A philosophical view of Belliserian homes and alt's personalities

[Anidusa Carolina]

Hello everybody!
I know, the title sounds a bit weird, so let me explain why I decided to (first time ever) start a thread in this forum.

When a year ago Bellisseria started to exist, I took my Main Anidusa and made her Premium again. She had given it up a long time ago, because she never spent an hour of time at her (even in 2010 somehow) oldfashioned Meadowbrook home. 
At first I grew nuts about all the possibilities and participated in the game of homes with a lot of curiousness and joy. Decorating homes has been one of my favourite activities since I rezzed at the end of 2010. I started with a houseboat because I loved the idea of having access to sailable waters. But I soon wanted to see how I would feel with a traditional, a camper....... and so on.
At least I could not resist - my 3 alts went premium too. And Anidusa went back to what she's had before: A houseboat to use for her beloved boat trips around Bellisseria. 

After all my homes were furnished, I realized a fascinating fact: Depending on the alt's personality, I had very different ideas about how the home should look and what it was to represent. 

Some of you may say "Well - but our alts are US, how can they have different personalities?"
One thing is for sure: The way how we handle SL, how we behave and feel while being online, and what we make of "Your World, Your Imagination", is as individual as mankind is. 
Lots of users are "just themselves", no matter if they own only one avatar or a few alts. The alts then are just other shapes with the same personality. 
Others, like me, love to use SL for showing the many facets of themselves. Which may be facets shown in RL and on the other hand facets, which are more sort of "our dreams" about how RL could or should be. 
Or, to make it clearer........also the facets of our mind & soul which can never show up in RL because we are physical beings. (This is just a view of myself, the fact that my soul feels 50% female, and, what I never can be in RL, 50% male. My "inner male" is half of my soul.)
However - since I am a person who takes the advantage of "being whatever I want to be", I let my alts represent those facets of mine. This is, how alts can have different personalities. 

That said, and, to make a long story short: I am very curious to see, if those among you, who have alts and more than one Linden Home belong to the first category of users who use alts just as different shapes and decorate their homes without making differences, or if you say "Yes, my homes are very different from what they represent, according to my alt's personality". 


I wanted to show off my homes and differences here, but then I realized that there won't be enough "picture space" in a forum thread to show so many pics. Therefore I uploaded them to my flickr and created an album called "My Belliserian Homes". Since flickr is not a platform for walls of text.....  ... I will give you a short description about what you will see here:

1. Anidusa Carolina, my main and mostly "every day RL personality" owns the houseboat "The Breeze". The furniture is like I would have it in RL if I owned such a boat. The dancefloor on the topdeck just reflects my love for dancing, which gets harder to do the older I get (I am 58 RL). 

2. Patinan Resident, called "Pat", owns a camper called "Sprinkling Stars". She/He is born as a hermaphrodite, male and female in one person. I made this avatar very androgyn, so it is not clear on first view if they are male or female. Since Pat is what Pat is......and according to my concept is still very young, the Camper is sort of a rainbow realm with lots of stars, unicorns and pastels. So to say the "teenage heaven of an in between gender". 

3. Veasel Resident is a very young woman with a lot of dreams and a very romantic, slightly naive attitude. What could she own other than a Vic?  Since her everyday life is as filled with actions as we suspect as typical for young adults, she named the house "The Chillpoint" and it is mainly in pastels and ......the bedroom of course in pinks! 

