Ask a Child Avatar

[brodiac90]

I drew inspiration for this thread from The Human Library. It's a project that started in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the year 2000 with the aim of breeding understanding and breaking down things like prejudice. The concept is that instead of going to a library and borrowing a book, instead you go to the library and get to borrow a person (more accurately you get to listen to their life story for a set amount of time). 

I'm proposing to do something similar with this thread but for child avatars. Perhaps people like @Madi Melodious would like to contribute? Also, maybe there could be spin offs in other threads for other types of avatars? 

The idea is to ask questions you've always wanted to ask but never have. It doesn't have to be super serious either so long as the questions are asked in good faith with honest intentions. I considered offering some examples but decided not to since I don't want to bias people's enquiries. The idea is to be as open ended as possible. 

Some ground rules: 

• Please stay on topic
• Be respectful 
•  Trolls will be reported and ignored. 

Sits down and waits.

 

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

This could be eye opening. I get why its fun to portray a kid. Being silly, playing innocent games, pretending for the time you get inworld that you don't have so many adult respinsibilities. Heck, I'd love to go to summer camp again and just ride a horse, make a craft, or sing silly campfire songs with other kids!

I know several "kids" that only use the child avatar look so others won't bug them about adult sexual activity. They speak like adults instead of pretending to be kids.  They never went to A regions before the TOS change. Maybe that's why people choose Dinkies, too.

I accept, even if I don't understand, that people like playing as kids under 4 or 5.  Maybe I don't have enough experience with real life toddlers to understand what was fun about that age.

So, questions for you, Brodiac. Does your avatar grow and age or are you forever 8? Are you 8? What is your perfect rezday party? In general, what do you do inworld on a typical day?

 

Edited May 25 by Cinnamon Mistwood
Spelling

[brodiac90]

4 minutes ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

So, questions for you, Brodiac. Does your avatar grow and age or are you forever 8? Are you 8? What is your perfect rezday party? In general, what do you do inworld on a typical day?

 

Does your avatar grow or age? 

Up until very recently I used the Tweenster avatar which can be adjusted for ages 8-14. My shape was on the younger end of the scale and I played as a 9 year old boy. I think my preference for that age was because you're still young enough to be a kid but you're old enough to be a bit more independent. With Tweeneedoo releasing the modesty layers though, and Tweenster not, I've decided to age down to 5 for the time being. Yes in SL kids sometimes get younger! 

As for aging up. I know that some people do age up their avatars. I actually know someone who intends to age up in real time, so 1 year in RL equals 1year in SL. Similarly, places like Mischief Managed (Hogwarts) the students there progress from first years to second and so on so people age up their avatars as they go. 

What is your perfect rezday party?

My SL mum and dad decorate our home in a party theme while I'm offline and surprise me when I come online. Having my family and friends there. We sing happy birthday on voice and then eat things like cake and open presents. Maybe we watch a movie together in SL and then play games like Cheesy or Uno afterwards. Most important is being around people who love me. 

What do you do inworld on a typical day?

My family will roleplay certain situations like meals and bedtimes etc or cuddles (Starries has an option for this on the HUD), but when we're not roleplaying we just hang out as friends and family (discussing RL etc). I love shopping and I'm kind of addicted to buying new accessories and clothes. I'm also massively into decorating and it kind of drives my mum mad that my bedroom is always changing - I've accidentally destroyed the house a few times now so dad has locked it - whoops. 

I attend a few clubs and activities aimed at kids. In the past I was in Scouts and also attended HKE Elementary School. Now it's mostly dance and story times. There are a few music clubs like Totally 80s which are PG and kid friendly that we sometimes go to as a family. 

I'm looking at learning Blender so I can make mesh clothes and I enjoy art quite a lot so I might try and open a gallery in the future, who knows! 

[Love Zhaoying]

Besides what's listed above, what does a child avatar do for fun? There's a lot in Second Life.

[Sadvhi]

20 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Besides what's listed above, what does a child avatar do for fun? There's a lot in Second Life.

The only pursuits I enjoy in SL are activities I could do much more efficiently in an mmorpg: crafting, mining, farming, fishing, cooking, and animal husbandry. I've had experiences with family roleplay, but am far too independent and antsy for that lifestyle. Which is a shame because it's quite fun to go on vacation with your family, celebrate holidays together, attend school, etc. 

