Ask a Child Avatar

[brodiac90]

1 minute ago, Lilbap said:

You're making this reeeeeaaaally hard for someone with impulse control issues to stay on topic!

I could go on forever on playing a vampire kid.

If People ask specific questions on what it's like to be a vampire child then that would be on topic. 

[Love Zhaoying]

Are also there Zombie kids?

Do human kids count "furry" kids as part of their community?

I wish that @PheebyKatz was participating in all these discussions!

[Lilbap]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

Are also there Zombie kids?

There's this maker that makes a BoM decomposition cosmetic thing. I thought at one point of getting it to represent when my character was hungry. Then I thought about it, people might accept a vampire because really unless you "think too hard about it," they skirt the uncanny valley. However, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to look at a zombie kid and make the connection "dead baby," and the last thing I want to do is trigger someone who lost a child.

[Love Zhaoying]

10 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

If People ask specific questions on what it's like to be a vampire child then that would be on topic. 

My own naive idea of a "vampire child" is based on Rice's "Interview" books/movies (as I've said before).  In those, the child vampire is "not to be trusted", I suppose due in part to "poor impulse control".

I wonder if there are other classes of child avatars that we would "expect" to be "more difficult" such as toddlers?

Is there such a thing as "feral children"? (Not furry, just "feral" meaning wild-raised.)

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Lilbap said:

the last thing I want to do is trigger someone who lost a child.

That is rather compassionate of you!  Some would suggest that the shock value could be "healing and transformative".

[Lilbap]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

My own naive idea of a "vampire child" is based on Rice's "Interview" books/movies (as I've said before).  In those, the child vampire is "not to be trusted", I suppose due in part to "poor impulse control".

There's a rich diversity of books and movies on the topic of vampire children.

I recommend, naturally "Let The Right One In," as well as 2024's "Abigail" for films with vampire children that are really good. Hoping Abigail will get a novelization so I can dig further into her psychology.

If you want an absolutely chilling child vampire novel, I recomment "Lesser Dead," Christopher Buehlman. Do yourself a favour though and don't spoiler it for yourself.

[Lilbap]

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

That is rather compassionate of you!  Some would suggest that the shock value could be "healing and transformative".

I'm not a therapist, and I don't know their lives. I'm not qualified to make choices in other people's healing procsess. I think the ones that would suggest it are the ones more interested in hurting and not promoting healing.

[brodiac90]

20 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Are also there Zombie kids?

Do human kids count "furry" kids as part of their community?

I wish that @PheebyKatz was participating in all these discussions!

Are also there Zombie kids?

I've never met any zombie kids. 

Do human kids count "furry" kids as part of their community?

Generally, I would say no, but that might be because in my experience furry kids don't tend to interact with people outside of the furry community. I do know of one boy who has rabbit ears and a tail but otherwise looks like a human kid. I'd say he is part of the kid community but that's more because he interacts with other kids in the kid community. 

23 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I wish that @PheebyKatz was participating in all these discussions!

I've heard lots of good things so yes it would be good! 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

I don't ever run into any other zombie adults, let alone kids. I do occasionally see skeleton avatars (adults, though). I don't really know how popular we undeadlies are in general (I'm technically in that community, too, I suppose, at least sometimes), but from what I've seen, we're a pretty tiny bunch.

 

17 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

If People ask specific questions on what it's like to be a vampire child then that would be on topic. 

I'll ask! @Lilbap, please feel free to elaborate on what it's like being a vampire kid! Specifically, where do you get your inspiration from for your particular vampire avatar appearance, personality, story if you roleplay, etc.? You mentioned "Let the Right One In." - great film! I'm most familiar with Laurell K. Hamilton's vamps from the Anita Blake series, but I know they aren't exactly standard. Also a huge fan of Nosferatu. Vampires should not always be pretty, I'm just sayin'. I tend to prefer it when they don't sparkle, but that's just me. 🤣

 

As for what I've learned - child avatars are a cool, creative, and fun bunch! I've only ever seen once out in the wild a long time ago, and it was the variety with the local chat spam baby-talk, so I muted her. Sorry not sorry - I was shopping for food and she was distracting meeeee. 😄 I promise I didn't let it tarnish my view of the overall community. Just like any group, we've all got our obnoxious fools.

