Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life XIV – Auctions and BDSM Roleplay

 

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato

  

          Recently, Steve, the owner of Devilhand Castle of Carnal Pleasure and a friend of

mine in Second Life (SL) caught up with me. 

(No easy task, as I wander around quite a bit!)

          Steve and Ama, his partner in Devilhand, have been steadily growing their BDSM community since I first met them. 

          The castle itself and the surrounding grounds have been rebuilt and overhauled extensively.

          The community is growing too. (Hey, they even have me as their scribe!) 

          Steve has always been an advocate of slow and steady growth at Devilhand, not wanting to go too fast too soon.

          So, I was pleased to hear that he’s now getting ready for the first BDSM function in Devilhand. 

          Steve is preparing to have the first slave auction at Devilhand.  (Significant Other

arches an eyebrow which happens a lot when I write this blog.) 

          I expressed my desire to blog about this aspect of the BDSM lifestyle inworld and Steve referred me to Phryne, the Devilhand Slave Auction Manager, and NightBud, the Devilhand tavern keeper.  (I told you the community was growing!)

          Phryne and NightBud are also a couple inworld who participate in the BDSM lifestyle.

          NightBud is the dom and Phryne is the submissive. 

          I reached out to them to meet and they graciously agreed which helped me with the background for this story. 

          Now, before the human rights crowd comes after me, please remember that this is all role play and all participants are consenting adults who sign an agreement beforehand demonstrating that they know what they’re getting themselves into beforehand.

          Typically, in Second Life, slave auctions take place at BDSM sims. 

          Slaves (submissives) are auctioned off to the highest bidder, usually a dom/domme.

           There can be exceptions to this where even doms/domes can be auctioned off and this will be permitted at Devilhand.  (Significant Other’s professional observation is, “Huh?”)

          The basis of the relationship is the contract which spells out the responsibilities and limits of each party.  (Points of negotiation can include types of play, use of voice, etc.)

          SL auctions can be for either inworld or include Real Life (RL) aspects. 

          Those at Devilhand are currently only for inworld and only have a duration of one week. 

          Inworld slave auctions can be either public outcry or online auctions similar to eBay. 

          Devilhand’s will be the latter with a duration of fourteen days.    

          A percentage of the amount bid by the winner will go to the slave.

          All funds are held in escrow by Devilhand until all terms of the contract have been fulfilled.

Phryne explained that the auction is a good way to meet different people, and as for roleplay, it’s a great starting point, especially in owner/slave relationships.  Since the relationship starts with an actual purchase, she’s sure that it helps with the roleplay.

           The auction can be a good introduction to the BDSM lifestyle as well.

          Phryne continued by explaining that it might definitely lead to more lasting relationships. She thought this is a very good way to know each other for a week and then decide whether to continue or not.

Most probably, she said, some of the people meeting here will form a lasting relationship.

          Registration for the auction and its rules can be found here. 

          The auction will be taking place in the castle proper. 

          Since the auction has just launched and is awaiting participants to be signed up to be auctioned, a date hasn’t been set yet.  But, one will be communicated to participants when a decision has been made. 

          NightBud added that participants should be patient as Devilhand is still rolling out slowly and focusing on the quality of its members’ experience above all else!

          For those who are experienced in the BDSM lifestyle of for those looking for an introduction, the Devilhand slave auction is good event to check out! 

          I’d like to thank Steve, Phryne, and NightBud for all their help in preparing this story and I wish them luck with their first auction!      

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Castles in Second Life IV – Lost Castles

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

Leonardo da Vinci 

 

          The concept of this blog series you’re now reading began not long after I rezzed into Second Life (SL) for the first time.

          Having always been a fan of castles in Real Life (RL), it was only natural that I’d be drawn to them inworld.  (Significant Other mumbles something about “creature of habit.”)

          It didn’t take me long to find them and I planned to one day blog about them. 

          So, I kept notes on the ones I visited as I wandered across the Grid.

          Sadly, as I learned the hard way in SL, things don’t remain the same.

