current representation. It still needs refinement, and some of my alternate forms also need a little work, but it is getting there. Sorting through the mass of strings, hopefully I will find the right combination of puzzle pieces to complete the process. Someday. Maybe.

*flies back up to his perch*

This thread really struck a chord with me because i recently changed my appearenace.

From when i first joined SL until recently I have had the same shape, similar to the RL me, but well much mroe barbie dollish, skinnier, with larger hips and taller.

I was never happy or comfortable in this loook, I should be, my avie looked like me except it had the body i always wanted right? I mean doesnt every girl wasnt to be more shaply, skinner and taller??

I realised recently that it wasnt me and i really didnt feel comfortable, I Hated it if i am honoest and i created my own shape, who is well my SL standards large, but i love it, it is mean, i think it is sexy, curvy and feels so so right

I also realised that I LIKE who i am in RL... i love my curves.... anyway it is nice

Quite possibly the best summation of how I feel about child AV's is quoted above. It's not that I don't like them, it's that most times I'm in an adult mood, doing adult things, and most certainly dressing adult. Not the sort of thing I would ever associate with kids, so it does make me uncomfortable at times.

As for the OP, I'm really comfortable in my AV. It took a self-made shape and skin to get to that point, but having to create them myself gave me a little sense of ownership and uniqueness that I needed.

Yeah I probably would dress as a roo, orb, or robot or whatever if RL was like SL and there were no negate consequences like cooking inside a furry costume, I would very rarely, possibly never take human form again.

I'm very comfortable with Max Herzog the avatar. I spent a good deal of time making him look the way he does, and I'm happy with that. He dresses (by and large) as I would RL, and I'm quite happy with that. In character, he is 100% me, and I'm extremely happy with that. I'm even happier that a character who is to all intents and purposes 'me' can fly Spitfires, dance without looking too much like a berk, take photographs that don't have blurry fingers in shot and do all manner of cool and interesting things that would either be impossible or cost the earth in RL. I have no desire to adopt a different persona - it's too much fun being me in SL.

Seems to me that very early in my SL life I wanted to see how small I could be. I went over the hill at the old WA and played with sliders several days. There were no 'tiny' avs then. I finally made myself a decent 3'9" av.

I have always been a small av, even before the 'child av' had a title hehe.

Comfortabe with it? yes, totally or I would have changed long ago.

As Mari says, "I jes live within my own bounds". and I enjoy bein what I am in SL

Me too. I can be a non human but not a male human! (I'm female in RL). When I wore my partner's male av shopping, I scurried around terrified someone would talk to me.

What I learned is that a lot of my identity comes from my gender. That surprised me as I thought I was more a creature of my mind than of my body. SL once again surprises me with what I learn about myself.

And I'm very comfortable with my av which is an idealized version of my RL self, especially since I made her closer to my height.

OP, thanks for a brilliant thread. You have really been changing since you got in SL and its inspiring.

I just love it when someone says something really well that I can't say at all. Thanks Talarus.

My main av is me years ago. when my oldest boy comes home from uni and checks out the screen he says it looks like him.Although he assures me he wouldn't be seen dead in my old fogey clothes.My 2 female alts scare the pants off me ,if I need them online I try to be as quick as poss and get out of there.Once I was in my store when a regular came in while I was the blonde and I froze,Can avatars blush? I logged of sharp but sat here and shook,stupid isn't it.

im always tweaking Maggie here and there, and the more i tweak her, the closer she gets to looking like me( i'd kill for her eyebrows though). she is shorter getting rounder, and i gave her a lil pot belly(she a grandma what ya expect). to make it short, i find im tweaking her more and more to look like the inner me with the outer RL me.

i've tried to build my avy as close to me as possible. although i do have about 20lbs. on my RL self that i don't have on my avy...

clothes., looks, generally the same. face tweaks are the toughest. my face isn't dialed-in and i doubt it ever will be. i'm blown away at some of the avatars out there. the faces are perfect! totally amazing.

