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Song Indigo

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Everything posted by Song Indigo

  1. Inworld search is worse than before. It used to leave the results up on the page before but now as soon as I resolve the search and use one link, it resets. I'm annoyed to keep posting my search term over and over. It never used to do this. Also, when I open search function, I have to wait a bit before putting my search term in because of, I guess it's lag? Never used to do that either.
  2. I have 4; 2 girls, 2 boys. I originally had just 1, but she was destroyed by the Lindens when I failed to get online to pay for my premium account and land because my laptop died. By the time I got online with a new computer, they'd killed her. This is why I won't go premium now. Weirdly, I can still see her in search. When she was alive, I made another female avie to play in Gor with my online companion. I rp'd as his slave, and then I made a male warrior to be his brother and go raiding. We had good times! But it became increasingly difficult to avoid "furring" with all the thirsty slaves who wanted him, ic and ooc. He is a good-looking devil with one eye. Then I made another carbon copy of the alt that got killed - she's mostly a cyborg/goth. Then I wanted her to have a "brother" so I made a male gothic type. Currently, I don't do anything with them except build, shop, raise pets and explore. They all have their own unique look and I spoil them mercilessly by buying them everything their little pixel hearts desire. I've built a space station and planets in the sky and i'm mostly on my cyborg who's the captain of the space station. It's peopled with animesh and static figures and I don't talk to anyone any longer...I mean, for years. I avoid drama and silliness like the plague. Having said that, I'm heading back into rp when I get the time.
  3. Kia ora. E pēhea ana koutou? How are you all? Meri kirihīmete me te tau hou! Season's greetings and a happy New Year! Thank you to all who have weighed in on this topic. I knew that my post would attract a lot of interest and strong opinions. Cultural appropriation is a hot topic world wide. Thank you to all who have written in and messaged me inworld for your support and understanding! It means so much! Allies are so important for those of us who seek to retain ownership over our cultural norms, art, symbols, language, and knowledge. Allies are significant for us to help change, challenge and dismantle barriers towards our collective wellbeing and understanding. Without allies, we poc wouldn't get very far in our aspirations! To those who have a problem with poc doing anything that empowers ourselves or retaining intellectual ownership over our exclusive cultural norms, etc - I encourage and challenge you to seek understanding! If you think that you are entitled to profit off another's culture without doing anything to support that culture, then expect to be challenged on what you do, and why you think you are entitled! I knew that some people would feel outraged at my post! Your outrage and avowals of privileged entitlement are not my problem. If you continue to defend your right to appropriate - that is YOUR problem! There are multiple ways to support poc without donning their symbol's and playing at dress-up! If you are an ethical business owner who wishes to support poc in business, here are some of my suggestions: Learn the language of the indigenous ppl of your area. Many native languages are under threat because of the standard policy across most colonized countries forced upon the native people to learn English, sometimes through violence or force. Help to undo some of this damage by learning the language and helping others to learn as well! Learn the history. Learn the cultural norms. Donate part of your profits to a cultural group, school, tribe, sub-tribe, language nest, trust, or something similar. Offer apprenticeships to poc, especially if you have specialized skills that will enable poc to retain some of their traditional arts and crafts e.g leatherwork, carving, weaving, graphic making, graphic design, etc. Buy native made from the source! Engage with a cultural advisor or the local tribe if you want to do anything that has an element of their culture in your project and gain their permission! This is vitally important! I'd never think of making a Celtic inspired film, doco, jewellery, tattoos in the first place, because it's not my culture! But even before going there, I'd be making approaches to the Celtic community so they would have active involvement and leadership and decision-making in any production - you know why? Because THEY are the experts - not me! THEY are the guardian's of their ancestor's knowledge - not me! This is fundamental R E S P E C T! Do you need to make a profit from another's intellectual and artistic work? Part of being an artist is to CREATE art - so create it from your own lived experience! If you are selling anything labelled: "Māori" but you are not Māori and you don't know much about the culture - then what are you doing??? Please, no black or brown face or dressing up in dimestore costumes, this is 2021, let's move forward from all of that colonialist rubbish! There are other ways, I've just listed a few, it's entirely possible to engage respectfully with another's culture so you can continue to enjoy it without being just another colonizer! In the first instance, the people who BELONG to that culture and who are steeped in the knowledge and skills of that culture are the experts and the owners through their genealogy! This may just be SL, but we all know that SL mirrors the real world in many ways, and ethics and understanding shouldn't go out the window just because it's virtual. Kia pai ōu rā. Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui. Have a great day. Be strong, be steadfast, be hearty! Song.