          They change or they go away.

          That’s what happened to some of my castles, they went away. 

          So, this story will be about the ones that got away.

          Castles that I once visited and was impressed with and are now gone and lost to us.

          To make matters worse, I didn’t take enough pictures when I did visit.  (Significant Other comments about nothing new there.) 

          But, I do want to share the memories of these great builds with you and of the communities behind them. 

          My first big SL castle hearkens back to when I published my SL stories on CNN iReports before I got the impression they didn’t really care about SL anymore.  (Another story for another time.) 

          The castle was Nulli Secundus and was inhabited by a vampire clan back in the day

when vampires were all the rage inworld.  (Another fine, old tradition that seems to have been lost inworld, trying to avoid being bitten by vanpires.)

          Nulli Secundus was big, dark, and foreboding, not to mention drafty.  (How’d I know that?  By looking at the torches flickering.)

          It was always nighttime whenever I arrived.  (They were vampires after all.)

          Old Drac would have been at home here. 

          Nulli Secundus was a fun castle to visit and to wander about in.

          The vampires had great parties and I went to my first SL wedding there. 

          Then one day after wandering off as I tend to do inworld, I returned only to find that it was gone.

          Sometime after, I ran into some of the vampires to find that they had moved onto the world of SL fashion modeling.

          I guess things change.

          The next great castle was at the fairy tale castle at the recently closed Phaze Demesnes. 

          Phaze Demesnes was a magical place created by Ferd Frederix, a onetime SL resident, who now resides at http://www.outworldz.com/

         

His castle alone was a work of beauty and creativity let alone all the other work that he put into his sim. 

          I can still remember when I took the flying crane tour and was overwhelmed by the castle and its environs. 

          Now, only pictures remain of what once was.

          My final addition to this list lost castles is Domus Dominari Pietas which was a BDSM club located in a large, Gothic castle with all the requisite dungeons and playthings that one would expect from such a place.

          The main hall was especially impressive and hints at the grandeur of the rest of the

castle.

          I really dropped the ball here because I have no pictures of the castle from the outside. 

          I recently dropped by the sim to find green pastures and a few small buildings.

          I asked a nearby resident if she knew anything about the great castle that once stood there and she simply replied, “No.”

          Like all the others, it’s now gone and belongs to the ages. 

          This concludes my list of great castles of SL that are now lost to us?

          Why did they close?

          Good question.

          I suspect that the communities behind them which supported them financially and with building and maintaining the sims wandered off to do other things or just left SL altogether. 

          Tier payments aren’t cheap so I’m sure this was always a significant factor.

          As in RL, these castles may have simply outlived their usefulness and became too expensive and difficult to maintain.

          Unlike RL, these structures couldn’t just be left to turn to dust but have to be turned off because of the expense.

          But, these castles will always live on in the memories of folks like myself who grew up on stories of Ivanhoe and dragons living and fighting in castles! 

          To all the unnamed builders who built and maintained these castles for our pleasure, many thanks!

          I wish you well in all your future endeavors and hope to someday visit them!  

          The lesson learned here is that when we encounter a beautiful build inworld to explore and enjoy it because we never know how long it may remain with us.  (And to remember to take plenty of pictures!)

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Where Do We Go After Second Life?

 Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.

Matthew 25:13

 

          Recently, I read an article in the blog of another blogger whose work I enjoy greatly and have considerable respect for.  (Yes, I do read the competition!  I’m not that insecure!)

          Canary Beck and her article is entitled What would you do if Second Life disappeared overnight?  (See, I told you that I wasn’t insecure!)

          In this article, Canary discusses how her life could change if Second Life (SL) were to simply disappear overnight.  (The thought of which panics Significant Other because of the fear of my roaming about unchecked.)

          Canary says she no longer worries about this and has plenty of ideas about what to

do with her newly found free time.  Although, she does admit that one drawback might be spending more money in Real Life (RL) because of so many opportunities.

          Canary’s view is non-apocalyptic and is more along the lines of a theoretical exercise. 

