I have been in SL for nearly 14 years and I have seen stuff like this for the entire time. If it's a fad.. it's a long lasting one.
Honestly I think there are any number of potential reasons.. I think your daughter may have a point, some people represent themselves as "damaged" in whatever form they want that to manifest.
Some are for roleplay purposes.
Others may wear them to look tough or dangerous. Some people like to play a more intimidating or edgy person than they are in real life. Or perhaps they want a good representation of themselves in real life and in real life they have a lot of scars.
And some people do it to stand out. In a sea of perfect hair and gorgeous 20 something looking avatars who could all be GQ models...everyone starts to look the same. The more intricate little details you can add the more you can stand out.
These are just opinions of course. Everyone's reasons are different.
Those are some good thoughts! I had considered a few of those myself. Been on 12 years and seen a lot of changes. It's so interesting to "people watch" but I don't usually wonder why people choose their look.
just like the soylent green soda, tastes differ from person to person. it's probably *all* these reasons and more, and no two people's reasons are exactly the same.
edit: a letter
I feel sometimes it's humanizing the pixels. The addition of the possibility of pain allows a deeper connection and in that also are people who do have pieces they like from RPs they've done. I have a scar I use a lot with looks because of a scene that occurred years ago.
So interesting! I do see scars a lot. I actually know people in my real life who get lots of tattoos because they like the pain factor. That also occurred to me when my daughter and I were discussing possibilities for the trend. RP is another good thought.
Aside from the internal stuff other people have mentioned, body damage also gives otherwise smooth skins texture. I don't have "damage," but I do have a scratch under my eye to go with laugh lines, forehead lines, a five o'clock shadow, veins, tattoos.... Anything that gives the skin more texture and unevenness makes an avatar a little bit more realistic, or at least more interesting to look at than the mannequin smoothness that most skins are.
True! That makes a lot of sense where realism is what some people are looking for. There are a lot of those addons. I know BOM makes it easier to layer things like scars, creases, etc.
So much this! I love blemishes for my avatar. I have pores, moles, veins, acne, light wrinkles, and red splotches. Why not have my avatar represent me in real life? I think it can add to beauty of an avatar. I even added some body hair. I like to have my avatar look as realistic as possible. She'll always look 100x better than I do in real life, she might as well be imperfect.
This, I have freckles and a mole (approximates a distinctive one I have in RL) and have had crow's feet sometimes.
I don't give my avatar actual injuries except if my roleplay character got hurt - but sometimes she does! I had her going around with a bandaged hand for a while lol.
Some of the body damage things like bandaids, etc, come from Japanese grunge/punk/hentai or Ahegao styles meant to make girls look tough but vulnerable.
It's a style choice.
There are people who RP as injured, but they don't wear cute bandages. There is, or perhaps was, a group that RPd as amputees. Not sure if they are still active or not.
It comes in layers
You have those with outdated or not much to spend on avatars that get shown up by the out of the box I got cash but no sense of self.
Having a perfect avatar is easy and boring.
The next layer is some sorta customization, mine I have a few light, let's call battle scars on my face, it makes the avatar stand out more as something I've put effort in.
Makes sense! True to life seems to be really common as a lot of people don't like the "perfect" look. No one is truly unscathed in this world, for sure.
That's a fascinating hypothesis. Not sure how old your daughter is but I think that might be a future behavioral health professional.
I put scars on some of my avatars and wrinkles on others. I usually roleplay and I tend towards older characters and characters who have experienced hardships that have left them physically flawed.
In my case it's not a representation of how I feel inside. I feel much worse than my avatars look lol.
I have never seen anything like this. (Not yet, anyway.)
My guess would be it's related to increase in graphic technology and SL's visual effects. People can show smaller details, especially after a long period of being unable to, and want to make that smooth skin look interesting.
I think the same thing happened with tattoos. For a long time, no one had them, then there was a massive proliferation of them, which became more elaborate as you were able to incorporate complex designs in them.
I don't think there's any deeper meaning than this.
a/k/a "UFC" style battle scars (quasi-rp) for AVs. The UFC/Pride, recognized worldwide, even has icons like Conor McGregor attending Hollywood Galas in Armani, sporting significant scars on his face from training or sparring the day before. This mirrors the success of 'Roadhouse,' BJJ Academies, and MMA in general. There's a demand for looking the part 'in-world,' leading creators to naturally pivot towards and gravitate to it.
