Are you "Comfortable" with your avatar?

I like being pale. I bought a Redgrave skin, but feel that I look really orange in it (although that could be my graphics card) so never wear it.

I have two alts, and no matter how hard I try, they all end up looking the same. I like being small and pert, and being able to wear boots. When I was a kid I was always the fat one with the pretty friend, maybe it stems from there. In RL I am blonde (or rather was, and am now an interesting shade of mouse), but in SL I usually always have black hair. I have other colours, red, blonde, etc, but always change back to black within an hour or so.

My skin has 6 different shades, but I always wear No 3, unless I've gone blond for an hour or so and then wear No 5. (How sad am I!). The others just don't sit right.

I am comfortable with my AV now, and it's taken a lot of tweaking. I still adjust the sliders a bit now and then, usually to suit what I am wearing - can't wear boots with fat legs!!!

Jen

Being a Sci-Fi and Technology nut, any AV I use will be in some way be based off of those styles.

The first AV I used (and still have) is my "Matrix" themed one, wich has gone through several upgrades, and still has a few more left before true completion. I made this one because of how you can fly and manipluate stuff in SL just like "Neo", this AV also has elements of my RL look in it, wich it makes a good SL human look for me.

The most common AV you see me in is my tiny robot one. I like this one more because is fits my personality the best so far. I have literaly grown up with technology, so my entire stlye bacame based off of it. Not to mention I get a fun size reversal, in RL I'm close to 6' 4" (and I have to avoid running over small kids), in SL my tiny is close to 3' even to the top of the antena (and I have to avoid getting run over, wich kind of hard to do in large crowds of mostly normal sized AVs).

As for limitations, there are some things/regions not exactly ment for tinies, but I come up with plenty of tricks for these problems, I even found some fun short-cuts in various places that only tinies can use. Both AVs don't fit many RP regions, but that doesn't bither me since I don't go to them any way.

Once I can get the necessary materials, I will make an AV based on what I call my cyber-space counter-part, wich was formed from an idea that I've been working on for years now, and it will still fit my tech based style. (This one may take a good wile to make, so please be patient, some of the major sections I need are coming from another AV builder who has hit a few snags)

This whole topic is very sad.

It's an AVATAR, you're playing a GA- Oh forget it.

but you felt the need to resurrect it a fortnight after it died...

Thanks for the bump anywayz. (^_^)y

I just went through a session of people describing me inworld last night and they had me completely buttoned down! Not only have I felt like I fit my avatar well, but now I've confirmed that it shows! \(^_^)/

And... What game? (o.o) There's no goal, no score, no boss character... RL is the game. (=_=)y

lol... speakin' of "sad", right?

Actually Cel, if more folks thought like you, then the OP never would have posted this thread in the 1st place. But that ain't the case...for example; furries.

The stigma against animal avatars in SL is so bad, that even wearing a demonic animal avatar who looks like an evil boss from a Playstation fantasy game can get the same reactions as a cartoony fox with a "yiffy" title, who's in 3 sex-related Groups.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avatar

Main Entry: av·a·tar
Pronunciation: \ˈa-və-ˌtär\
Function: noun
Etymology: Sanskrit avatāraḥ descent, from avatarati he descends, from ava- away + tarati he crosses over — more at ukase, through
Date: 1784
1: the incarnation of a Hindu deity (as Vishnu)
2 a: an incarnation in human form b: an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person
3: a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity
4: an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user (as in a computer game)

1. I am the "continuing basic entity" of which Morganna is a "variant phase or version". So yes she is an avatar but it not a mindless "electronic image" to be "manipulated"...she is an entension of a RL person (aka ratava).

2. SL is not a "game". It is a "virtual world" which is a completely different organism and only the most recent evolution in a long and varied net.history. Check http://www.avatarplanet.com/history.php for a excellent and detailed timeline as well as thoughtful articles on the past, present and future of virtual worlds.

Completely. Next question.

FWIW, I don't 'do' human in SL.

My avatar is based off of a character I drew up a couple years back and fell in love with.
(Not literally)

Anywho, I'm quite comfortable with it.

I'm just surpised, most places are quite furry-friendly.

Having worn a furry avatar for the first time last week/all week for an avatar-prejudice experience one of my groups was doing, I expected some negativity. The only "discouraging word" I received was when our group went on a field trip together - our first stop being the Ahern Welcome (I use that word loosely) Center. I don't think my paws had hit the ground from the tp before I saw "FURRFAGGS" in capital letters scroll across my screen. I was going to educate said person on the correct spelling, but decided discretion was the better part of valor or something like that and just stepped off to the side to observe.

Other than that, I went everywhere I normally went during the week and was often the most "normal" looking AV around.

I had heard of the Fur-hate, which is one reason I chose this avatar...so I'm wondering if it's certain groups of people who are the haters and they hang out in sims I haven't been to.

Crud!!! I missed that meeting of yours! (T_T)

And, funny thing, the last three times I went to Ahern... I was the one dishing out the harassment.... Against the "normals". (^_^)y

Well... Actually... One of the three times, I was ARing underage accounts that were using voice chat. (>_<

I see I missed this thread first time around but now see it since it's been bumped. Glad too -- what a great thread.