[brodiac90]

30 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Besides what's listed above, what does a child avatar do for fun? There's a lot in Second Life.

what does a child avatar do for fun?

Amusement parks and games are a lot of fun. I can think of loads off of the top of my head. Simon, Connect 4, Bubble Pop, Doodle board, laser tag, normal tag, Pacman, Greedy, etc. Often child avatars enjoy meeting up and doing silly dancers - What the Duck is probably one of the oldest and most well known along with Baby Shark do do.

Summer camps are a big thing where you live on the sim and camp there for a week or so. You play games, make crafts with full perm packages etc and do lots of different activities. The biggest of these camps was RSC (Richmond Survival Camp) but sadly they stopped doing these a few years ago, although there are other places that still do camps. 

Bears are big! We kids like teddies and many of us (myself included) collect the ones that the Moles and Lindens make. No Linden is safe! Other forms of collecting include things like Breedables and the whole DFS farming system. 

Also, a lot of kids make content for the community whether it be clothing, furniture, toys, games, gestures etc. Starries and stores at Nuggets are some of the most popular. In some ways this is very similiar to what adult content creators do only the content is obviously different. Similarly I know a number of kids who are into scripting just like their adult counterparts. @Madi Melodious is just one kid I know who scripts but she's not the only one.

Sailing is also quite popular just for the sights alone, although it can be tricky finding places to go and boats that are PG friendly. Sailing around Belli and the Fairgrounds is pretty safe though! Keeping with the water theme, fishing is also a fun activity but again, it's quite hard to find contests and places that are kid friendly. We have our own 7Seas server on our land though so I can fish whenever I want, and to be fair, if you do find a fishing contest that also allows kids, the adults there tend to behave.  

Moving back to land, pony trekking is pretty popular, especially amongst girls, although I do enjoy the occasional horse ride as a boy. Like dance though, it seems to be pretty female dominated. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25 by brodiac90

[Ayashe Ninetails]

29 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

I love shopping and I'm kind of addicted to buying new accessories and clothes.

This is a MOOOOOD. SoOoOoOoOo, you know I have shopping questions!

How is the clothing selection for child avies? Are there are a wide variety of fashion styles available? Like...are there stores that make fantasy outfits and historical clothing for kids? Little steampunk outfits or anything (aww!)?

Speaking of fantasy - is there a fantasy community within the child community, too, and if so, how big is it, if you know? Any tiny little werewolves to keep an eye out for? 😄

[Love Zhaoying]

Ever considered having an "imaginary friend" in Second Life? 

[brodiac90]

1 minute ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

This is a MOOOOOD. SoOoOoOoOo, you know I have shopping questions!

How is the clothing selection for child avies? Are there are a wide variety of fashion styles available? Like...are there stores that make fantasy outfits and historical clothing for kids? Little steampunk outfits or anything (aww!)?

Speaking of fantasy - is there a fantasy community within the child community, too, and if so, how big is it, if you know? Any tiny little werewolves to keep an eye out for? 😄

How is the clothing selection for child avies?

It really depends on what child avatar you use. Avatars like Lullabeeb, Toddleedoo Baby, Bebe Baby etc tend to focus a lot on things like onesies and diapers which you would expect for that age range. Typically, girl clothing outnumbers and outsells boy clothing across the board with the exception of maybe Tweenster which seems to be more boy dominant. AVI(L) which is the same age range is the opposite and is 99% girls.  

In terms of fashions and styles, the most popular are modern clothing but you can find a lot of costume style outfits that can be reworked to pretty much anything. You tend to see more cartoony style gets ups for preteens and more grungy, rebellous looking outfits (skulls / goth) for teens. 

Is there a fantasy community within the child community?

Yes, absolutely! Mischief Managed is probably the biggest and most popular and there are lots of Harry Potter style unifroms, robes and cloaks avaialble. Speaking of fantasy more broadly, there are some options for medieval and fantasy wear and where there isn't, a lot of kids will repurpose adult cloaks and accessories and make them work for their avis. I know some of the smaller cloaks for example will fit an older child avatar. Then there are things like Victorian getups like sailor suits etc. 

 Any tiny little werewolves to keep an eye out for? 😄

I don't know of any werewolves but I've met a number of kids who were involved in the vampire community. These tended to be the more PG friendly sims where the more sexual aspects of vampirism was kept away from the kids. For the kids it was more about the mood, look and drinking blood, although even that wasn't very combat orientated as pretty much no sire / parent is going to let their vampire kid out where another vampire from a rival clan is going to kill them. The kids tended to drink blood from their parents. 

