My request to Alexia:
Hello Alexia, I am a big fan of your store and your region. Therefore I find you very interesting as a person and Second Life user. On my blog *Mein zweites Leben* I post from time to time written interviews in which I ask questions to personalities who enrich our Second Life very much.
The questions are related to Second Life and some also to real life. It is up to the person which questions they want to answer and which not. The interview will be supplemented with photos from Second Life. The interview with you is in English, but I will complete it with a translation into German. If you allow it. You are very welcome to answer the questions in detail.
It would be an honor and a pleasure for me if you would agree to answer some questions.
She said yes and I am very happy about that. Thank you Alexia. Here are my questions and her answers:
Susann DeCuir
When did you log into Second Life for the first time and how did you discover this platform?
I joined secondlife on 07/14/2009, over 12 years ago thanks to friends who told me about this platform, and being in the bdsm world, then i immediately started attending some themed sims.
Since when do you create BDSM devices and when did you open your store?
After three months of attending SL, i started building obviously funny and useless objects ^^. The shop opened in 2010
Your store Sadiana is very successful. One can find your devices in many places. Can you make a living from you SL business?
Well...I live only on certainties. Secondlife is a good game but not a certainty. The gain is often reinvested.
Do you also make custom work?
It depends on what you ask me, I can build customs if I see the possibility of a widespread use of the object.
Your devices are fantastic. Do you create everything yourself? Scripts, animations and the objects?
I create the meshes and the animations... For the scripts “I give up” and I use external SL technicians ones
Did you teach yourself everything?. if not, who did you learn from?
Aries is my zodiac sign, therefore stubborn and willing. I often become a knowledge hungry work machine. I learned it all by myself by harnessing my head and leveraging my extensive BDSM knowledge.
You build and organize a lot in Second Life, does your RL suffer as a result?
Yes, undoubtedly yes. My vision has deteriorated and age has advanced inexorably. Sitting a lot does not help but luckily I have someone who encourages me to get my ass off the chair ^^.
What could Linden Lab do to make it easier for creators in Second Life?
This is a very smart question. Linden does not protect at all the creators who are often victims of retaliation. As in real life, in SL there are negative and bullying people who cannot accept a simple: "no, thank you". For this reason, those who create, recive attacks that undermine not so much the profit, as the very desire to give everyone something interesting. There is no preferential channel to report these behaviors. And sadly lately the LAG has become really oppressive. Often it is not even possible to work on a simple object.
Has customer behavior remained the same or has it changed over time?
No it has changed, The current customer often does not read what you write on objects descriptions. And often post negative reviews without even asking to our staff to recive help. Just to give you an example: I have created a “Ring shibari” object ,that for various reasons is unable to be sold as “copy and mod”. This object is clearly marked as NO COPY. Some buyers took it and posted negative reviews as it is not copyable. It's like buying a yellow car and then complaining that the color is yellow! Before writing a bad thing, maybe first the customer can contact us to resolve any possible problem… isn’t it?
How would you like your customers to interact with you?Whot do you like to “see” from them?
In general, I can't complain, I have kind customers, but if I had to say I'd like them to be more involved, perhaps intervening with some ideas or advice. If this were valid, I would reward and thank their intuition.
Do you still enjoy creating BDSM devices as much as you did in your early days?
Sure, I'm always looking for new things. It is my character. And if it were not an object it could be something else: a photograph, a painting, a story. Fortunately I can do many things ^^
In your profile I read that you also live out your inclination in real life and that as a slave. Where did you first get in touch with BDSM, Second Life or real?
Of course in real life, I also shot several extreme videos with my Master and producer. There are a lot of confusing ideas about BDSM on SL. Since it became a mass thing, it has been very lost in its essence.
What advice would you give to someone who is confronted with BDSM for the first time in Second Life and starts to develop an interest in it?
To have humility and a desire to learn what you do not know. There are experienced people who really practice in RL, they can convey the real values of something that is not a game, but rather a lifestyle. An important thing that I repeat to those who know how to listen to me. It is better to be than to seem.
Do you even have time to live out your fantasies in Second Life?
No by now I have lost this possibility. I just prefer to do it in real RL with my Master
You produce devices that contain extreme animations, especially for sadists and masochists of the harder kind. Even some that are not realizable in reality. Have you ever experience hostility because of that?
I am a real extremer and obviously I send my paraphilias here as well as those that are obviously unachievable. This is because the market also requires this, much more than one might think. I have many admirers for what I create and I also imagine detractors, but I cover a broad panorama. If you don't like something, you don't buy it.
If so, how did you react to it?
I also don't react because everyone is free to think as they want, and I'm free to evaluate if what he thinks is interesting or not for me. People are often prejudiced and afraid about trivial things.
What motivates you to continue and expand your store?
I don't know exactly, I like to build perhaps this the only reason.
What would be a reason where you say, this far, but no further, I'm quitting?
There is one thing that I find intolerant and it bothers me a lot: ageplay. I see too many avatars looking like a teenager and if you were to ask me something in that sense I would say NO!
If Second Life would closing its doors, what would be an alternative for you?
I am eclectic, and I know how to do many things, I would like to finish a book that I started or at least dedicate myself to my first passion: photography and art.
At this point you have the opportunity to say a few words to the readers:
I can suggest them to think that linguistic differences aren’t an insurmountable problem. Indeed the differences between the ethnic groups are often interesting. I hope to have contacts not only for the work I do in the SL, but also for cultural exchanges and / or ideas. I like to communicate with people and I like to pass on my values and my knowledge. Our land was born as a large BDSM community (we are close to 3000 subscribers) and not just as a shop.
Years ago I chose the name of "O" and participated as “sister of O” in the lands of Roissy. Very interesting collegiate role play experiences. I entered the SL without knowing the English language which I now understand and chew quite well. If you do not want SL to die, try to act in the various communities by creating a group that can defeat the evil of SL, or boredom.
Susann DeCuir interview Alexia Elcano