          Her discussion moves into maintaining balance between SL and RL and examines the two ways to restore such balance either by a sudden withdrawal (SL interruptus?) or a gradual reduction in time spent inworld. 

          Canary chose the latter a while back and is happy with the results. 

          Unlike me, Canary doesn’t seem to worry too much about the demise of SL.

          While I don’t lay awake at night worrying about such an eventuality, (Significant Other would make me find someplace else to sleep if I tossed and turned too much.) Canary’s article did make me think again of what would happen were SL to simply disappear because of some corporate machinations at Linden Lab. 

          SL is full of refugees from the virtual world There.com after its closing.  Although, since reopening I haven’t heard too much about it.  (I guess once the magic’s gone, it’s gone.)

          Many of them speak longingly and fondly about their times in that community.  One, Celia Pearce, wrote an excellent Book, Communities of Play, about one group of There refugees through their Diaspora to new worlds.  (Strongly recommend that book to anyone interested in virtual communities.)

          The closing of a virtual world has consequences for the real people with real feelings

behind all those avatars. 

          Whatever happens or doesn’t happen to SL over the next couple of years, there is little that we can do about it.  (Think Jor-El on planet Krypton.) 

          However, like Jor-El we can take measures to perpetuate the communities that have grown up in SL and have become important parts of the lives of so many people.

          First, there is preparation, both psychological and physical.

          Psychological by recognizing that this can happen and will eventually happen and probably sooner than the Sun flaming out and turning our planet to cinders. 

          Physical by preparing as I’ve blogged before to have a plan to move across the Metaverse to a new home or at least using social media to keep the communities alive. 

          Next, is paying attention to what’s happening in RL with Linden Lab.  While we may not be able to do anything about it, we can at least see it coming so the migration can be orderly. 

          Finally, let’s keep enjoying ourselves in SL!

          Whatever may or may not happen, we’re still there and we still have one another!

          As Canary blogged, there is life after SL.

          We just have to decide how to make the most of it!

          I’d like to thank Canary for another wonderful example of her thoughtful writing about SL!   

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Whom Are Our Friends in Second Life?

I don't make friends based on how big their pockets are or how well connected they are; rather I make friends based on how positive their minds are. It is hard to end up with a very complicated lifestyle if you are always surrounded by positive minded individuals.

 

Edmond Mbiaka

  

          Recent events involving Second Life (SL) and me have me pondering about my friends inworld and a deeper appreciation of friendship in SL.  (Significant Other has that worried look again.)

          Over the last several weeks, I’ve assisted the First UCC team with their social media efforts for the UCC General Synod recently held in Cleveland in Real Life (RL).  (At least I

hope I helped them. Haven’t heard of anyone being excommunicated yet.)

          I’ve been traveling inworld visiting castles for my latest series and doing what I normally do as I travel about exploring and looking for my next story. 

          All these events got me thinking about my SL friends.

          Whom are they?

          (Don’t you just love these existential questions?  They drive Significant Other crazy.)

          What constitutes a friend?

          We all have our own definitions.

          But, does this definition, whatever it is, roll over into SL with us?

          Does it matter whether it does or not?

          What are the characteristics of our friends?

          They’re similar to us even if it’s only how we imagine ourselves to be.

          We have similar interests.

          We like being around them. 

          We miss them when they’re not around and maybe not worry when we don’t know why.

          We expose ourselves to the risks associated of opening ourselves up to another and the possible resultant pain. 

          Notice how I didn’t distinguish between SL and RL?  (Pretty subtle of me, huh?)

          Then there’s that supposedly impenetrable firewall separating SL from RL.

          I say “supposedly” because I find it’s getting awfully porous lately.

         

For example, I mentioned the UCC General Synod that I participated in.  (I really hope no one got excommunicated.  No, wait!  UCC doesn’t excommunicate people Becca

Kellstrom once told me.  They just don’t invite them to the big dance.)  There I was bouncing around as an avatar communicating with RL!