For myself, I'm very comfortable in my avatar, and dovetailing the "stupidest advice given in SL" thread that focuses on appearance...

My avatar just developed in the first couple of months. I settled on her shape almost right away and found a nice Naughty Island skin that I still wear and love. I wore silly headband cat ears for the longest time before Zoe from Tenemos Island took pity on me and showed me the light -- OMG, I can be neko!

I feel so incredibly naked without ears and tail. I freak out whenever I attach something that removes an ear or tail (and then spend a while finding a new attachment point for the item).

As someone else mentioned in this thread, I'm so comfortable in my avatar that I don't do well with changes. ha ha. I have an alt (Luneko) who has my shape, but is a full neko with all the neko bits from Tenemos Island. But I don't feel AS comfortable as Luneko as I do as Lucrezia.

It's interesting how some people change avatars like underwear (*looks at Soji*), and it suits them completely -- always fun to see what's next. And others develop their avvies and then don't really change them once they're "settled".

Clothing style was the longest for me to find my groove. I feel stupid in skirts and dresses (kitty just wants to scratch them off LOL). I love my kimono. And I also love the fashions from Bare Rose. But anything contemporary, formal, casual, "normal" etc. gives me hives LOL And for all my pants wearing, OMG, I so can't imagine myself with a male avvie either.

I wonder what the average time is for a person from birth into SL until they get settled in their avvie? For those that tend to stick with what they are.

Thanks for the fun thread.

My AV looks a lot like me in RL, a bit taller and with a better figure. I am rather "ethnic" looking in RL, with a Brazilian mother and father of Irish decent. So in RL I have mocha colored skin, jet black hair and blue eyes. As a little girl I had always envied the pretty blond girls with the fair skin. So when I first came to SL I thought here was my chance to look like that.. I found a mod shape that looked a good bit like me, played with the sliders until I had the face at least a bit like mine. Then I went shopping. I found a nice pale skin, and some pretty blond hair in a ponytail.. I lasted all of about 3 hours that way. I was VERY uncomfortable, I just did not feel like me, like I was someone else, a fake.


So I went back to shopping and found a darker skin very close to my RL skin tone, and some nice jet black hair.. Then I felt comfortable and relaxed. So much for role playing someone different than myself. Since then I have bought dozens of skins, and even more hair styles. But all the skins are mocha and the hair black.




I feel very comfortable with my AV now, I have tweaked the sliders until I have my AV looking like a somewhat idealized version of myself in my mid 20's. Though my AV must spend all her time when I am not in SL working out in the gym to keep her stomach that flat.




I do have a few alts mostly for testing things out, and one male AV that I hardly ever use, I am not comfortable being male, and don't know how to act. I created him so I could go places and not get hit on, and that part works, but I pretty much don't ever talk when I am “him” either. I just don't know what to say, so “he” bows, smiles, frowns and avoids social situations. But I have not used him for months now, I just feel very odd wearing that “skin”.

Outta curiosity, how do you know someone is underage by their voice? This is one reason i don't use voice often. i'm 28 years old in RL.. but my voice is *small*. Meaning when i get telemarketer calls in real life.. they are constantly asking for my "mummy" or "daddy" to come to the phone. i just had an issue today calling my cable company, with them not initially accepting that i was their customer trying to expand my cable package and thought i was a child. It's annoying when i'm trying to do things like that. i just found it.. curious, your comment. But, then again, perhaps "underage accounts" means something else... or.. perhaps these people were openly saying things in voice like: "Ya, i'm 10 and i'm playing SL, so what!"

Back to the original topic...



Like you, i'm a child (or small) avatar. i feel a \total\ connection towards it. When i try to be an adult avatar i feel zero connection to it (how can this be, afterall i live in an adult woman's body in real life!).

For me.. i think i fall into some of the categories that you said you don't fall into.

* i think i \am\ trying to relieve a childhood a 'safer' version of childhood. my biological childhood was scary. (i know i know a lot of peoples was - i think we all come up with our own ways to cope)

* i do consider myself submissive, though with a sadistic streak... in both first and second life.. but i think a 'child' role is at least a vague expression of submission, especially if you're allowing yourself to be \re-parented\. If you are giving someone control over things in a real way (example - i have a real bed time. my avatar doesn't merely "pretend" go to bed at that bed time... my real life 28 year old self goes to bed when it is "bed time".). i don't think all "giving over of control" is sexual.. however.



i \really\ relate to some of what you said here...
in real life... at 28 years of age.. i have \never\ smoked cigarettes or tasted alcohol.. ever. Even though i legally can. i've never even had the desire too because some part of me feels so \emotionally\ young that it seems wrong in my *own* mind to do these things.

Although, at the same time.. i think anyone that saw my "child avatar" in SL would realise i am not actually attempting to play any sort of "realistic" role played version of a biological child. i'm just being me.

