The Baron of BardHaven and I do not always agree. This silly nobleman seems to minimise the strength of the Second Life written press & rantings, and always has that elite ‘I am Caledon nobility’ air drifting around him. Not much of a positive intro, you say? Wait! That’s exactly why I was so impressed that the Baron - for the SL bloggers Mix’n Match - writes so openly about his first experiences in Second Life, and more important, what drove him here. Seeing the current high instream of new residents and the cause thereof, this is a story that proves that maybe - with correct guidance - they also can become a Valuable Addition to the Second Life community.

‘Day One’ was suggested by Tiessa Montgolfier. The Baron of BardHaven chose ‘SL and RL - Separated at Birth or Art Imitating Life?’ which ended up in Ariadne Korna’s virtual lap and was published at Free Finds For Men. News from BardHaven is hosting Toilets in SL by Eliza Wrigglesworth. ‘Day One’ was originally mixed and matched to appear on avatrian.com, but as they seem to have bailed out, The Baron’s post goes here, and I hope it will be appreciated by many!

Day One

by BardHaven

I have been asked to examine my earliest experiences in Second Life and as I have been here more the three years now, it takes a bit of work to remember that far back. Even now looking back at them they are a smattering of false steps and half measures and compromises and exploratory sex.

Like most people I know, I came to SL because of a woman. I had been in one or another virtual world, with or without pretty pictures, for near on ten years when I stumbled into the beta for The Matrix Online, and spent more than a year playing and creating in that world. At the time, it was a perfect fit for me. Clever storyline, stylish avatars, and guns, guns, guns. Some of the most enjoyable moments I have ever spent online, certainly the most exciting and action-packed were in the closing days of that Beta as the world was destroyed horrifically by a burning virus to make way for the release…the Matrix was rebooted and I was there to watch the servers shut down and the Megacity fold in on itself. Heady days indeed.

I remained with the released version for some time, until role playing dramas become to much for me, and I realized it was time to find an exit strategy. That was about the time one woman I was role playing with left the game suddenly and brutally (at least character wise) and I met…well, I will call her L since that is the initial of the name she took here in SL. We were drawn to one another and spent a great deal of pleasant time speaking and role playing and *cough* other things in avatar form, or as they were called there, Redpills.

The *cough* other things were not always simple, however, as in MXO, one could not actually remove your underwear. Daunting, to be sure. So one would end up in an abandoned virtual building, stripped down to briefs and bra and panties, sitting on a couch next to one another making with the sex talk in IM. Add to this that the animation was a pretty typical nonchalant pose, appearing slightly bored and distracted, not looking at one another…and it was not the most erotic presentation one could find. Plus occasionally a mission would be generated nearby for another character, and you might suddenly find yourself in the middle of a small shooting war or attacked by wandering gang members, while sitting in your underwear on a couch next to a pretty girl who looks like she wants to be somewhere else. It actually reminded me a bit of my Junior Prom.

Eventually we both had had enough of this situation, so L suggested we try out SL since many refugees from MXO had come here. At first I resisted, it made no sense to me. There was no point to SL, no goals, no levels. It was just a massive chat room. However, without me (and without my knowledge, fwiw) she explored SL and came back to tell me it was really nice…and you could have genitals…and whips.

Whips.

She had me from the whips.

I had been very involved in several Adults-Only MUDs and MOOS before Matrix Online, so this seemed to me like the next natural step. I agreed to create a character and have a look around. Inside of a week, she had taken me around, shown me how to buy a shape and hair and decent clothes, bought me my first virtual penis, and soon we were buying land and architecture together, setting up house. Curtains and everything.

Whips. Genitals. Domestication.

And Sex Animations.

Did I ever really have a chance to resist?

The next few weeks are a blur of buying and meeting and dancing and confusions and jealousies and Jesus Christ (don’t ask) and pixilated boot bumping.

When the smoke cleared, L had moved on after a few weeks but would come and go from SL for awhile, under several alts. She may be doing so still for all I know.

I, however, am still the same, still here in SL.

Still here buying and meeting and dancing and getting confused and *avoiding* jealousies (thank god) and boot bumping now and again.

Jesus Christ isn’t involved anymore however. At least not to my knowledge.

Thanks L, for everything…and the whips.

The Baron of Bardhaven: biography

Lord Zealot Benmergui, Baron of BardHaven, Ruffian King of Caledon, Last Defender of the Dark Hope, Keeper of the Shadow that Sings and Magus d’Calamatia Majora was born at the age of 6 in a speeding carriage somewhere on the Italian/Swiss border. His parents, a morbidly sentimental English débutante with a taste for the intellectual and the excommunicated and an elderly Italian nobleman with a weakness for somber ladies and erotic pastry, died in a tragic Mongoose stampede when he was still at school at Eton, leaving him the only heir to the vast holdings of BardHaven.

Embarking on a successful career as an international businessman, adventurer, evangelist and agent provocateur, the young Baron soon was a familar face and community leader in some of the more unusual and disgraceful circles in Europe, Asia and Latin America before returning to the family seat in Mayfair at the legendary Palace of Lost Causes. Since returning to Caledon, he has become well known as a writer, fashion reviewer, gothic savant, betrayer of innocent strumpets and torch singer performing under the name Miss Monique Borgia, the Iron Chanteuse.

Lord Zealot Benmergui’s endeavours and thoughts can be followed at bardhaven.wordpress.com.

An overview of all Second Life Bloggers Mix’n Match Entries can be found here.

Tags: bardhaven, mixn match, second life, sl bloggers, zealot benmergui

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