[brodiac90]

18 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Ever considered having an "imaginary friend" in Second Life? 

Have you ever considered having an imaginary friend in Second Life? 

I've never had an imaginary friend, it kind of sounds fun! But I've definitely imposed imaginary personalities on my favourite teddies. For example, Mr Quack Quack has a real personality and sometimes I will emote as though I'm listening to Mr Quack Quack and tell everyone what he's saying etc. Mr Quack Quack is my duck teddy! 

Edited May 25 by brodiac90

[Love Zhaoying]

Do some child avatars like to RP as the "classic childhood careers",  i.e. "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Examples: Astronaut, Fire Fighter, cowboy, policeman, etc. 

Second Life would give unique opportunities for those kinds of RP!

 

[Love Zhaoying]

11 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

kids who were involved in the vampire community

I find this interesting, as I was thinking about "Interview" (Rice's book and movie based on it), where it was basically forbidden to "make one so young".

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

Hopefully some other kid avvies will make an appearance in this thread, as well. There are as many different reasons for logging is as a kid as there are kids avatars in SL.  

A couple years ago, LL had a Christmas event held on a region that was built for kids.  It was a war games-type set up. Each quadrant was a different theme - woods, ice, volcanic cave, desert and, I assume, they had battles between the different groups of kids. I explored all over it.  It was amazing and definitely took a lot of work to set up.  At one point while I was exploring, scripted monsters jumped out to be defeated (I wasn't a member of the group, so I just ran since I didn't have a weapon!)  I don't remember the region name and it was mentioned that it would be going back to private right after the event.

Edited May 25 by Cinnamon Mistwood
added a word that mattered

[brodiac90]

5 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Do some child avatars like to RP as the "classic childhood careers",  i.e. "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Examples: Astronaut, Fire Fighter, cowboy, policeman, etc. 

Second Life would give unique opportunities for those kinds of RP!

 

Do some child avatars like to RP as the 'classic childhood careers?'

Absolutely, the most popular are ones that you typically see in EMS RP sims. You can get little cute outfits for the police and fire fighters. I don't have any pictures because it was years ago now, but I remember we were on an EMS sim and I had a toy police car with a wagon on the back for putting 'prisoners,' in. So me and a friend played cops and robbers and I chucked them in the back and rode my electric car down to the real police station where the officers there just about pissed themselves with laughter at the sight. Once they'd calmed down, they told me, no, I could not send my friend to jail lol. 

This is one of the oufits I'm talking about: 

[brodiac90]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I find this interesting, as I was thinking about "Interview" (Rice's book and movie based on it), where it was basically forbidden to "make one so young".

Yes, similiar themes are explored in 1987's Near Dark where I beleive Homer is a vampire child. 

[Madi Melodious]

Truth is, I really don't run my little avatar as a typical child avatar.  I do everything with this avatar, except for what is listed in the TOS, that would normally do with a regular avatar.   For any adult activities I have an adult alt that I would use that for.  Even then I don't do anything sexual with that adult avatar.

With this avatar, I explore, sail, ride horses, I script, I've run businesses.   Every week I run an event at The End of Time called Crooner's Corner where I play music loosely based on what would be called Crooner's.   I also Dj other events.   I'm a contract for hire scripter.   I'm also one of the managers and own one of the sims in the End of Time estate.

My sim is a garden called Windsong, all are welcome.   

In SL when people ask me what my age is I tell them to look at my profile page.  At first, I simply told them that I didn't do that silly age thing.   And I really still don't.  While I identify as a child AV, truth is I just simply like the way she looks.  

I don't have a roleplaying family, but I do have a family in SL.  I have a SL mom, but it's more of a sign of respect than a roleplaying thing.   I have a large family there at The End of Time, Perth is family name of the estate.   I have a sisters, brothers, uncles, and some very furry family members that I love.   I'm closer to some members of my SL family than I am my RL family.  

We are more of a Clan than a nuclear family.   We also have a habit of adopting anyone that washes up at The End of Time.   I tell people if they hang around long enough, we will find something for them to do.

We have celebrated at the end of time, schemed, played pranks, and simply enjoyed be apart of each other's lifes.  Since 2020 we buried two of our family members.   We are very close and changes that affect one of us ripple through our entire community.