  4. https://i.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/123715517/its-definitely-appropriation-use-of-t-moko-in-cyberpunk-2077-video-game
  5. After much thought, I've decided to make this post because I'd like designers and creators to understand something, and I hope this is the right forum. I'm an indigenous - Māori - person from Aotearoa, New Zealand, and I've been playing SL off and on since 2007. I've noticed an incredible flooding on marketplace and tattoo shops in SL of fake and authentic inspired tattoos in the stores - many of them labelled as "Maori". First of all, do people understand what "Māori" means? Māori is a term in our language meaning: "natural, normal or common," and it wasn't used until the Europeans colonized our country. We didn't have a word that existed to describe ourselves as a race of people, as we defined ourselves by hapū - tribal and sub-tribal groupings. It would be a good idea to know what the word means before you sell your products in your shops. XD. Which brings me to my next point, and I hope people can understand where I am coming from: our traditions, cultural norms, and language - much like indigenous everywhere - are under pressure right now, partly due to ignorance, and partly due to capitalism and globalism. Our tā moko - tattooing and scarification traditions - attracts enormous interest and enthusiasts all over the world, as do our haka, performing arts, language and spiritual concepts. Tā moko is a gift passed to us from our ancestors. They are not just cool designs on the face and body - they connect to genealogy, knowledge, land, tribe - even an individual's achievements was recorded on his face. The practice nearly died out during the 19th century due to colonization and warring with the British to defend our lands and people. It was a terrible time, and we lost many of our leaders, prophets, and experts. I won't go into the whole history here, this can be searched online, but what it means is that the practice of tā moko is a sacred (tapu) practice for the Māori people because it not only speaks to where and who we are, but also that we have survived numerous efforts to kills us off by our colonizers. We were nearly wiped out at one stage, but now we have come back fiercely, and our population is steadily growing. The Māori people love the interest and respect shown by people towards our culture, but what isn't cool is appropriation. Appropriation hurts us in the modern age, and it helps to seed ignorance, and it maintains imperialism. Ripping a tattoo off google or a history book and making a tattoo from it in PS, and then selling it in your stores isn't cool. Do a search on MP, most of those tattoos are not even our designs, but people have just casually called them: "Maori". If they are not our designs, then whose designs are they? Who's culture do you cancel out by not doing your research? What about the original artists? You are making a profit off this, but do you give back to those communities from which you source your designs? What's your responsibility as a virtual designer and creator? Millions have passed through SL, economically that signals a lot of dosh for a popular store. Every tā moko that is actually Māori has been designed for a specific individual - they are like resumes or "body/facial history's" that's been designed for that one individual, and no other. So if you do manage to source an authentic tattoo, and you upload it to SL and sell it - you're stealing and commercializing somebody's entire history and genealogy! It's like me taking your identity and family photos and selling it all off to the world! You might think that this is just a game, and it hurts nobody, and it's just a bit of harmless fun, but even in the virtual world, there are real-life impacts, and this is one of them. The Māori people are a real culture that exists in the real world. Currently, there are law suits pending in several countries over intellectual property violations. My people are attempting to correct misrepresentations of our culture and history - all written by our colonizers up to the 1980s - and we face an uphill battle. Game designers have been appropriating our culture for a while now - the Sims, Apex Legends, Bleeding Edge, Far Cry 3, etc - all do it. Māori are not vampires or elves existing in a fantasy land - we're real indigenous people who have meaningful lives, and yes, we play Second Life too. Our culture makes money - this is widely recognized in Aotearoa as we continue the struggle to have our lands returned and sovereignty recognized - and sadly, not much of it comes back to our people, some of whom have lost their lands as well as their entire families, and are poor indeed. We have the same struggle internationally with companies who use our language, imagery and cultural concepts to sell their alcohol, cigarettes, cars, music, games, spiritual self-help techniques etc, and it's NOT okay. So in conclusion, I'd like to put the karanga (call) out there to creators who support self-agency for indigenous people, and who are respectful of culture: 1) Please research the tattoo you are selling in your store. First of all, have you attributed it to the correct culture? I can tell at a glance if a tattoo belongs to our artists or not - and btw, our artists train for years to be able to gift their skills to the receiver, so it's a damn insult to have their designs ripped off in SL or any virtual world. 2) Please cease the practice of ripping off designs off Google. 3) As a consumer, please pause and think BEFORE you buy that cool tattoo inworld. Do you want to facilitate the destruction of a culture? That's what you're doing if you buy that cool tattoo. 4) If you upload a tattoo for personal use for your avatar, and not for sale, can you speak to it with knowledge? If you meet me inworld, I will put you through your paces, LOL! Be aware, hahah. I've been sending tattoo artists inworld little messages since I began playing and noticing the big business models inworld. Some people get angry and block me from their store and profiles, some are apologetic, and some I never get an answer from. I don't harrass people, but I'll speak to them once about it, and from there it's up to them what they do. I can't stop anybody from doing anything - but I'm hoping that my points I've raised today will open a dialogue, and facilitate understanding, because this isn't just happening for the Māori people - it's an issue for indigenous and poc all over the world. Ngā mihi nui mō tō rongo kī taku pānui. Kia ora rā. (Thank you for listening to my message. Be well, all).
  6. Is it still Zooby and VKC? I have a VKC dog but it's still stupid, or I am, after 10 years of owning it. I also have a.i.f friends, which are cute, and advanced for its time, but not so trainable. Anything new on the market? Thanks.
  7. Thank you! Had this issue for a week now so thanks for solving!
  8. I use Deimos, solid product, lots of features, reasonably recent movies and such, no dead links, good customer support.
