Ayashe Ninetails

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.

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. 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.

Unique and creative accessories, hairstyles, and articles of clothing. Impossible designs. Artistic headdresses, masks, and hats. Shoes that wouldn't look out of place in an art gallery exhibit. Makeup that goes far beyond simple day/night wear and crosses into theatrical. Outfits that are either inspired by or remind me of pieces from my favorite RL fashion designers. If I see the Rick Owens inspo, the Gareth Pugh inspo, the Ruth E. Carter inspo, or the McQueen inspo, I'm buying immediately.

I can't speak for ChatGPT whatsoever, but that wouldn't work at all on the models I'm familiar with. If those tweets aren't fake, I'd only be a bit surprised, though. ChatGPT always seemed a bit scuffed to me. Not heard of anyone trying that with SL's AI bots. Success with that really depends on how they're trained and the resources an individual or company dedicates to security and trying to break the dang thing.

Depending on how patient and skilled you are with building, I'd suggest digging through the decor and knick knacks at DRD (Deathrowdesigns). MP here, but check their shop in-world. There were a lot of freebies available the last I went and things there can be modded into worn accessories, if you're creative enough. There are some clothes, too. I'd also highly recommend checking the Marketplace for full perm mesh to use the same way - either just to wear (like backpacks, suitcases, and survivalist gear) or you can use them to build more elaborate accessories. I customize my own deer antlers sometimes and managed to find some good wilderness survival items in the full perms market. Some items come with their own textures which are totally fine to use as-is. Other stores to look at for odds and ends - Static (Flickr here - definitely check the in-world shop as they have a ton), Val'More (Flickr here), and potentially Clover for more off-the-wall accessories (Flickr here). For a clothing base, you can try deadsouls (mainstore here). His Drift outfit has a dirty cotton option in the fatpack only. Butterscotch has this outfit: You could also try STOP Store (mainstore here, Flickr here). They've got ponchos and some tattered clothes. Val'More (linked above) also has some clothing pieces that may work. I'd also take a good look through Gabriel's in-world store. Gonna have to do a lot of creative shopping and building to put those looks together, but it can be done.

I haven't been following much of this back and forth, but just wanted to chime in on this - Gaslighting's a bit more insidious - far beyond simple trolling or griefing. Think of it more like a form of sabotage. An extreme example - Person A turns up the heat a few degrees. Person B says, "Whew, why is it so hot in here?" Person A says, "I don't know what you're talking about, the temperature is the same. You're probably just running a fever. Come to think of it, you don't look too good. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Highly recommend seeing Gaslight, the 1944 George Cukor film, based on the 1938 play. If for no other reason but Charles Boyer. 👀 Also, it probably goes without saying, but if you run into that sort of behavior in Second Life or out, run as fast and as far as your feets will take you.

Nah, zero interest in VR. I toss that right into the same pile as I toss mobiles and tablets - the NOPE pile! 😄 I'm not in SL's target market for this mobile thing anyway. All I do is shop and take photos here. I'd be amazed if SL photography was a thing you could do in the mobile app (including posing and scene building).

Definitely not a vision thing, nope. I have glasses for distance, though. It's an immersion and eye candy thing. I like scenic adventure games, exploration games, get entirely lost in this world filled with puzzles games, games as art games, we spent 5 years making this game look gorgeous games, etc. In my ideal world, I'd be playing all this stuff on a MASSIVE screen with a bangin' sound system. As of now, I'm on an average-sized screen with some craptastic headphones. I'm working on it. 😄

Mobile screen sizes (including tablets) are always a huge sticking point for me. I still for the life of me cannot imagine what it's like to watch a movie on a phone or tablet, let alone do any serious multi-hour gaming. I'm over here wishing I had space for a much larger monitor ALL the time (I'd need a new desk first - this one has shelves in the way, grrr).

I'm really surprised! I thought clothing would be #1 and furniture/decor #2 in the "easy to find" category. I would've never guessed you'd have to size things down and repurpose them. I imagined there would be entire furniture stores dedicated to it. If you like food-themed and retro/vintage things, I've seen some nice whimsical furniture at Nomad (the mainstore is on Mature land). I don't remember offhand if the furniture is PG or adult, but it will likely require some resizing, at least. The ice cream parlor set is really cute and includes some cones you can slap onto the walls.

Not sure why that matters for the players, though. Games been going strong since 2006 and content doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Have you played or watched any Roblox gameplay? It's a big ole meme generator. Stuff like that always gets popular. It's silly enough to draw a lot of famous streamers/YouTubers to play it, and that always drives engagement off the rails with this sort of thing. Other viral games that got famous that way - Minecraft, Among Us, Lethal Company, Phasmophobia, Content Warning, etc. I mean, the games are fine on their own and bring in players organically, but when there's a ton of meme content being made from them, these things get a little nutty on the popular scale. The other games on Rowan's list are a bit more serious. Genshin has a lot of action RPG fans (who either don't mind or actually enjoy gacha mechanics). Marvel SNAP for the Marvel fans. Pokemon GO for...you guessed it - Pokemon fans. Candy Crush is just a force - super-addictive very casual match game that can be played in extremely short bursts just about anywhere. SL doesn't have a lot in common with any of this stuff, but it might appeal to the people who are already into things like VRChat, IMVU, social MMOs, maybe Avakin Life. Social-focused virtual world stuff. If they can make moving around and rezzing less of a sluggish experience, it'll likely do well with that crowd.

Okay, a list like that looks wayyyy more familiar. Also damn, you go on with your bad self, Candy Crush. Still going strong in 2024 (I played it a bit earlier, shush I don't wanna hear it, lol).