4. Last not least JamieJournalist Resident. My male alt is the representative of my "inner male", but that is not all. He also loves to roleplay. (Not at an RP Sim in a group, but only with a very close and longtime SL friend, to whom I also have contact in RL. We use a setting which is widely unkown in SL. World Of Darkness, a Pen&Paper Setting.)
Jamie plays a mage and .......well a mage may prefer a log cabin in the woods to be able to hide a bit of his magical practisses and be close to nature. Jamie's home is called "Whispering Woods" and the furniture is a little oldfashioned, because atm our rp took us back to 1942 in GB. Not easy to furnish, because when looking for 40ies vintage stuff, there is a lot of American but the typical European stuff is more than rare. So I did not manage to make Jamie's log cabin really look like 1942, but....... well....... it is just RP and me and my RP mates have enough fantasy to ignore the things which are anachronistic here

So you may visit my homes album at flickr  ( the pics have the houses names as title) and I am curious to hear, what your alts are for you and if you furnish different or not. 
Sorry for mistakes, English isn't my native tounge. 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Anidusa Carolina

[Elora Lunasea]

Interesting.

However for me personally, my alts have nothing to do with the decorating style of their homes. Each home I decorate is based solely on what I, myself, want to achieve in the decor style for that specific house and the surrounding land. It's not based on the alt. For instance one of my alts is a male but I don't make his house masculine. Another is a martian but her home isn't science fiction based. Another, started as a furry but her homes were never animal havens etc.

All are a reflection of my personal style but none will be out of the style which I enjoy just because my alt is something "other than". But that's just me 😃 I suppose if I was roleplaying, that would be different.

[Kat Shadow]

I don't do this, *exactly*. For me: the character of the space helps define the decor, in part (a woodsy plot with a lot of morning sun gets a different decor than a sunset facing beachfront). Along with that, I decorate for both my alts and my wife's (she prefers my decorating skills to her own).  When I decorate for her, the colors tend to be brighter and the style more playful, airy and modern than when I do "my own" spots (I put that in air quotes because we share all our homes).

[LittleMe Jewell]

I don't do any sort of RP in SL and my alts were simply because I wanted different types of Linden Homes and can only own one per account.  Regardless of which alt owns which property, they are all Lil's and thus decorated for me.

Edited April 17, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

9 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I don't do any sort of RP in SL and my alts were simply because I wanted different types of Linden Homes and can only own one per account.  Regardless of which alt owns which property, they are all Lil's and thus decorated for me.

Same. My alts are simply tools I use for land (and stipend) purposes, whether in Bellisseria or on Mainland. I am not even sure off the top of my head which name owns what, because they are not separate entities from me.

[LittleMe Jewell]

37 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

 I am not even sure off the top of my head which name owns what, because they are not separate entities from me.

This ^^.   I keep elaborate notes on which alt owns which parcel or contributes tier to the mainland group, along with which ones are available to try for different locations and when each's Premium comes due.

[Kat Shadow]

11 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

This ^^.   I keep elaborate notes on which alt owns which parcel or contributes tier to the mainland group, along with which ones are available to try for different locations and when each's Premium comes due.

I do this, tho not elaborate since between my wife & myself we usually have 3 alts each.

[Marisa Starbrook]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I don't do any sort of RP in SL and my alts were simply because I wanted different types of Linden Homes and can only own one per account.  Regardless of which alt owns which property, they are all Lil's and thus decorated for me.

RP is a big interest for many people in SL, but it’s never been a draw for me. Sometimes I think I’m just not imaginative enough. The Game of Homes is what ignited my interest in having alts. Then I justified having so many, because I have 4 RL sisters. Ultimately they’re  all me and don’t have distinct personalities. I’m fascinated by the back stories of all your alts, Anidusa. Thank you for posting.

[Anidusa Carolina]

Hello again!
This is very interesting indeed, thanks for your answers, @Elora Lunasea, @KatHeartsong Kaos, @LittleMe Jewell, @Sylvia Tamalyn and @LuLu Starbrook!
I am not going to quote you all...... up to now the thread is short enough so readers can get what I am referring to

Fascinating to see, that most of you refer my "different personalities" to the roleplay aspect. 
In fact, the rp is not the main reason for my alts having those personalities.... they are simply facets of me. I had those alts even before I started roleplaying in SL. And it is only Jamie who does. 