[Love Zhaoying]

9 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Just like any group, we've all got our obnoxious fools.

PSA: Some of us obnoxious fools provide a valuable community service, by making everyone else look smarter by comparison.

 

[Lilbap]

27 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I'll ask! @Lilbap, please feel free to elaborate on what it's like being a vampire kid! Specifically, where do you get your inspiration from for your particular vampire avatar appearance, personality, story if you roleplay, etc.? You mentioned "Let the Right One In." - great film! I'm most familiar with Laurell K. Hamilton's vamps from the Anita Blake series, but I know they aren't exactly standard. Also a huge fan of Nosferatu. Vampires should not always be pretty, I'm just sayin'. I tend to prefer it when they don't sparkle, but that's just me. 🤣

I HAVE BEEN UNLEASHED!!

Ahem, sorry, hi and thank you for the question! Currently I am kind of on a vibe as vampirism as a transmitted disease through bites. My sister Jenny suggested her character could be a phlebotomist and able to drain donors for me. We both agree that secretly Sasha still sneaks out and feeds when she's really hungry. I lean more towards Dracula and Let The Right One In than more modern tellings. No sparkling here, but I do have a "sun suit" outfit I wear with long sleeve gloves, veils to cover my head and a parasol. That's about the only concession I have that people don't have their winlights set to Midnight

For my appearance, I found an image I loooved recently that kinda looks like my vibe enough I can say "Yeah I can see me." I'm older because my mesh body won't get smaller and I can't afford a new one right now.

Right now I don't really have a story, I can't find a vampire place that will allow vampire kids. I have a head canon I keep running as well as occasionally write out background details for my own and the entertainment of friends.

As I mentioned, I get sidetracked. So I guess I will toss out some quick  media I've snatched ideas from to make my own lore.

Let The Right One In: This is a major inspiration for me. I use it as a crib sheet for abilities my character might have as a vampire as well as the weakness (except for my sun suit concession). I always ask before I come into a home, its just polite.

Children of the Night: A vampire movie from Argentina about a medical facility that was there basically to help child vampires. It gave me a lot of insight of vampires at different ages, and I liked the idea that vampire fangs "grow in" over time. I've long shed my baby teeth. There was one cringe moment, so be aware.

The Lesser Dead: A novel I mentioned above, gave me a lot of insight into the "impulse control" issues for child vampires as well as how Sasha feels when full.

Vampire the Masquerade: I mean, you can't roleplay a vampire and not have heard of this RPG. I use the statistics to give me a better grasp of Sasha's physical strengths and weaknesses. I found an online document called: PEQUEÑOS VAMPIROS by  Manuel Ángel Gayoso Peña. Its in Spanish so I am slowly translating it, but its insightful on the subject.

Black Eyed Kids:  That urban legend more than anything terrified me to become facinated with child monsters. They need to be invited in too!

Edited May 28 by Lilbap
Answered more fully. Impulse control.

[Love Zhaoying]

15 minutes ago, Lilbap said:

For my appearance, I found an image I loooved recently that kinda looks like my vibe enough I can say "Yeah I can see me." I'm older because my mesh body won't get smaller and I can't afford a new one right now.

She gives me a vibe similar to Seska, in "Voyager".  (A Cardassian who pretended to be a Bajoran.)

ETA: Seska was played by Martha Hackett, who was also in the series, "I Heart Vampires"!

Edited May 28 by Love Zhaoying

[Ayashe Ninetails]

26 minutes ago, Lilbap said:

I HAVE BEEN UNLEASHED!!

LMAO, I knew you were itching to talk about it, so I wanted to give you an on-topic opening. 

Thank you for the detailed answer! I have kind of a love/hate relationship with vampires and vampire lore, myself, so I was curious to hear more about your inspiration and which parts of the lore you most vibe with. I tend to favor horror books and stories far, far, far more than movies (I'm really squeamish, but only for visual horror - not written), but even with all that, I've sat through a few different vamp movies (Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned among my most hated) and honestly - too much dang sparkling!!! I might be the only person who hated the former film, but...yeah. Give me the Salem's Lot vamps any day.