Gaming, though? Probably not that category. It'd likely fall into the IMVU category or similar - "social virtual world app" type dealio.

What?! You mean no Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur's Gate 3, or Elden Ring?! Unpossible! 😄 More seriously, I'm curious where that info is from. I would've expected Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail to at least grace a list like that. I'll also state the obvious - none of that stuff even remotely resembles Second Life. Definitely more "chill while waiting for a car inspection" type vibes.

I don't get the fascination with Roblox. What am I missing? Those saying SL should pay attention to its popularity on and off mobile - do you play it? Every time I look at videos on YouTube, they're like FNAF-themed games or prison breakouts or some kind of silly meme game someone created. How is that like Second Life and why would kids and teens who love creating and playing in horror simulations in Roblox come to SL via mobile when they "graduate" from there? On the creation side at least, I'd say the closest to what we're doing is The Sims 4. Some of our large hair creators here also make custom content hair over there. I own styles from the same designers in both places. Really, any big game with an active modding scene (especially for avatar/character cosmetics) may have some players who might be interested in making content in SL - clothing, furniture, etc. As for just chilling and "playing" and socializing, potential new users could come from pretty much anywhere. Big social MMOs (WoW, FF14, GW2, ESO) seem as likely a spot as any.

Thank you for the detailed answer! Now brodiac, the funniest thing is furniture is the absolute LAST product I would've assumed your community as a whole would be missing out on! I really thought that's the one category you would have the most products in, lol. Not just simply PG, but child-themed furniture and decor seems like a fun thing to make. The vehicle info is interesting, too. I didn't even think about adult-sized vehicles with child-safety seats and things. That actually would be pretty cool if someone came up with a system for that. I was thinking of the toy vehicles like you mentioned. I did see Starries has a few of those, too. Very cute! Hi Polenth! Thanks for responding. That's awesome to hear about Fantasy Faire! I've gone a few times, but it's so overwhelming, I so rarely check the actual events. I mostly go for the shopping and I attended the ball one time. The children's adventure roleplay event sounds like a really fun idea! That's very creative. I'm also not too surprised to hear that the steampunk communities are welcoming to all. I'm not in any of those myself, but I've definitely seen some really well-made furry products made in that theme and I do attend Engine Room every once in a while to see what goodies the fantasy community has cooked up for it.

Peeve: I'm feeling a good classic film binge coming on and I'm going to be so upset if TCM doesn't have any Audrey Hepburn movies in their on-demand lineup! Double Peeve: Nope. No Audrey. There's some Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn though.

Thank you for the answer! Diaper covers, though. I would've never guessed that would be on the difficult-to-find list. I didn't even consider you may be missing some basics like that. Oh, and I just peeked at Starries on the Marketplace. My first time seeing it. There's SO MUCH CUTE STUFF. You guys kind of do have everything. The bubble lawn mower and water slides and stuff. That's cute as heck!

I agree with Quartz. I'm certainly enjoying the thread, but I'm a sucker for a good AMA. @brodiac90, @Madi Melodious, @NicholasTheHufflepuffWizard, @Sadvhi or anyone else who wants to respond, I have another question for yas! Are there any products you struggle to find but wish existed? Is there a big gap in the children's market in some areas? Like for example, I can't off the top of my head remember if I've ever seen many photography poses or photo backdrops that are specifically for children. I've seen some that COULD be used for that (general nature/outdoor scenes or food/restaurant scenes and stuff like that), but they're more general. I haven't seen anything like an amusement park or toy store backdrop or something like that. Another one I wonder about - kid-friendly vehicles. Like the ride-on construction trucks and tractors and little sports cars and things, LOL. Do a lot of those exist? This is your chance to make your plea to any merchants who may be watching the thread! 😄

RLV has a bunch of regular uses. I personally used it for posing a friend during photography shoots. They would go AFK for an hour or longer while I threw their avatar around onto different pose balls. Great tool if someone wants a new set of portraits for their profile as they don't have to sit around at the PC twiddling their thumbs for an hour. That wardrobe thinggie also uses it. Asking if a viewer supports it is a fair question, IMO.

You're very welcome! Definitely check the stores in-world. The Marketplace might not have full inventories. Also, pro shopping tip - You can also find a lot of those stores on Flickr if you want to browse a little without having to log in. You can just search Google for something like "Mermade Flickr Second Life" and if one exists for the store, it should pop up. I do SO much "window shopping" like this. If you find the group is actually more for customer photo submissions than the store's actual products (you can tell if you see more artsy shots and fewer product ads), you can navigate to the Members tab on Flickr and check the accounts of the people who pop up under Admins. Like this - click on neve's account and you'll get the main store's Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/191764076@N03/

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! 😄

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? 😄

I can't guarantee anything LaraX-specific as I still wear Lara 5.3, but off the top of my head for mermaid fashion, accessories, tails and BOM layers, etc.: Aii & Ego, Mermade, Zen Child Designs, Antaya, Krature, Petrichor, Misteria, IrrISIStible, Sweet Thing, Yabusaka For tattoos/material layers: This Is Wrong, Blaxium, Nefekalum, Izzie's For skins: Velour, Nuve, Petrichor, .:Soul:., ALT3, DAE Boutique, Elemental, Ives Beauty For heads: BeSpoke Caravan (there are two siren/mer-specific heads and one underwater sea creature) and Akeruka (their heads should come with a set of mermaid ears, I believe - demo to be sure) Makeup can be found all over. Try places like ALT3, Fontaine, Izzie's, Rubedo, Dotty's Secret, and Alaskametro.