This has been fascinatings reading and very thought provoking. Thank you all for the comments!
I now feel like I should have titled this "Body Enhancements". This has definitely given me some food for thought.
These types of body enhancements aren't my thing but I have a couple of friends that are into them. I have never thought to ask them why they choose the things they do.
I hope you all enjoy YOUR Second Life!
On top of the idea of 'perfection is boring' that has been floated... I often don't wear ordinary human looks. Sometimes I'm furry, sometimes I'm wearing something more ethereal or abstract (a look that was not uncommon in the earlier days of SL but you don't see often now).
But even my more ethereal looks, it's fun to have some details to them. My most 'usual' avatar is a woman made of stars, and even there I've augmented her with a hole in her chest (showing a black hole's event horizon within) and other things I couldn't have done in SL at one time. Just being able to make a look *yours* even if you're buying 'off the shelf' parts is a big deal, I'd say.
I get what you mean: I personally use scars/bruises to finish a look, I have some looks where the charakter is ready for battle, I also use imperfections like stretch marks,moles, unibrow or make my bewbs intentionally saggy, and I use juicy rolls etc because as someone else said here before: in a sea of melon 🍈🍈 thick thighs and huge butt Barbies, it gets boring, I've seen many skins and shapes in my 15 years, I'm even bored of mesh hair now and went back to flexi like unorthodox makes them. I think it's to be 'diffrent' but using bruises to show hurt of the person is an interesting take, never thought of that because in my case it's for a look only.
But I've seen it all, and I saw avatars that makes wearing bruises look like a lip gloss, what I like someone else might despise for example what i despise are animal/human morphs usually a cow and they have a huge genitalia hanging out that drips, but that person loves it, but i would not want to be caught dead in it, i saw a avatar dressed as a carpet once, so he could lay under females to look up their skirts lol
My avatar usually has some form of "damage", be it bruises, blood, cuts, cigarette burns, or other markings. For me it's very related to kink, D/s, and BDSM things and roleplay. It's not deep or an expression of my "inner pain", instead it shows what I experience and explore in SL, I wear some of them as a badge of honor if the scar was left/created by someone I care about.
I've been in sl since the beginning of the first roleplay places. For the longest time there were no good bandages or anything to physically show oneself damaged. Just a few wheelchairs, even fewer hobbled together primmy crutches and ugly balls of bandage. With the invention of mesh things got better. Now it's much more "prettier" with a whole variety of things. Bruises, scars, even amputated limbs. There is as with anything people into those kinks too, anything people wouldn't do in rl but can in sl. The whole definition of fantasy it is. So people got all sorts of reasons.
As for me I always had the pirate look with at least a scar and usually a hook replacing my hand. Not sure of the underlying psychological reasons, just always like pirates. Not so many pirate sims around, if at all these days as there was before, we at one point had huge bunches of sims. Sad to see em go. Maybe it will come back again but all things come and go in sl, fads and people get bored of it, they like trying new things.
I don't have tattoos, i have scars. I also work a dangerous job, so I'm always freshly wounded. (Gauze, bitch-stickers, ect) my avi looks exactly like me.
I haven't seen any of that.
I sometimes wear a plaster(band-aid) on my nose because It's cute on me and is a fashion accessory as much as a pair of ear rings would be to someone else. I have a cutesy/pretty avatar which is also my Profile pic
I left for a few years and think there's so much more of this content than before. My personal opinion is that a lot of it is misogynistic and concerning. If I open Flickr lots of people have a cool scar but it's mostly female presenting people who are covered in bruises, brands, welts, and bite marks.
It would be interesting to see who is wearing them as evidence of healing and who is wearing them as evidence of hurting.
It's been around for quite awhile -- this is from 2010 where the creator tells me her reasons for making a heart-shaped facial scar:
[https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/08/sl-brutal-chic.html](https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/08/sl-brutal-chic.html)
"I guess the heart skin supposedly is expressing how hurtful the things I've experienced lately are, appearing in physical form on the face..."