I understand well about "having alts just because one wants more homes", *g*, in that case I'd probably not have given them sort of differing personalities. 
Another thing is, that I want to mention that, no matter how I decorate their homes - they all meet my taste of course. I wouldn't be able to furnish a home against my own taste. And since they are all parts of my User-personality, that won't happen

Looking forward to reading more comments 

[Rufferta]

Do houses reflect personality? Does an alt's character affect their choice of housing?

My main alt 'lives' in a castle in Upaniko, the dreaded Mainland, and plans to stay there as long as she can afford tier. Because I had excess tier, she was also able to cycle through a Bellisserean traditional, Victorian, camper, and Lodge Home. I was not totally comfortable with any of them, because I miss being able to terraform and annoy my neighbors, but I love the community and the environment.

RuffertasAlt got a wonderful houseboat in Echo Cove and plans to stay there as long as she can afford it. Since she has become more involved in Bellisseria, and belongs to different groups than the other alts, I believe she has a slightly different character.

Some thoughts - in RL I am a dollmaker, and there are times when the doll/person I start to create turns into something different. I have heard other dollmakers say that "the doll talked to me and told me what it wanted to become." I have heard writers complain that their characters took over their story and sent it in a different direction. In Good Omens* a hell-dog is sent to Lucifer's son and becomes an ordinary dog, because that is what Lucifer's son wanted it to be.

In Second Life we often judge on appearances - Body, animations, Profile, age, etc... and on the Display Name of the other avatar. I am going to react differently to a one-day old wearing an off-the-rack body whose name is 'Jane2000056' than I would to an alt wearing an advanced body who has a last name**.

I have several alts, most of them started out as tier-alts or crash-test dummies, but as they were treated differently by others, depending on their avatars/clothing/Profiles each became somewhat different in my mind. Perhaps they are all different aspects of my personality?

I find find "I" am treated differently depending on which alt I am inhabiting. In my opinion the more noob I look the less respect I get. Wearing anything non-Caucasian seems to attract more pervs than usual. I think that a Dinkie avatar seems to be perceived as more approachable.

*Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - I couldn't find the exact quote, but I recommend both the book and the Amazon movie.

**Which is why I want a last name.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Rufferta
Thought I should speak to the Topic.

[Anidusa Carolina]

ohh yessss, @Rufferta, I understand your thoughts. 
What you say about doll makers and writers has happened to me and quiet a lot of my friends with several alts........at some point the alt may take over and start acting against the "control unit", me. 

The strange thing about it is: He/she is still me! So what does that mean? Are these inner conflicts between some of my inner facets? 
At least my alts do what I want them to do, but alone the fact that they may start argueing with me is something weird. Or may I say "remarkable"? 
Some people who have never experienced SL might now tell me "Go and see your psychiatrist", lol, but I think, SLlers understand what I mean. 

Hm....interesting what you say about the noob topic......! When I was a noob I met a lot of very helpful people out there. And now, meeting a noob makes me think "do I have the time to offer some help or do I have to hurry away for working tasks off my to do list?". I never experienced something like less respect. 
Only the thing that the idea of talking to a noob and offer help might feel a bit overwhelming at a certain moment and situation. Depending on what my plans are. 

 

 

[Kelli Voom]

Hello.  Hello! Yes.  This topic is incredibly fascinating to me. 

..to the extent that I just wrote like three pages of crazy passionate ranting on the nature of multiplicity and perceptual reality (and then erased it all to not drown everyone in text walls 😛)

 

In terms of SL.. I am similar but different to your perspective. Multiple versions of 'me', but instead of dividing along alt lines, I roleplayed in a doctor who RP years ago and was introduced to the concept of 'regenerations' - different bodies, different forms and personalities, but with a shared history and memories.  The RP ended years ago, but these different Kelli Vooms all live on, and I 'feel' them when I'm being them, you know?  Expressions of different facets of me.  Bodies that allow that particular expression to grow more unique and confident and over time.