  9. Back in the day I loved RP, from VTM to Gor, Western to Futuristic, but I haven't met many eloquent role players lately to get me excited about getting back to it. I'm into the breedable thing, with Kittycats, Wild Kajaera, Dodo, and ABC horses, but I don't sell what I breed, every couple of months I'll do an inventory and put some low-traited babies out for free. Besides paying for land tier and a breedable collectable or accessories, I don't let myself buy much stuff any more because I have over 27, 00 items to sort, and thats just on one avie. Nearly all my old friends have left, so mostly I spend time exploring, or fussing over my breedables or visiting breedable sims. I recently put out a call to meet new people in SLand I'm making more of an effort to make connections whereas before I just did my own thing, alone. I don't enjoy sl clubs, finding them clique-y with too much emphasis on tipping everyone as soon as you land, so if I'm gonna go dancing, I prefer it at a isolated location or on my land. Horseriding, machinima, book and poetry readings, live singer/songwriters, and checking out home and garden expos are my thing. I'd like to be part of an SL family as an aunt or cousin or sister, but just never got the opportunity. Maybe this time around? Sl is still an interesting place, it really is what you make of it. A lot of time I'm logged in but I'm rehearsing (musician and poet in real) or working on new material. Sl has helped facilitate my passions in real, which I'm grateful for. And being with my breedables is a simple pleasure that relaxes me after a hard day at work!
  10. Hi. I've had a lot of lovely people contact me which is really great! Thanks, I appreciate it so much.
  11. Hey, welcome back! I've just returned after 3 years away, so yeah, things have changed. If you'd like a companion to hang out with sometime, feel free to im me, I'm Song Indigo inworld.
  12. Aw, thanks, Sonja! Tbh, my breedables are what keep me in SL, they're a lot of fun and bring me much joy! But still would be nice to make some new friends!
  13. Likes: The level of customization. The creativity of the builders and designers. My breedables. Loads of quality free stuff if you know where to look. Dislikes: Loads of empty sims. The endless pitches to buy, buy, buy! - but you get that in the RL too. How expensive virtual land is. I've been there since 2007, off and on, and people are less willing to engage, more clique-y. There seems to be a disconnected feel as I tp around. The level of sheer overt sexual presentation on display...and that's just the avatars! Do you really need to have a virtual ass that big? I could ski down it! When you bend over, people think there's an Eclipse! Don't get me wrong, I love curves and such but why are there so many avatars who look like their only function is to be a c__ bucket? Must your nipples with those gold chains really be on display in a shop on a pg sim when I'm innocently browsing? Yeah, yeah, you've endured a virtual nipple piercing - BIG DEAL! There's this fad for big fake breasts in your big fake breasts...why, by all that is holy...WHY? And why can't people keep all that in the relevant sims, or their own lands? Despite all this, I still play because I've invested so much in my avatar, and what she loves to do...
  14. Hello potential friends! I've returned to SL after a great deal of time away - about three years. I've found what most find when they return - their friends and loved ones have left, or they are involved in communities or lives of their own, and one feels like you are imposing if you call upon them too often (at least I do). I'm looking for mates to hang out with, go shopping with, and come live and maybe rp with me if they like. I can give you rezzing rights on my land, you can have your friends over, I don't mind. We don't have to live in each other's pockets, but it's just nice to have the knowledge that someone's around, like a housemate and a friend. You won't have to pay rent. I have built an Animal Sanctuary on my land, where I raise breedable pets such as tigers, lions, horses, and kittycats. It's a very peaceful, zen-like place, and I'm sure you'd enjoy it! Of course, you don't have to come live in my space to become a friend of mine. I have many varied interests in SL: poetry, music, dancing, exploring, roleplay, machinima, hanging out, shopping - so anyone is free to contact me. I do appreciate mature, adult company though - people whom are articulate, and act as adults. If you are new to SL, you are also welcome. I'd be happy to help you get settled, or provide a friendly and supportive "home" for you to come live. I'm in the Aussie timezone, and am friendly and respectful. Im me inworld or here if you'd like to chat or know more.
  15. You've nailed it on the head. A beautiful addition to my plot is what I desire. The existing sun and moon using SL physics is lovely, yes, but it doesn't give me the sense of realism or artistry that a scripted moon would, imho. Also, I have to pan my camera around to actually look at the SL moon, but if I could place the moon within eyesight of my avatar, well it just adds to the overall effect and ambience. Currently I use an off-sim static moon which looks great, but it doesn't change or track across the sky according to the SL time.
  16. Hey, I am looking for a realistic sun/moon, preferably off sim...one that texture changes from a moon to a sun and back again (would be nice if it was automatic and changed according to SL time), with a sun/moon beam that did the same, and you could set a travelling path so it tracked across the sky realistically! I can't find anything like this on MP, and I've bought heaps of moons, but really they don't look as realistic as what's in my head - so can a talented builder/scripter make this for me? You know, I'm sure somebody could make a killing with this product in SL! Please get in touch with me! Thanks!
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