Creative Contributions

In an earlier post, I wondered what I could possibly do for my Mistress in return for all that She does for me. Part of the previous post about my Second Life value is related to this question--identifying one's value in a world that values intermingled RL-SL 3D multimedia creativity.

She has answered this question for me. She wants text, one thing I am unquestionably good for! She asked me to write down my thoughts, journal-like, when I have the time. Of course, this blog is already set up just for that purpose, though a glimpse of my publishing history reveals that I am a little inconsistent with postings. At Her request, I will try to post more frequently.

Valuable Residents

This post is about my value as a resident of Second Life. I don't feel very valuable, and I was trying to think about how an SL resident becomes valuable. Certainly there are celebrities; but what makes people value them so much? In traditional video games, going back to the 1980s, the celebrities were those with the high scores. Even now, on Xbox Live, various systems make it clear who the great Halo and Project Gotham Racing gamers are. On such games, it is easy to know what constitutes a great player, even if it is not easy to become one.

But in Second Life, the nature of the superior resident is not clear. After some thought, I can offer a guess: The great ones are those that contribute something important (not necessarily good) to Second Life's economy and/or culture: Builders (Aimee Webber), clothiers (Nephalaine Protagonist, Munchflower Zaius), animators (Luth Brodie), subculture community leaders (David Valentino), real estate moguls (the controversial Ansche Chung), trolls (Prokofy Neva), and even professional SL consultants (Satchmo Prototype).

Thus, elite SL status often hinges upon mastery of one or more multimedia authoring platforms, from SL's own simple 3D environment and scripting language to external applications such as Photoshop and Poser. In addition to mastery of these apps, one also has to know how to use them in the context of SL. I guess it is the permeable walls that interest me: elite status in SL can hinge on the interactions between one's professional skills inside and outside of Second Life. In contrast, in Project Gotham Racing the only skills that count (more or less) are in-game skills. As Aimee Webber noted in a forum, she doesn't see Second Life as a "game" (not many do) or even along the lines of the more common metaphor of the virtual "country"; increasingly Aimee Webber instead sees it as a social authoring environment (or something like that--I forgot her exact words).

If I am to have such a value, I need to learn to integrate my real life creative skills (I'm capable enough with image editing and 2D multimedia software) in Second Life, something I have not yet been able to do, probably because I spend all my time socializing instead of creating or even learning how to work with content in SL (such as using prims to do more than make big cubes). The problem is, and in contrast to my RL personality, socializing has turned out to be my passion.

The Meaning of My Collar

It has been several days since my Mistress gave me my collar, and sadly we have had little opportunity to interact since. We have not yet had adequate opportunity to talk about what it means. Often the giving of a collar takes place in the context of a public ceremony and even a contract. Mistress L. is not one for ostentation, so I am not surprised She didn't want to make my collaring a big ceremony; I think the exchange between the two of us meant more to Her than a public ceremony would have.

I am sorry that we haven't had much chance to talk about what it means, though. I wear Her collar; She is my "owner" (in the language of the scripts attached to the collar). Does this mean I should change the way I address Her--in public, in private...? Should I precede all of our meetings with a request for a sub hug? If I am with friends and She suddenly appears online, what do I do? If I need to log off while She is online, what do I do? Above all, how should I serve Her?

Now that I have put myself in Her hands, and She has implicitly agreed to care for and educate me, what can I possibly give Her in return?

Collared!

This week marked a major event--perhaps THE MOST major event--in this sub's life: Miss (now Mistress) L, with whom I had been engaging in a courtship ritual for some time, offered me my first collar. Of course, it was my great honor to accept!

My collaring represents a major transition. I first became interested in the D/s lifestyle last fall, and I have been learning about D/s since then, mostly through reading and by attending D/s-themed events. I have also had instructive discussions with several lifestylers, including SC and Miss. M; sincere thanks to both of you for your patience and honesty! It is not easy to find a good Dom(me), and it took me some time before Miss M. introduced me to Mistress L.

Mistress L. and I have spent a lot of time together over the past weeks, mostly hanging out together on Her property (of which I guess I am now a part--yayy!). She also took me to some beautiful locations, such as L'Utopie and to various pirate ships. During this time I developed both a friendship with Her and quite a bit of respect for Her--which seems like a very good combination for a D/s relationship! A couple of times I screwed up or got myself into a bit of trouble, and She stepped up and took care of me. She has earned my trust, and I am happy and honored to put myself in Her hands.

The collar She gave me is the most beautiful one I have ever seen, and I don't think I am being biased when I say so. She really knows my taste! The collar was also fun to learn how to use. It has dozens of animations in it (the usual submissive poses), some of which are a tad racy. Not only can I initiate these anims, but Mistress L can as well.



It is hard to describe the shock and thrill the first time She forced my body into a tower pose without warning or my consent. Probably it sounds crazy to someone outside the lifestyle, but knowing that I was putting that kind of control in Her hands, and trusting that She would use that power wisely and for my own good, is a head trip all on its own. Of course, we were just learning together how the collar worked, so I haven't yet gotten myself in a position where I need to be forced into a pose or (loved this one) put into a cage. Maybe I'll have to misbehave a little and give Her just cause for such treatment. *grin*

The collar also features a particle chain, so that She can take me around with her on a leash. The first time we tried, the leash connected to Her in a strange place (Her thigh), so we might need to do some tweaking. Sometimes I fantasize that She will leash me to Her and then take me places and introduce me to Her friends.