I've been tempted myself to make a vampire avatar once or twice, but didn't really dedicate any time to doing so (yet?). The tendency for so many to go the pretty route really, really drives me to make something rather repulsive, but I generally create and wear a LOT of different avatars, so I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

Speaking of which...that inspiration image you posted - FANTASTIC. That's just the right amount of creepy I imagine a kid vampire to be. 😆 That look is also very doable here! That's a shame that you haven't been able to find a vampire community that allows children. I think she'd make for a great roleplay character.

I also like that you wear a sun outfit! I imagine you could get super creative with that, too. I've seen some lovely parasols, for example. Big hats could also work. You could build some really cute outfits around that concept alone.

[Lilbap]

3 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

LMAO, I knew you were itching to talk about it, so I wanted to give you an on-topic opening. 

Busted and thank you too. Salem's Lot is getting another remake soon!

[Arwyn Quandry]

Re: furry kids, there were a small handful when I went to school, like two or three, as well as a few more who were nekos. They were perfectly nice folks and I never had any issues with them being around. I like wearing rabbit ears while being human and know some kids who wear elf ears but don't RP as elves. 

Personally, I'm not sure where cubs fit into the furry community. My understanding is that it's a hypersexual community overall so I don't quite get how kids play a part in it. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

26 minutes ago, Lilbap said:

Busted and thank you too. Salem's Lot is getting another remake soon!

Ooooo, thanks for the heads up! I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

And you're very welcome! Thank you for answering! ❤️

[Madi Melodious]

This thread is very interesting and has a few eyebrow raising moments.  It has also peeked the several years of psychology courses that I took in college.   Let's review, but first one of my experiences.

I really don't roleplay in SL, the few times that I've tried have ended up being awkward.  Some friends of mine joined a role playing highschool.  Since I wasn't a highschool student I picked a random school for my "age."   At first, I just hung out there and talked to the students and teachers.   The place had this weird vibe to it, but I chalked that up to just something new and I wasn't used to it.

Then I read the notecard they gave me when I was interested in joining.  The first few lines were about bare bottom spankings, I had to sign up for a spanking schedule, and a weekly "maintenance" spanking.   I admit that I had to read that a few times before it dawned on me what I was reading, and all the weirdness made sense.

A few choice words later, in local, and I noped the h**l out of there.  After I recovered and did an investigation turns out they were not violating the TOS, just walking a very fine line.   I checked a few months later and found the group had been closed and almost every member had been banned.  I guess someone at the Lab decided, to heck with the fine line, this is gone.

So no, on roleplaying for me.

In eight years of being a child avatar I have never had anyone come up to me and asked me where my mommy was or if I am lost, or generally address me as a child.  I have had some creeps ask me if I wanted a daddy.  Hence the first line in my profile. 

I'm still perplexed by the assumption that some have that child avatars are in character all the time.  I have never encountered a child avatar that is always in character.  Most of the time they are just like me, not having any childish personality at all.  This may be an attributed to where I hang out and the people that surround me.  

I'm also perplexed by the answers that some people are uncomfortable around child avatars.  I wonder are you uncomfortable around RL children too.   This goes back to a statement that I made a while back "we are not real children, stop treating us like children."   

I wonder.  I know that on the surface we all here know that child avatars are really not run by children.  I wonder how much of that trickle through to the subconscious.   Do subconsciously some of us equate child avatar as a real child?  And how much of that do we reflect inworld on child avatars without being noticed.   Very interesting. 

This line of thought has got me thinking about some of my experiences in SL.  From almost day one my child avatar has been in positions of authority.  I'm part of the upper management for a popular destination in SL.   I run businesses, posts in groups, even maintain wiki pages so maybe some see me as tiny adult and not a real child avatar.  Interesting.

Next would be my AO of choice and body language.   I've often wondered how the body language of a chosen AO reflects how people treat the avatar and even the adult behind the keyboard.   I have been told that my adult alt Maggie is intimidating.  One person said Maggie is downright terrifying.   Which is something I really can't figure out.

There are no child animations in my AO.  It is all adult animations that fit my size.  No fidgets, no cartwheels, nothing that would indicate a childish nature.  I wonder if that sends some subconscious message to people watching the screen.  We know body language carries of weight on how we address someone in RL,  I wonder how much of that carries over from SL to RL.   