          Another for instance, Significant Other regularly asks me about my SL friends by name and how are they doing.  (This isn’t as bizarre as it sounds.  For some strange reason Significant Other prefers having me around instead of globetrotting about in RL.  Easier to find me this way I’m told.)

          And, then there’s my use of social media.   

          I regularly use Twitter, Google+, Skype (text only), and emails to stay in touch with my SL friends.

          Admittedly, all this occurs behind the identities of our avatars.

          But, are any of us really that different from whom we are in RL?

          Something tells me not.

          I believe that our SL friends are very much like our RL friends.

          In other words, they’re very much like ourselves too. 

          (I hope that none of my friends are insulted by my saying that!)

          We and they co-exist in both worlds.

          Overall, I think this is a pretty good idea!

          What do you think?

          In writing a story like this, I thought I’d call out many of my SL friends.

          But, there are so many of you and I don’t want to slight anyone by not mentioning them.

          So, to all of my wonderful SL friends, many heartfelt thanks for your friendship, time, and patience with a friend who tends to bounce around a lot! 

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

The Fourth of July in Second Life

The United States is the only country with a known birthday. 

James G. Blaine

 

 

 

          It’s summer!

          (At least up here in the Northern Hemisphere!)

          Which means fun, friends, family, and parties!  (Significant Other arches an eyebrow and wonders aloud if this is my way of saying we’re expecting company.)

          For Perryn Peterson and his merry band at Mieville in Second Life (SL) this is as good a time as any for a party.

          They’re doubly fortunate with excuses to party because it’s time for the July 4^th celebrations in Real Life (RL) (At least here in the States!) and the seventh anniversary of the founding of Mieville!

          As I’ve learned to expect from Perry, there will be a full agenda of activities over the long holiday weekend and all are invited!

          Here’s what’s planned:

 

 

Mieville 7th Anniversary Victorian Fete Schedule

 

 *** FRIDAY, 3 JULY 2015 ***

    FIREWORKS by Magician Spyke  

    5:00 PM SLT

 Location:  Mieville Chesterton Feeshing Pier   

 

*** SATURDAY, 4 JULY 2015 ***     

    MERCHANTS' FAIR & CONCESSIONS

    Ongoing Saturday and Sunday 4-5 July

    Location: The Clubhouse, Victorian Steampunk Mieville Chesterton Park  

 

***Saturday 6:00 - 8:00 PM SLT***

Celebrate the 4th of July at our 7th Anniversary Fete!  Come early and watch the fireworks (5 PM SLT)!  Refreshments are available! Shopping too!  Wear red, white and/or blue and we'll see you there!

Dance to music by DJ Ktahdn Vesuvino!

Win L$-PRIZES-L$ for best costume and titler! 

Play Trivia and win L$!

                           

*** SUNDAY, 5 JULY 2015 ***     

FIREWORKS by Magician Spyke

 1:00 AM SLT

 Location: Mieville Chesterton Feeshing Pier

 

 

***A DAY in the SUN***

Sunday, July 5th at 2 PM SLT

Location:  Mieville Lakes – The Memorial Garden  

 

 

***AND AN EVENING on the LAKE***

Sunday, July 5th at 6 PM SLT 

Location:  Mieville Lakes – The Memorial Garden

If you have a ship that you can bring and setup, please arrive at 1:30 PM PDT at 5:30 PM PDT and set up your vessel. If you don't have a vessel, but want to party on one, please come to the landmark at 2 PM PDT or at 6 PM PDT. Be prepared for dancing, conversation, maybe fishing or joining in singing a sea-shanty! 

There is no end-time for the festivities. Party as long as you like! You may even party long enough to enjoy an Evening on the Lake. 

It's all in good, safe fun. No icebergs or sharp reefs in sight, so please come!

         

As always, Perryn delivers a fun filled program for Mieville and its guests!

          Please come and enjoy the festivities!

          You’ll be glad you did!

          Tell ‘em web sent you!

          My thanks to Perryn for supplying with the information for this story not to mention pulling the whole party together!

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!