 

I believe everyone has this to a certain extent, everyone kinda falls on a spectrum of multiplicity, even if we're not perceiving it that way.  Like, the version of you that goes clubbing with friends is a very different facet of you than the one who attends church with grandma, for instance.  Or imaginary friends as a child (or adult, no judgments :P)  Or the little voice in your head, the angel/devil on your shoulder - different names for the same thing, being expressed in different ways.  

 

End of the day, we are all a collection of stories, of drives and impulses and ideations (many of them contradictory), crammed into one meat puppet and told to be one thing. When environments like SL provide a more boundless scaffold, it opens the door to those new possibilities.  we can 'stretch out a little' 🙂

 

 

[Raspberry Crystal]

Most of the time Raspberry and I are are in synch, except when she gets her **** in the way and I can't see what I'm editing!

Decorating my partner's houseboat has been a revelation though. Or should I say, decorating the houseboat of the alt of my partner that I chose to officially partner with (there's a whole new topic in itself!)

The way that he expresses this aspect of this alt character, and the way I am interpreting it turn out to be subtly different. It's as if his alt has aspects of himself hat are separate from both of us.

I think this is similar to the way writers create characters. Those imaginary people will have parts of their creator, but the need to make them shareable as a whole consistent person means, that what fills the gaps can turn out to be something totally new.

In second life, even if we are reclusive, we are sharing our avatars with the world. I know some will be plastic disposable dolls, made for a purpose, but others will somehow take on a life of their own.

SL gives us the chance to imagine being somebody else, and in the process finding out new things about ourselves.

[Garnet Psaltery]

When you have different people inside you there comes a point when you decide whether to keep them contained or to let them live by their own will.  This is what writers do, or can do.  Does that cause a fracturing of the mind, or was that mind already fractured?  Was it always so?  I know that I, this one that thinks and interacts with the world, am only at the top of an arc.  I am not everything.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Garnet Psaltery
Missing comma.

[Anidusa Carolina]

OMG! Thanks @Kelli VoomI now know: I am not a strange very special snowflake, lol
 

No, seriously. I agree with really everything you wrote. And the concept of a "Dr. Who RP" explains the need of recreations best, but believe me - I am familiar with them too. Without using a Tardis
For example: The RP Jamie does with my friend contains some. I am breathing life not only into Jamie, but also three other characters (most times using the same account though), who are needed for that RP. I mean, we are only two players. With only two characters, it would be an extremely boring thing. So I play four and so does my RP Partner. 
And just like an actor, I love slipping inside them and experiencing their lives, literally living them. 
I am convinced, that a good actor (even in the real world) is a person who has the ability to slip into another individual and  simply can overtake the (artificial) character by a big ammount of empathy. And so do writers. 

An actor playing an assassin in a movie is neither an assassin nor a person who would kill others in RL, but he must have an "inner assassin" available to empathically understand why this character became what he is. Means understanding the assassins feelings and motives, and being able do display this to an audience. Same for a writer, the only difference here is that he is not displaying it with "actions" but "words". 
Okay, an assassin might be an "a little over the top example", lol, but who has never had the thought of "grrr I'd love to kill her/him" after being hurt? If we have the ability to recall the emotions of this mind-reaction, we will be good actors. And in this sense, we might say "okay, we all have a little inner assassin, the only difference is: We don't let them out". 

