The Alphaville Herald

Azdel Slade — Post 6 Grrrl

by Alphaville Herald on 29/07/08 at 8:54 pm

Azdel was stubborn in her attempt to become a Post 6 Grrrl and although I thought that we have had enough Nekos so far, the bio she dropped into my inventory was convincing enough to invite her for a photo shoot in Midian City, her favorite hangout. She was different than the other girls so far; openly admitting she wanted to be a sex worker in Midian and more than eager to drop her shirt in public. Considering the term ‘virtual’ too over-used, she called that night her first ‘synthetic’ porn shoot. At that point I knew I had found a new type of Post 6 Grrrl. – Bunny Brickworks

As my profile says, I think of myself more as a shape shifter than a Neko or any one avatar. SL excites me because it offers the possibility to create new subjectivities, new selves, beyond what we are limited to in RL.

Yes, I am a shape shifter, troublemaker, trickster, and creator. Perhaps my truest shape is my Astral Dragon form, since dragons are known to shape shift and teleport. Being a dragon is nice, flying over the Isle of Wyrm, spending time with other dragons. I think that Spirit Dragons are also very beautiful.

At times, I like to shape shift into a Neko. Often you can find me in cyberpunk areas like Midian City or at times, Insilico. I haven’t made friends with the Catwalkers in Midian City yet, and my first encounter with them was a tense one. I was wandering around the city, a newcomer, trying to turn a trick and make some cash. After a nice girl with an amazing way of holding herself and a great outfit told me that I might get my throat slit by the Dolls for doing business in their territory, I decided to take it easy and explore more.

I strolled up onto the catwalk to admire the view of Midian, the wet streets below, the neon haze, and the graffiti in the alley. I took a moment to adjust my hair. Before I knew it, a whole gang of Catwalkers had walked up to me and surrounded me. As I finished adjusting my hair, one girl among them said, “I don’t like waiting”. I turned to her and she asked me “What do you think you’re doing here?” I told her in my confusion that I was just admiring the view. At this she crouched into an offensive position and flung out her razor claw knives and said through a growl “Well, you better get out of here. This isn’t a fucking lookout point for making out, its Catwalker territory.”

In her ferociousness, she was beautiful. In my mix of fear and curiosity, I noticed one Neko in the back on the leash of another. I asked, “Can I ask one thing… before I go… how can I become one of you?”

Which she didn’t like at all. Baring her fangs she said “It’s not a fucking boob job, you can’t just become a Catwalker. Now scamper on outta here.” To which I finally listened, backed out and made my way back into the dark littered alley below. After that night, though, my curiosity was aroused, so I went out and got myself a nice shiny chrome 9mm, which I thought would make my explorations a bit safer.

Another night, I was hanging out on the boardwalk in Midian. A lot of people go there for some solace to look at the waves and lick their wounds. At times you can see the Shadows, with their red glowing eyes and mechanized breath. I met a great girl named Shadowkat on the boardwalk, who looked a little roughed up. Yet, in her kindness, she pointed me to a good shop where I could get some nice biomods, namely ears, a tail and some tattoos.

Nowadays, I try to protect myself, so I wear a Gasu Masku from AVZ and a vision-enhancing visor. Nobody really knows why the sky is the color it is in Midian, so its best to take care of yourself. When I hear guys make stupid remarks to women in the street, I like to unholster my gun and offer free castration services. One time a guy walked up and touched a friend of mine without asking first, and the only reason he’s still around is because she asked me not to do anything that might bring the MPD down on us.

Although, I do still check out the peep show that the Dolls run every now and then, and I still have dreams of making it as a sex worker. So I got myself a nice latex outfit and some body lube that makes things interesting. Sometimes I like to dance in the clubs and bars, but usually they’re kind of empty and sad. Although the night I met Jacqui, it was just me dancing and her watching, and that was an amazing night… Sometimes its good to shape shift into a regular grrrl, for people who don’t think that body hacks are hot the way I think they are.

I’m working on some scripting and some building now, but what excites me most is what we can learn about ourselves from SL. How can we imagine new worlds and new selves using SL? My real hope is that people everywhere will set up their own grid servers and we won’t have to rely on Linden Lab any more in the future. Once the control of the metaverse is decentralized, and there is an open virtual world interoperability protocol, then we’ll see real freedom and who knows what the metaverse will look like then?