This avatar is in all ways a child of the End of Time.  She was born there; her look was shaped by the people at The End of Time.   She was named by her sister at the End of Time.  Almost everything about her is a product of the people around her.  

I also go to shows and hang out with friends just like any other avatar.  

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

Edited May 25 by Madi Melodious

[NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard]

Greetings everyone, 

As a fellow user who has a Toddleedoo avatar, I tend to stick to General and Moderate sims now. I've explored many sims, and I have also done photography as a side hobby on the Second Life grid. At the moment, I currently roleplay on Astrium as a Baby Elf named Lokan. Back then, I used to be a furry avatar, and then I eventually switched to Toddleedoo.

I think its fun to be a kid avatar in Second Life, it allows you to relive your own childhood, make a new childhood,  or go on adventures if you so desire. Roleplaying is something I enjoy doing, and I've done it before on forums before I joined Second Life. 

If you have any questions for me, I'll do the best to answer them. 

Edited May 25 by NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard
Adding an additional line

[InnerCity Elf]

Wow, that Human Library project is an awesome idea, never heard about it, even though living somewhat closely to Denmark. I imagine this could be a great opportunity for quite a lot of use cases, and both sides benefitting, like exchange between old and young people who might not have grandchildren/grandparents to pass on tales from the times they grew up in, people who are masters in trades that are in danger of becoming extinct,...

Anyway, this "SL AMA" kind of thread is a great idea, too, so, my question to the SL children: What are you looking for in your SL parents?

[NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard]

10 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

Wow, that Human Library project is an awesome idea, never heard about it, even though living somewhat closely to Denmark. I imagine this could be a great opportunity for quite a lot of use cases, and both sides benefitting, like exchange between old and young people who might not have grandchildren/grandparents to pass on tales from the times they grew up in, people who are masters in trades that are in danger of becoming extinct,...

Anyway, this "SL AMA" kind of thread is a great idea, too, so, my question to the SL children: What are you looking for in your SL parents?

That's a pretty good question.  I'd want someone who is nice, understanding, and respects me for who I am as a person. After all, some people don't understand who I am and will try to screw with me, even if I didn't do anything against them. It's the unpleasant people I don't understand, and there's a lot of them across the Second Life Grid. Even though, not every user is bad. 

I did originally have a Second Life family, but it didn't last for very long. I don't remember the exact reason why, since it was so many years ago. Now... I prefer to travel the grid by myself when I am not doing much in particular.

Edited May 25 by NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard

[Ayashe Ninetails]

45 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

How is the clothing selection for child avies?

It really depends on what child avatar you use. Avatars like Lullabeeb, Toddleedoo Baby, Bebe Baby etc tend to focus a lot on things like onesies and diapers which you would expect for that age range. Typically, girl clothing outnumbers and outsells boy clothing across the board with the exception of maybe Tweenster which seems to be more boy dominant. AVI(L) which is the same age range is the opposite and is 99% girls.  

In terms of fashions and styles, the most popular are modern clothing but you can find a lot of costume style outfits that can be reworked to pretty much anything. You tend to see more cartoony style gets ups for preteens and more grungy, rebellous looking outfits (skulls / goth) for teens. 

Is there a fantasy community within the child community?

Yes, absolutely! Mischief Managed is probably the biggest and most popular and there are lots of Harry Potter style unifroms, robes and cloaks avaialble. Speaking of fantasy more broadly, there are some options for medieval and fantasy wear and where there isn't, a lot of kids will repurpose adult cloaks and accessories and make them work for their avis. I know some of the smaller cloaks for example will fit an older child avatar. Then there are things like Victorian getups like sailor suits etc. 

 Any tiny little werewolves to keep an eye out for? 😄

I don't know of any werewolves but I've met a number of kids who were involved in the vampire community. These tended to be the more PG friendly sims where the more sexual aspects of vampirism was kept away from the kids. For the kids it was more about the mood, look and drinking blood, although even that wasn't very combat orientated as pretty much no sire / parent is going to let their vampire kid out where another vampire from a rival clan is going to kill them. The kids tended to drink blood from their parents. 

Thank you for the answers! That's a little funny that the children's clothing market mirrors the adult market in that the female clothing outnumbers the male. I probably could've guessed that, but didn't for some reason. 