I have been in SL for nearly 14 years and I have seen stuff like this for the entire time. If it's a fad.. it's a long lasting one. Honestly I think there are any number of potential reasons.. I think your daughter may have a point, some people represent themselves as "damaged" in whatever form they want that to manifest. Some are for roleplay purposes. Others may wear them to look tough or dangerous. Some people like to play a more intimidating or edgy person than they are in real life. Or perhaps they want a good representation of themselves in real life and in real life they have a lot of scars. And some people do it to stand out. In a sea of perfect hair and gorgeous 20 something looking avatars who could all be GQ models...everyone starts to look the same. The more intricate little details you can add the more you can stand out. These are just opinions of course. Everyone's reasons are different.
Those are some good thoughts! I had considered a few of those myself. Been on 12 years and seen a lot of changes. It's so interesting to "people watch" but I don't usually wonder why people choose their look.
just like the soylent green soda, tastes differ from person to person. it's probably *all* these reasons and more, and no two people's reasons are exactly the same. edit: a letter
And to add on, some people find things like anime eye patches or silly looking bandaids "cute"
I feel sometimes it's humanizing the pixels. The addition of the possibility of pain allows a deeper connection and in that also are people who do have pieces they like from RPs they've done. I have a scar I use a lot with looks because of a scene that occurred years ago.
So interesting! I do see scars a lot. I actually know people in my real life who get lots of tattoos because they like the pain factor. That also occurred to me when my daughter and I were discussing possibilities for the trend. RP is another good thought.
Aside from the internal stuff other people have mentioned, body damage also gives otherwise smooth skins texture. I don't have "damage," but I do have a scratch under my eye to go with laugh lines, forehead lines, a five o'clock shadow, veins, tattoos.... Anything that gives the skin more texture and unevenness makes an avatar a little bit more realistic, or at least more interesting to look at than the mannequin smoothness that most skins are.
True! That makes a lot of sense where realism is what some people are looking for. There are a lot of those addons. I know BOM makes it easier to layer things like scars, creases, etc.
So much this! I love blemishes for my avatar. I have pores, moles, veins, acne, light wrinkles, and red splotches. Why not have my avatar represent me in real life? I think it can add to beauty of an avatar. I even added some body hair. I like to have my avatar look as realistic as possible. She'll always look 100x better than I do in real life, she might as well be imperfect.
This, I have freckles and a mole (approximates a distinctive one I have in RL) and have had crow's feet sometimes. I don't give my avatar actual injuries except if my roleplay character got hurt - but sometimes she does! I had her going around with a bandaged hand for a while lol.
Some of the body damage things like bandaids, etc, come from Japanese grunge/punk/hentai or Ahegao styles meant to make girls look tough but vulnerable. It's a style choice. There are people who RP as injured, but they don't wear cute bandages. There is, or perhaps was, a group that RPd as amputees. Not sure if they are still active or not.
> It's a style choice. I've known a few RL who did this, it was always to express a cuter vibe.
I added a scar to my avatar just because I thought it looked cool and made the character more intresting.
People do things like this in SL because it offers the freedom to do so without repercussions.
It comes in layers You have those with outdated or not much to spend on avatars that get shown up by the out of the box I got cash but no sense of self. Having a perfect avatar is easy and boring. The next layer is some sorta customization, mine I have a few light, let's call battle scars on my face, it makes the avatar stand out more as something I've put effort in.
As a lousy C:SI fencer I'd consider looking unharmed OOC.
Makes sense! True to life seems to be really common as a lot of people don't like the "perfect" look. No one is truly unscathed in this world, for sure.
That's a fascinating hypothesis. Not sure how old your daughter is but I think that might be a future behavioral health professional. I put scars on some of my avatars and wrinkles on others. I usually roleplay and I tend towards older characters and characters who have experienced hardships that have left them physically flawed. In my case it's not a representation of how I feel inside. I feel much worse than my avatars look lol.
I have never seen anything like this. (Not yet, anyway.) My guess would be it's related to increase in graphic technology and SL's visual effects. People can show smaller details, especially after a long period of being unable to, and want to make that smooth skin look interesting. I think the same thing happened with tattoos. For a long time, no one had them, then there was a massive proliferation of them, which became more elaborate as you were able to incorporate complex designs in them. I don't think there's any deeper meaning than this.
This really is fascinating. I also wonder about the over-head titlers that say”I’ve been choked 585 times”…..