Sometimes i feel like it must be a \little\ similar to people who feel they were born the wrong gender (although perhaps i'm insane to think that). It is just.. i constantly feel "wrong" in real life.. like uncomfortable in an adult body... (i know, i know, i likely need psychological help - i'm sure i do. i've been in therapy throughout my life starting from when i was seven biological years old - and there are still a lot of things i haven't addressed in therapy).

But anyway..
i guess what it comes down to is... i feel \emotionally\ young.. and my child-avatar reflects that.

But by emotionally young i don't mean i grief, throw fits, push other people, or behave like an out-of-control child. i don't do any of these things. ~ eh. i'm sure i'm not explaining this right.

Anyway!.. i just thought this topic was interesting and wanted to try to respond.

I've been using a furry avatar (a blue horse) for almost the whole 2 years I've been on SL and the reaction from most people has always been positive. I'm often getting IMs from random strangers saying they think its a cool av, and where did I get it (it's a modified Wynx Extrovirtual). I do Mentoring and when I'm "on duty" on a HI or Infohub, I always go as a horse because the avatar is often a starting point for conversation. There IS some furry-hate but most of it is in the form of griefing attacks on furry-owned sims like Furnation.

When I'm not being a blue horse I have a human avatar as well, that one is pretty close to my RL self and I'm equally comfortable in both forms. I only started using the human one again fairly recently and it was very odd for a while, not being a blue horse.

Glad this thread got resurrected.

Can't say I've really experienced more than one negative person, being a furry, most people say "cool AV", there's so many humans around, why look like every other male, when I'm not, heck, if it were practical in RL. I would look like a Kangaroo near all the time and possibly never wear human form again.

i would throw out all my rl clothes and everything i own if i could have my inventory in rl
then take one of my 256x256x256 prims and drop it on the whitehouse.
make it a sculptie shape that way they will think it was a mac user.

For the most part it's not that common to get hate as a furry anymore, though you get some now and then.

More often it's someone coming to a mainly furry venue and doing some annoying things.

i never understood the whole human furry hate thing myself..i mean every furry i ever met was really nice to me..
any club or buisness i ran they were always allowed..anyone was allowed all but jerks and those come in any form.

humanity tends to notice things that are different, and many are taught from a young age different = bad

It's the main cause of a lot of troubles in the world with examples being skin color, religion, or even the way someone dresses.

One of my favorite avatars in a game looked like this:

http://www.serve.com/covenant/gif/tommara1.jpg

Unfortunately, that look doesn't go over very well here. I find that look very appealing. But I'm a grandmother, and so was shocked to find that others might find it appealing for reasons far different than my own.

So then I chose an adult female avatar, and in defiance to the SL norm, dressed her up quite demurely, but attractively. I was approached quite a lot, which didn't interest me.

So then I started dressing her up like a slut, and now no one bothers me at all. I'm actually having fun with that.

Although that's waning now, and unless I decide to buy land again, I'll be leaving and going back to more traditional MMO's soon (i.e., the avatar/paper doll thing can't interest me for long.)

There sometimes I get a little bit of hassle that I don't own or wear one of those sexy humanoid avatars but truthfully I don't care about being sexy and entertaining sexually to anyone here.
I have child baby avatar I wear occasional I use to more but I have close friends who are extremely uncomfortable with me looking like that.
I don't wear a child avatar often because people are too preoccupied with everything being and involving sex.
Wearing child or baby avatar I do when I want to but I no longer go else where like that.
If it was anyone else was giving me hard time about or if I had few unpleasant moments I just wouldn't bother caring but there a person who is bothered by it is someone I care a whole lot about so I just don't use my baby avatar as much any more.
She also uncomfortable when I change genders but because of nature of things I create I am not willing to stop doing that.
Yeah I have uncomfortable moments but in long run I try to keep my time foucs on creating, learning and focus on things I enjoy.
Sex isn't a part of my idea of fun here but there is lot of others who do and that perfectly okay for them.
I prefer wearing non-sexual avatars but even I have explored having/creating skins that look like realistic male human wise with all the correct pixels in the right place but it not to create a personal form of elf porn or for sex, it is about creativity, art, and learning to draw in 3d

There was a James Bond Theme Night a while back at a club I shan't name despite it moving a couple of times. Having nothing vaguely James Bond I rezzed my little white cat and started asking if anyone had seen Blofeldt. It was entirely wasted on the others. Not one reaction positive or negative; as if furry was taboo. I don't think I've been back there since.

I was at a forum pool party and a rabbit arrived. The only furry in the crowd of 'humans'. We chatted and welcomed him. After a while he came out with how pleased he was to find a crowd who didn't hate furries. I don't get it.

Too many people reading "Be anything you want to be" as "Be anything I want you to be". Pathetic really.

That is such a cute avatar There is a person I see in a lot of my classes who is a tiny and although not quite as detailed as the pictured avatar, she dresses in some really cute outfits.




Wow...I find that really interesting that you were approached more when you dressed demurely than as a slut. I tend to dress conservatively and VERY rarely am approached. Course then again, I'm a hat rack *grins*

I'm perfectly happy with him. In fact, my only gripe is that it only takes one click-and-drag to get his hair looking so perfectly mussed, whereas for me in RL it takes 20 minutes and a lot of styling gunk...