If you have been living under a rock, like me, you might of missed the Dog Girl arrival in SL. It caught my eye when I came across some Flickr photos one day, then again when Torley blogged Doggirls in Second Life: are they upon us? Then it seemed like every where I turned I was seeing more & more of these oddities popping up in pics. I have to admit that my very first reaction was "OMG! No way! I don't like that, at all."I figured I must dig deeper and posed the question on Plurk "What do you know of Dog Girls in SecondLife?" That led me to MiaSnow Myriam of miaSofia, the creator of said skins.
As with anything, human nature is confused & scared by what they don't understand so I sent her an offline IM. I'm not sure what I expected exactly but what I got was really well written responses and a lot of insight.
- What was your motivation for the skins?
Everything I make starts out with the motivation to create something visually interesting, and fun to use... for me first of all^^ and for all the people who give me feedback about what they'd like to see. no one asked about dogGirl skins though. i just thought it would be cute^^ and a nice change of pace since i hadn't seen any before. it was also the result of a personal exercise to improve my PhotoShop skills. i wanted to push what i could do with making a more realistic, sexy skin.... without devoting completely to a full flesh skin. the hair and spots allowed me some creative freedom in that way. the individual faces were inspired by some of my friends... 1 is for Case Tommorrow, artist extraordinare 2 is for SakuraDawn Lei, designer at Lazy Places 3 is for Sofia London of lurveBite 4 is for ColeMarie Soliel, rockerfaerie, creator 5 is for me 6 is for Akasha Wachmann of Catnip - Is there RP involved?
I am (as of yet) not an RP'er. but, I noticed immediately when I first started wearing it in SL (while i was working on it) that it inspired unexpected emotive RP in me. and when i passed them out to friends, suddenly there was alot of yipping, chasing and general bad dogGirl behaviour :) i do hope that as i release more dogGirl types, that ppl do feel inspired to use them for RP. i've had requests for wolves specifically for RP use. i think even for non RP'ers, SL offers a chance to explore different aspects of yourself... some you had no idea you posessed! so that's where i'm at with creating the skins. i want them to inspire ppl to explore themselves and interact in different ways with one another, for an overall different experience than RL. but an experience that adds to RL, with perhaps some confidence and playfulness carried over. - Do you consider this the new sl fad like nekos were for a time?
the Dalmation Dames skins response has definately surprised me. i suppose it is a fad in the sense that it's being well-received and the interest seems to keep growing. but IMO (speaking as a non-neko) i don't think neko is a fad, it has lasting appeal. the ppl into neko seem to seriously relate to the persona. and it creates so many possibilities for accessories, home decor, AO's, etc. so perhaps later on, we'll see dogGirls become more prevalant. i'm all over the place creating different stuff, but i do have more dog skins planned, including men. and i think as i release them, there will be continued interest. because the different dog types can be used for different alter egos... like a poodle and a pit bull would incite totally different personas.
It even caught the attention of Torley Linden. It turns out, he had twittered a month before, "There are so many catgirls (neko), but where are the doggirls?""This blog post clearly was a great example of me changing my mind on one of those rare occasions. Hah! Mia not only dropped the notecard of responses on me but also a folder of *mia* DALMATION DAMES skins and *mia* DALMATION Ears & Tail. I was leary at first, still undecided on how I felt about the whole dog girl invasion.
Within minutes of finding the cute heart-shaped spotted skin and attaching my ears I IM'd her again...
JellyBean Madison: I was uncertain about the skins at first but jeepers I WANNA PET ME! I'm adorable! MiaSnow Myriam: hehe
I'm positive that I won't want to be a full-time dog girl but for now, I kinda like it. If you get a chance, def visit her store and check out her plethora of skins that she offers aside from the Dalmation Dames. Unique skins such as junkie, zombie hunter, drow, blue, purple, realistic, pale, red lips, bloody, scraped, bruised, & bright colors.
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I got a dalmation skin from MiaSnow last month, and it's cute! I don't hump any more legs than I did previously, but people seem to want to pet me more, which I won't turn down ;) I don't wear it much, but it's a fun addition. and MiaSnow is AWESOME! (fangirl moment)
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