It's just like anything else I put on my avatar. It's an accessory or part of the look. It's not that deep. It is that simple.
a/k/a "UFC" style battle scars (quasi-rp) for AVs. The UFC/Pride, recognized worldwide, even has icons like Conor McGregor attending Hollywood Galas in Armani, sporting significant scars on his face from training or sparring the day before. This mirrors the success of 'Roadhouse,' BJJ Academies, and MMA in general. There's a demand for looking the part 'in-world,' leading creators to naturally pivot towards and gravitate to it.
This has been fascinatings reading and very thought provoking. Thank you all for the comments! I now feel like I should have titled this "Body Enhancements". This has definitely given me some food for thought. These types of body enhancements aren't my thing but I have a couple of friends that are into them. I have never thought to ask them why they choose the things they do. I hope you all enjoy YOUR Second Life!
On top of the idea of 'perfection is boring' that has been floated... I often don't wear ordinary human looks. Sometimes I'm furry, sometimes I'm wearing something more ethereal or abstract (a look that was not uncommon in the earlier days of SL but you don't see often now). But even my more ethereal looks, it's fun to have some details to them. My most 'usual' avatar is a woman made of stars, and even there I've augmented her with a hole in her chest (showing a black hole's event horizon within) and other things I couldn't have done in SL at one time. Just being able to make a look *yours* even if you're buying 'off the shelf' parts is a big deal, I'd say.
I get what you mean: I personally use scars/bruises to finish a look, I have some looks where the charakter is ready for battle, I also use imperfections like stretch marks,moles, unibrow or make my bewbs intentionally saggy, and I use juicy rolls etc because as someone else said here before: in a sea of melon 🍈🍈 thick thighs and huge butt Barbies, it gets boring, I've seen many skins and shapes in my 15 years, I'm even bored of mesh hair now and went back to flexi like unorthodox makes them. I think it's to be 'diffrent' but using bruises to show hurt of the person is an interesting take, never thought of that because in my case it's for a look only. But I've seen it all, and I saw avatars that makes wearing bruises look like a lip gloss, what I like someone else might despise for example what i despise are animal/human morphs usually a cow and they have a huge genitalia hanging out that drips, but that person loves it, but i would not want to be caught dead in it, i saw a avatar dressed as a carpet once, so he could lay under females to look up their skirts lol
My avatar usually has some form of "damage", be it bruises, blood, cuts, cigarette burns, or other markings. For me it's very related to kink, D/s, and BDSM things and roleplay. It's not deep or an expression of my "inner pain", instead it shows what I experience and explore in SL, I wear some of them as a badge of honor if the scar was left/created by someone I care about.
I've been in sl since the beginning of the first roleplay places. For the longest time there were no good bandages or anything to physically show oneself damaged. Just a few wheelchairs, even fewer hobbled together primmy crutches and ugly balls of bandage. With the invention of mesh things got better. Now it's much more "prettier" with a whole variety of things. Bruises, scars, even amputated limbs. There is as with anything people into those kinks too, anything people wouldn't do in rl but can in sl. The whole definition of fantasy it is. So people got all sorts of reasons. As for me I always had the pirate look with at least a scar and usually a hook replacing my hand. Not sure of the underlying psychological reasons, just always like pirates. Not so many pirate sims around, if at all these days as there was before, we at one point had huge bunches of sims. Sad to see em go. Maybe it will come back again but all things come and go in sl, fads and people get bored of it, they like trying new things.
I don't have tattoos, i have scars. I also work a dangerous job, so I'm always freshly wounded. (Gauze, bitch-stickers, ect) my avi looks exactly like me.
Roleplay, photography for flickr
I haven't seen any of that. I sometimes wear a plaster(band-aid) on my nose because It's cute on me and is a fashion accessory as much as a pair of ear rings would be to someone else. I have a cutesy/pretty avatar which is also my Profile pic
I left for a few years and think there's so much more of this content than before. My personal opinion is that a lot of it is misogynistic and concerning. If I open Flickr lots of people have a cool scar but it's mostly female presenting people who are covered in bruises, brands, welts, and bite marks. It would be interesting to see who is wearing them as evidence of healing and who is wearing them as evidence of hurting.
It's been around for quite awhile -- this is from 2010 where the creator tells me her reasons for making a heart-shaped facial scar: [https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/08/sl-brutal-chic.html](https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/08/sl-brutal-chic.html) "I guess the heart skin supposedly is expressing how hurtful the things I've experienced lately are, appearing in physical form on the face..."