With other words: When I play an assassin in roleplay, I am breathing life into my "inner assassin" and seeing it like that, we might as well say "okay, this assassin is a facet of me". Even though we would never ever live that facet in RL because our inner morality is stronger and we do not suffer from a loss of control here. 
(pleaaase, everybody, do not throw stones at me for chosing an assassin as an example, lol.... I could as well have taken a captain, doctor or whatever)

Or to make it real with one of my opening examples: My Veasel is a young and slim woman..........in RL I was fat as a child and have been fat all my life. I never had the possibility of wearing the hip fashion stuff or something sexy. Instead of that I had to hide my body-fullness under "fabric tents". Body shaming and so on. Being young is an experience I surely had. So it just needs remembering. Being slim and attractive isn't, here it needs my imagination of "what would have been if?"
Those are definately inner facets of me. 
Thanks for your input, Kelli, which brought me to "think the topic on".
In SL we may either live our unlived desires which we are hindered to bring to life in RL, or as well live what we are empathically able to live -  but have no attend to really bring to life because it is not a facet of ourselves but a fascinating aspect of empathic understanding about something being strange or alien to our own mindset. (arghh.... that is what we Germans call a "worm-sentence". lol, sorry)
 

The conclusion would be: There can be different sorts of alts. 
1. The alts representing unlived facets, desires and whishes which we would love to live in RL
2. The alts created like charakters in a book which we fill with life like an actor fills his role. By being empathic about foreign mindsets. 

Kelli, see? I don't manage what you did.........I keep killing people with walls of text, rofl





 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Anidusa Carolina

[Anidusa Carolina]

1 hour ago, Raspberry Crystal said:

I think this is similar to the way writers create characters. Those imaginary people will have parts of their creator, but the need to make them shareable as a whole consistent person means, that what fills the gaps can turn out to be something totally new.

In second life, even if we are reclusive, we are sharing our avatars with the world. I know some will be plastic disposable dolls, made for a purpose, but others will somehow take on a life of their own.

SL gives us the chance to imagine being somebody else, and in the process finding out new things about ourselves.

I totally agree. Filling the gaps is what we do with empathy as well as creativity. 
 

May I change your last sentence to "SL gives us the chance to imagine being an "extended self" and in the process finding out undiscovered facets of ourselves"? Is that still what you wanted to express? Or only "close to"?

[Anidusa Carolina]

57 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

When you have different people inside you there comes a point when you decide whether to keep them contained or to let them live by their own will.  This is what writers do, or can do.  Does that cause a fracturing of the mind, or was that mind already fractured?  Was it always so?  I know that I, this one that thinks and interacts with the world am only at the top of an arc.  I am not everything.

hello Garnet, this is a very different way of describing it.
"Having different people inside" first and foremost may create an association with a "multiple personality".
Scientists haven't yet found to a conclusion if "multiple personalities" exist as a personality disorder , or if everyone of us has them up to a certain degree, but handle the matter different than the persons who tend to split up by letting a few of them jump into "a life of their own".

I am aware I may be totally besides the point you mentioned above, but this is my first association of your words.

All in all, your statement is very close to mine, just in other words........you may call it different people whereas I call it "inner facets" May well be we talk about the same here, just using different terms. 
 

[Raspberry Crystal]

2 hours ago, Anidusa Carolina said:

I totally agree. Filling the gaps is what we do with empathy as well as creativity. 
 

May I change your last sentence to "SL gives us the chance to imagine being an "extended self" and in the process finding out undiscovered facets of ourselves"? Is that still what you wanted to express? Or only "close to"?

I think both are possible, to enter into an extended self, but also to empathically inhabit the world of somebody else, at least within the limitations of our imagination! 

[Fay Starlight]

22 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I don't do any sort of RP in SL and my alts were simply because I wanted different types of Linden Homes and can only own one per account.  Regardless of which alt owns which property, they are all Lil's and thus decorated for me.

My alts are pawns to hold houses. I bilk them of all their money and they have nothing but LH creator kits in their inventory.

Also in 13 years never had an alt until January 2020....now I have too many. Lol

Edited April 18, 2020 by Faydra Foden

[Eirynne Sieyes]

My alts were each created as RP characters in early SL or as players in the various games I've played. Today they are involved in the Find the Perfect Home of Each Type Quest. In other words, they were created for practical purposes and remain that way today. 