Sorry about the long post and I hope it makes sense.  This thread has just gotten me thinking.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Arwyn Quandry said:

My understanding is that it's a hypersexual community overall so I don't quite get how kids play a part in it. 

My experience is that the furry community as I know it, in my own personal experience, is not that sexual at all.

So, I would not assume anything just because cubs are around.

Edited May 28 by Love Zhaoying

[brodiac90]

1 hour ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

LMAO, I knew you were itching to talk about it, so I wanted to give you an on-topic opening. 

Thank you for the detailed answer! I have kind of a love/hate relationship with vampires and vampire lore, myself, so I was curious to hear more about your inspiration and which parts of the lore you most vibe with.

The vampire topic is an interesting one, because you can draw a lot of parallels between the kid commuity and the vampire community in SL in so far that there is quite a bit of hate for both. I know for a long time a lot of places banned vampires too, although that sort of hysteria seems to have died down compared to a few years ago. It does beg the question though, are marginalsied communities in SL generally more accepting of child avatars than mainstream ones? That's an interesting thought. 

@Love Zhaoying brought this up before, but the topic of kid vampire is quite fascinating to me. Would a child vampire retain their innocence and 'happy go lucky,' outlook on life or would they eventually become jaded, bitter and resentful? Would you stay like Peter Pan or end up like Homer in Near Dark? 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to the questions I posed. 

1. Who is your favourite person or persons in SL and why? 

My mum and dad are amazing people who make me feel incredibly loved and very special. 

2. What are your top 3 best experiences in SL? 

Top would be any occasion or time spent with my family. Christmas is a particularly magical time. I have also loved time spent at kid summer camps like RSC 3020 and Camp Panther at HKE Elementary School. An entire week living on sim spending time with other kids and friendly adults having a blast doing crazy activites is just so much fun.

Camp Panther was such a long time ago now but I still have very fond memories of and the time I spent with the camp counselors who were a ball of fun!  

3. What do you think child avatars could do to improve relations between other groups and communities? 

I agree with @NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard that toning down the baby talk, gesture spam and diaper green text etc is probably a good thing in general, but I also think we could be more active in a number of ways. Mainly by discussing things, havng our voice heard and by showing people just how good a community we can be, although I do get that it can be quite hard to do that through all the hate. It would be nice if LL acknolwdged our existence in media etc and perhaps we could even do something like a community exhibition? 

4. What do you think adult avatars and other groups could do to improve relations with child avatars?

I think just keeping an open mind would be the best thing really. I get there are adults out there who have had nothing but bad experiences with child avatars, and I can totally see how you would only have a negative opinion if all you've experienced is the griefer kids / trolls who came to your adult land trying to get you into trouble. That would upset me too. I'd just say not all kids are like that but I accept a lot of people probably aren't going to change their minds. 

5. The Belli Hamsters or Linden Bears? You can only pick 1 🤣

Sorry Hammies, but bear, bear bears! 

 

[brodiac90]

13 minutes ago, Madi Melodious said:

I'm also perplexed by the answers that some people are uncomfortable around child avatars.  I wonder are you uncomfortable around RL children too.   This goes back to a statement that I made a while back "we are not real children, stop treating us like children."   

I wonder.  I know that on the surface we all here know that child avatars are really not run by children.  I wonder how much of that trickle through to the subconscious.   Do subconsciously some of us equate child avatar as a real child?  And how much of that do we reflect inworld on child avatars without being noticed.   Very interesting.

 

I think there is definitely some of this going on. I think everyone does it on a subconscious level without even realising. For example, how often do people make avatars that look identical to their RL selves? Not often I'd wager. Are you really that young? That tall? That beauitifal?  Isn't everyone sort of adopting a persona when they log into SL? I've heard people say that they act differently depending on what alt their using.... 

I think even knowing there is an adult behind the screen that people find it hard to look at a very realistic looking child avatar and not on some subconscious level treat them that way. Whether intentionally or not. 

[Lilbap]

14 minutes ago, brodiac90 said:

Would a child vampire retain their innocence and 'happy go lucky,' outlook on life or would they eventually become jaded, bitter and resentful?