On the fantasy side, I figured there would be at least some kids in the vampire communities, true! Nicholas also mentioned elves, which also makes a lot of sense, so I could see that as well. I would also guess there may be a few mermaids. I do wonder if anyone uses Akeruka's Cyclops head as that's the only fantasy/monster head I've seen that specifically fits childrens' bodies.

If there are any Cyclops enjoyers out there, please feel free to comment! 😄

[Sadvhi]

9 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

Anyway, this "SL AMA" kind of thread is a great idea, too, so, my question to the SL children: What are you looking for in your SL parents?

Having experienced a very unhealthy and dysfunctional upbringing in RL, it was immensely therapeutic for me to have caregivers in Second Life who embodied the opposite qualities of my actual parents. They were loving, kind, attentive, caring, compassionate, supportive, nonjudgemental, accepting, humorous, and genuinely invested in making sure I was safe and happy.

[brodiac90]

6 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

Wow, that Human Library project is an awesome idea, never heard about it, even though living somewhat closely to Denmark. I imagine this could be a great opportunity for quite a lot of use cases, and both sides benefitting, like exchange between old and young people who might not have grandchildren/grandparents to pass on tales from the times they grew up in, people who are masters in trades that are in danger of becoming extinct,...

Anyway, this "SL AMA" kind of thread is a great idea, too, so, my question to the SL children: What are you looking for in your SL parents?

What are you looking for in your SL parents?

1. Motivation - that they actually want to have a SL kid and interact in a meaningful way. Sounds strange I know but I've known of many situations where kids have been adopted into families and then pretty much just treated as a fashion accessory. They're called kid hoarders in the community and we avoid those sorts of people like the plague. As for my own family, I've been with my mum and dad for 4 years. 

2. Safety - both physically and emotionally. Are you going to do something stupid with adult animations in my vacinity and get me banned? Do you know where to put adult furniture in the home? Do you know how to be discreet and keep things private and only do adult things when I'm offline? Do you know how to dress appropriately for school meetings or dance class? If you're in a relationship with someone, is it a stable relationship? Are mum's and dad's going to be coming and going all the time? Are you going to check in and look after me? When you roleplay as a kid it's easy to slip into the mind set and this of course makes you more vulnerable. Me personally, I sometimes have 'flash backs,' when I get triggered by certain things. Thankfully my mum iand dad are very attuned to these moments now. They can usually tell just by me going quiet and know how to help, but yes safety is very important. Are you going to be my safety blanket and let me be me basically.  

3. This links into point 1 but motivation alone is not the same as actually spending time with your kid. Are you going to roleplay with me? Are we going to do things together as a family? Do the connections feel genuine and meaningful? 

[Madi Melodious]

2 hours ago, brodiac90 said:

what does a child avatar do for fun?

ite popular just for the sights alone, although it can be tricky finding places to go and boats that are PG friendly. Sailing around Belli and the Fairgrounds is pretty safe though! Keeping with the water theme, fishing is also a fun activity but again, it's quite hard to find contests and places that are kid friendly. We have our own 7Seas server on our land though so I can fish whenever I want, and to be fair, if you do find a fishing contest that also allows kids, the adults there tend to behave.  

I love to sail SL.  There has not been a sea, lake, river, pond, or ditch in SL that I have not tried to stick a boat in.  

Jacqueline Trudeau is a established boat builder in SL.  I have all of her boats on my alt and I don't think she has any adult poses in any of her boats.  I've been sailing in SL for over 12 years and I recommend Trudeau boats.   Some of them are dated but they are still very good boats.  

This avatar favorite boat is a Nemo.  It's a free boat that you can pick up almost anywhere there is water.  

As for boats with adult animation, I did find one that I liked that had adult animation on it. I bought the boat, ripped out all the adult animation, and rewrote the AVsitter card.   PG boat now.  

Edited May 25 by Madi Melodious

[Persephone Emerald]

2 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I find this interesting, as I was thinking about "Interview" (Rice's book and movie based on it), where it was basically forbidden to "make one so young".

2 hours ago, brodiac90 said:

Yes, similiar themes are explored in 1987's Near Dark where I beleive Homer is a vampire child. 

Also the 80's vampire movie Lost Boys, in which the vampires were teenagers.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Also the 80's vampire movie Lost Boys, in which the vampires were teenagers.

Stands out as a comedy!

..which inspires an "AMA" question: Do child avatars mostly have a "sense of humor", lots of laughing and jokes etc.? Are some (or even groups) serious types, like how some of [me/us/royal we] perceive Tinies?