I admire those of you who are more imaginative, more poetic, and more comfortable with aspects of the self than I.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Eirynne Sieyes
grammar

[EmmeElise]

I dont know if multiple personalities fits, for me, when I was corporate(rl) my attire was business formal, my demeanor matched,  hair and makeup in line. No cursing. Mom-wear and hair clips on weekends, more relaxed and playful attitude. Now an empty nester who runs my own business from home, tee shirt,leggings , frequently mismatched socks, wild hair and no makeup, and I cuss like a sailor. I consider it more of a situational chameleon deal. Like how no one cusses at church. My houses reflect that stylistically, i live there. My alt is me too, except shes broke because I raid her lindens,lol.

I will say though,that to know our facets and embrace them,sometimes it's easier to single them out for focus on growth,however you do it, is probably healthy.

[GinaFreumann]

Wonderful topic, Anidusa, and what thoughtful replies!  I've created different alts over the years, to play out different aspects of my personality, but i am each of them.  Its only in SL that I can express those differences.  If I acted as Jessie or Freedom in real life, my friends would start to worry "Is she getting senile?!"  Jess is young & carefree, a stylish city girl.  Freedom is a basic & hunts zombies.  Gina (most like me) loves the country & is more subdued.  I've spent money on most of them, as I'm vain & like to look good. 😄   But I leave the oldest (I think) in a very early face/body, cause she's so darned cute.  She just wanders the forest in Rosehaven & listens to music.

I've tried all the different house styles, but decorated each according to my own preferences, different only according to the setting.  Gina has the inventory, & does the decorating for the others.  I've spent way to much on furnishings and mostly with suggestions from people here in the forums.  

I think people are like jewels, multi-faceted.  Its only in SL that we get to express them all.

[Rolig Loon]

I'm in sort of a funny position because I'm not Premium and therefore don't have a Linden Home as either myself or an alt.  As much as I admire the homes and what people have done with them, I am not particularly interested in living in one.  I do love exploring in Bellisseria, though. I enjoy the variety of landscapes and details that LL has created and I am astounded by the creativity that everyone has put into decorating their own parcels.  So I get out and wander.

Thing is, I wander as different people -- not different alts, just different versions of me -- depending on my mood and the sort of place I am exploring. Outwardly, what changes is mostly clothing and sometimes hair.  I can find myself being a young outdoorswoman  in jeans and riding boots, a Victorian lady in a full-length dress and feathered hat, a suburban woman in a short sun dress, or a mermaid. I am no longer surprised but I remember thinking that it's odd how my personality and behavior change when I become a different character.  As a Victorian woman, I pay more attention to the detail in flowers, fountains, and statuary. When I'm in my sun dress, I travel fast on my scooter and look at wider landscapes.  My outdoorswoman pays no attention to buildings at all, but talks to her horse and keeps looking for places to swim.  And the mermaid ... is just out there having fun. And she's a real mermaid, without itchy seashells to cover herself.  

I really didn't plan it this way, and maybe the differences between my selves are not as apparent to other people as they are to me. I'm not "playing" roles. I just seem to be different people when I start one of my explorations. Hard to explain. 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

20 hours ago, Raspberry Crystal said:

Most of the time Raspberry and I are are in synch, except when she gets her **** in the way and I can't see what I'm editing!

So maybe I'm not the only one who says "Move your a**!!!" to her avatar when trying to decorate? 

[Mollymews]

i love reading these kinds of posts, is always interesting to me to see how others think about what they do

in my own case any character story line I might relate is pretty a much just like an authored short story. Or like a short theatre performance when being related to others in realtime. Like an author or playwright I suppose. I am detached somewhat from the story/performance

with alts and previous accounts, they have only ever served for some practical purpose. Like owning land and stuff like that

whichever alt/account I have had or used I am always pretty much me.  Mostly because while I can do short performances pretty ok, I can't sustain them over any length of time and my true self always reveals over the longer time