Kinda depends on which lore you draw from really. Think about it, there's no more growth so brain development stops at the point fo the change. For me, Sasha slips into childish behaviours sometimes but realizes it. Its sort of like when you get upset and a native accent you've been trying to hide shows through.

 

Age Ranges for Child Vampires

Ages 6-8

• Characteristics: Very young and often very dependent on their sire. They retain a significant amount of innocence and naivety.
• Psychological Traits: They might struggle to understand their new existence fully, leading to a high degree of confusion and fear. Their childlike innocence often clashes starkly with their vampiric nature.
• Roleplaying Tips: Emphasize their dependence on older vampires and their struggle to comprehend their condition. They may often look to their sire for guidance and reassurance.

Ages 8-10

• Characteristics: Slightly more independent but still largely reliant on their sire or other older vampires. They begin to understand their situation better but still retain much of their childhood innocence.
• Psychological Traits: They start to grapple with the loss of their mortal life and the permanence of their new condition. This age range may exhibit a mix of childlike behavior and glimpses of understanding their vampiric nature.
• Roleplaying Tips: Highlight their moments of clarity and understanding amidst their childlike behaviors. Their interactions may show a mix of dependency and budding independence.

Ages 10-12

• Characteristics: They start to exhibit more independence and a better understanding of their situation. They can start to develop their own identity within the vampiric world.
• Psychological Traits: This age range often deals with significant internal conflict as they reconcile their lost childhood with their new reality. They may exhibit a more pronounced struggle between their vampiric instincts and their lingering humanity.
• Roleplaying Tips: Focus on their internal conflicts and moments of maturity. They may begin to question their sire's decisions and seek more autonomy.

Ages 12-14

• Characteristics: Approaching adolescence, they are more self-aware and independent. They may begin to resent their vampiric condition more deeply as they understand the full implications of their immortality.
• Psychological Traits: They often experience a heightened sense of rebellion and a strong desire for independence. This age range may exhibit significant anger and frustration towards their sire and their condition.
• Roleplaying Tips: Emphasize their rebellious nature and desire for independence. They may clash more frequently with their sire and other authority figures.

Edited May 28 by Lilbap

[Monika Skydancer]

On 5/25/2024 at 4:36 PM, brodiac90 said:

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.

All the Isard boats are PG friendly. They maybe have a couple cuddles but no adult anims. They also sail better than any of the tubs TMS churns out

I saw some mention of Trudeau boats. I love their classic look but I dunno how easy they are to retexture (which is a big deal to me cause I make my lindens painting boats) & I gotta say the ones I demo'd, I hate how they sail & handle. But I'm a pretty hardcore sailor, so if you just wanna cruise around in a pretty boat they're maybe okay.

Edited May 28 by Monika Skydancer

[Monika Skydancer]

On 5/26/2024 at 9:17 PM, Lilbap said:

I really feel that this new change has done less for 'keeping SL kids safe from predators'

It was never about that. It's about keeping LL safe from Euro tabloids & I gotta say I can see their point.

[Persephone Emerald]

1 hour ago, Lilbap said:

Ages 12-14

• Characteristics: Approaching adolescence, they are more self-aware and independent. They may begin to resent their vampiric condition more deeply as they understand the full implications of their immortality.
• Psychological Traits: They often experience a heightened sense of rebellion and a strong desire for independence. This age range may exhibit significant anger and frustration towards their sire and their condition.
• Roleplaying Tips: Emphasize their rebellious nature and desire for independence. They may clash more frequently with their sire and other authority figures.

If you've seen the AMC version of "Interview With a Vampire", this describes Claudia pretty well. They aged her up considerably from the book to allow for her to be impulsive, seductive, rebellious and cunning.

[brodiac90]

4 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

If you've seen the AMC version of "Interview With a Vampire", this describes Claudia pretty well. They aged her up considerably from the book to allow for her to be impulsive, seductive, rebellious and cunning.

That's interesting, I didn't know they aged her up but then I shouldn't be surprised since Hollywood does this all the time. They did it with Ender's Game which is one of my favourite books of all time (I discovered the author's views after the fact), as well as many others. I get they must find it hard to find decent kid actors but it really changes how the characters are perceived.