I've got a bunch of different appearances: human, furry, animal, dragon, robot, and more than a few wtf ones. They're identity, communication, and sometimes art.

I might be wearing one just to show it off, or to blend in with the theme of an area. But most of the time, what's on the outside is reflecting the mood or mindset of what's behind the keyboard.

Just to complicate things....

I know a lot of us have alts, or in my case a dumb robot... But I suspect when I go to clubs that some couples might be alts operated by one RL. The whole argument falls apart where people are running two or more alts simultaneously in the same public location!

And have them talk to each other in public chat. Preposterous.

Mind you, I have thought about bringing the dumb robot down to the Forum Cartel Hangout with me one day. But I'll make it 100% clear it's my robot!

Ditto...to some degree. I've always been a person who has enjoyed his solitude. I had a roommate once who asked me why when I got off work that I would just come home and read or listen to music. He worked by himself all day, whereas I was dealing with customers all the time. I need solitary time.....it's necessary for my spirit. That and many people are asshats.

As far as my avatar, I'm very comfortable with Crighton.....I too, started out with the intention of making him look like me, but figured why? So I'm taller, and better built and a bit more handsome. I still tweak him occasionally, but have the same skin I found last summer, although every few months I'll get lucky and find a male hair that doesn't look like shit. As far as the person behind the avi, Crighton is basically me. I'm more outgoing at times, when I'm comfortable, but I'm that way in RL, too. People are shocked at how I come out of my shell once I get to know them. It just happens quicker in SL than in RL. Once I found AA in SL, I realized that I wanted to be me. I played another character in RL for way too long. I'm not going back there.

I have an alt, and she's female. I wanted an alt to satisfy my solitary nature, as Crighton gets too much attention at times and I have trouble saying no. And I picked a female because I kind of enjoyed a gender bending event I DJ'd at where my GF and I basically switched avis. I kept her a secret from almost everyone and late at night after my GF went to bed, I would bring Aeryn out to shop and explore and to hang with my close friends and my RL wife. Over a period of months, I started telling others here and there about her, and now she's basically outted.

The thing is....I'm quite comfortable with her. She's beautiful. And she represents a part of me, I realize that now. I"m not the macho guy. I'm quite aware of my feminine side. My introspection in my spiritual work has shown me that, and I'm quite comfortable with that in RL, which allows me to be comfortable with it in SL. I dont' fool around with Aeryn, except with my SL girlfriend...lol. I don't date boys with my alt, as I'm in a relationship with this person and am not cheating on her. And I like women!

The only time I feel uncomfortable with Aeryn is when I'm in a group of people that I know, and some of them don't know who I am. I don't like misrepresenting myself to friends. And I also don't want to have to tell every damn one of them that I'm Crighton...lol. I've told my close friends, and they love it. I think a couple guys might be a bit freaked, but that's their shit. So my discomfort comes not from being Aeryn so much, as the situations that I sometimes find myself in. It was easier in that respect when almost no one knew. But, for the most part, Aeryn is solitary and only hangs out with close friends. She seems to have developed her own personality, which is quieter and more spiritual. And she loves to shop. And why am I referring to her as HER...it's really me....lol. I'm insane, aren't I?

Oh...and I do have another alt. She's female, too. And she is virtually anonymous and partnered to my RL wife, who is bi. And that's all I have to say about that. When I crave solitude, she serves that purpose. And she also serves the purpose of allowing my wife and I with quality time together on SL when we wish it. Kind of romantic in a weird, SL way.

Considering I walk the RL world in the nude in front of anyone and everyone...

anything my SL avatar does doesn't worry me or make me uncomfortable..

Although I do wish to create an avatar thats a kid version of myself, or what I looked like as a kid.. could you show me where to get shapes/skins to attempt it?

Wow, you must live in a very liberal country, or never leave your commune.

well I mean if I am with friends or family etc, naked

still gotta dress for work