A Few Valentines’ Day Happenings in Second Life

Valentine’s Day hasn’t gotten as much attention this year as previous, at least from my point of view. Maybe more people were knocked off SL by bad weather than before. Maybe people are just feeling blah. A few of my friends openly disliked the holiday, saying with the trouble they had finding someone, the holiday seemed like a cruel joke. One flower shop owner told me while bouquet sales weren’t too bad, she expected much more. Maybe this is why some places never bothered with this theme on Friday, Saturday, or at all

Still, there were a few events. The Mystery riverboat club had some Valentine-themed events last week, such as the red, white and pink party on Friday. Saturday had no party. But on Sunday Valentines Day, the Mystery sim had things all set for a heart-filled good time. At 12 Noon SL time, DJ Bentham began broadcasting the romantic tunes. The wolf Silverwolf Sweetwater was the hostess of the party, as always lifting a friendly paw to all visitors. People danced to music like “Love Game” by Lady GaGa, “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Areosmith (“Armageddon” theme), “All I Ask if You” (The Phantom), “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, and others. Jetta even put up a recording of her singing “My Guy.”

Unfortunately, there were a few technical difficulties that messed with the party a miss. Yours truly ran into a glitch when trying to tip the DJ, which sent his account down to -1 L. Someone looked up the details, “[Posted 12:55pm PST] There are current issues that are preventing some logins, as well as affecting in-world transactions, teleports and related actions. Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, please refrain from any sensitive transactions or rezzing any no-copy items.” This naturally got a few in group chats rolling their eyes, “Ah yes were would SL be without problems? (laughter).” Because of this, tips were lighter than usual.

Despite the glitches, the people at Mystery were determined to have a good time. People wisecracked and joked, “Plumbers are red, Hedgehogs are blue. Would you press start and be my player two?” Corky Darkstone added to the humor by going next to SilverWolf and changing into another feral wolf avatar. People began cracking jokes as to whether Silver now had a boyfriend, “Hi-ho Silver, awaaaayyy!” Silver herself joked, “Oh look, a twin brother.”

There was a bit of confusion when some people found themselves knocked to the corner. Confused, they walked back, only to find themselves slammed against the wall again, or thrown out of the building. Then one of the staff noticed a dancer had on a forcefield, and he was then asked to remove it or leave. The man did so, profusely apologizing.

There was a 300 Linden prize for the man and woman for best in theme. Asemia Avedor won for the ladies. Jedrek Leodhais won the male contest. For Mystery, it was a glitchy, but happy, Valentines Day.

Other clubs had their parties. At 1 PM SL time, Cutlass had it’s Sunday Euro-party, the theme naturally being Valentines Day. DJ Tamara Peart played the tunes for a small party, “Another Day in Paradise,” “I Want to Step Right With You on the Mountain,” “Love is in the Air,” “Unbreak my Heart,” and others. It was not a large party, possibly due to SL glitches limiting teleports, and Tammy’s tip jar was empty. But the party went on.

On Friday February 12 and on Valentines Day, the Lindens had their “Kiss a Linden” event on Isle of View and Isle of ViewToo, from 7-9 AM and 5-7 PM SL time. As their blog stated, “Never met a Linden before, or interested in celebrating Resident Volunteers? Come on over and enjoy the lovin’! And there’ll be even more love: look out for Cupid Linden on February 12th & February 14th, she will be flying around and looking forward to meeting you! “ Besides the Lindens, there would also be volunteers to kiss.

Reporter Gemma Cleanslate had the fortune to see people, Lindens and residents alike, having an ideal, romantic, time. Yours truly stumbled across what the poor volunteers had to go through sometimes. There were no Lindens around, just a couple volunteers. And they had to deal with a few characters from Woodbury, a sim with a reputation for harboring griefers. They included a guy wearing a lampshade and a self-described “kissable griefer,” taunting the volunteers. Not exactly Valentine’s Day greatest moment.

Some moments were more important than others. There was meeting up with friends whom were feeling dispirited over not having found someone. Time spent together, reminding each other they were not alone. They still had their friends.

So to those who found their special someone, and those whom need cheer from being unable to find love, may your Valentine wishes come true.

Bixyl Shuftan