The Beach is Back

So I guess 5pm EST on Hapuna beach is insanely popular. The moment I logged in today I was surrounded by a multitude of people. I guess Morpheus was right and this was a pretty popular hookup spot, so it looks like I didn’t have to search too far in order to find a more taboo space to explore and talk to, but I fell upon a virtual jackpot.

First off I noticed people dancing by a tree to a Beyoncé song. I complimented one, CynSpinner, on her moves and asked her if she used an animation override as well. She wasn’t, but explained to me that she was using a chim, a program that some avatars can use to “animate other avatars in addition to the wearer” (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Chim.) She then said, “slap my ass and you can try it.” I didn’t need to “slap her ass” to try it on, so I just clicked on her to start dancing. She then told me to “stop dancing and slap my ass.” I guess she got offended that I didn’t do as she said. So I followed her orders then started dancing to “Born this Way” by Lady Gaga.

I didn’t have much control over the dance moves since they were pre-programmed but I could move around the beach and keep dancing to the pop mix that they had on. While dancing I said thanks, and said that I was new to SL. She said “hahaha me too” as another dancer said “me3.” There was a strange sense of community noting that we were all new, and Cyn celebrated this by saying “\o/ [a hands up emoticon] Yaaaaaay n Stuff!!!”

Nothing too taboo was going on, but I asked her, uncouthly, if she was a “dancer” in real life too, and she said, “NO! :p not at all.” She didn’t wear those clothes in real life either, but she admitted to enjoying dancing for fun, but not for money. I decided that I’d move on after I felt like I offended her and moved on to a nun called “HuNnY.”Before I approached her, she was saying that she saw “evil” in the eyes of another avatar and told another not to smoke. 

Passing her judgement onto others. 

She seemed very preachy, so I asked her if she was “here to chastise us for our sins.” I was right – since she said, “yes, pray please. But I think ur an [sic] good boy hun.” I apologized for dancing “so scandalously” but she forgave me and all was well. Another user to my right said, “If you’re here to preach then you can kindly fuck off.” It looked like this was a no judgment place to dance and express yourself in whatever way you wanted. I asked HuNnY if she was a nun in real life and she said that she wasn’t but she was a follower of god, so her virtual manifestation was a potentially watered down version of who she is in real life – much like the dancing girls.

I looked around and one person, besides myself, stuck out like a sore thumb. Not because he was dressed scandalously, but because he was dressed so normally. It’s weird to think that someone normal could stick out, especially in a beach landscape listening to pop music like Matt & Kim – very vanilla stuff. I went up to him and complimented his outfit, as it was much like mine – preppy and normal. 

The only other "normal" person at the beach today

He was just checking back to this beach to see if it has changed at all. He spent a lot of time here before it was frequented by the more adult crowd. He could tell I was new here after I asked him why did he think it changed, with the response that these places “do change a lot [sic,] one day it could be the best ever and the next day its gone.” He then wanted to know more about me, but assumed everything there was to tell as exemplified by saying “with a name like djelephant I am guessing male...maybe from the US?” With what he was wearing (a polo shirt and khakis,) I assumed that he was also male, from the US or Europe. I was right again – he was from London. Guess I’m getting pretty good at making assumptions based off of the very watered down and basic avatars. But then again, I was tipped off since our conversation was in English after all. He said that he had to go, and after he logged off I explored the beach a bit, but as Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open” came on, I decided that I should leave too. Maybe when I log on again, this place will be vastly different as well?