Dear Lauren Neutron… Week 4

Hi boys and girls!

Wow, last week was a fun one. I can’t promise the same level of LOL in this week’s little group of letters, but the content is all down to you – if there’s a burning question in your mind, all you have to do is let me know. I’ll answer anything that’s a question!

Email: dear.lauren.neutron@googlemail.com

Drop a notecard to: Lauren Neutron

Send me a private plurk at: www.plurk.com/laurenneutron

Okay so, first thing’s first…

Dear Lauren.

I’m a successful content creator and sim owner on SL. And I’ve created quite an interesting little empire on my blog, the feeds and on plurk. But I’m scared. All the people who still like me – will they still respect me when they find out that I was an underage camwhore? I did this so that the men would buy me things from Amazon. I’m nearly 30 now, I still live with my parents, jobless, and my fiancee STILL hasnt set a date after years together. But what’s more, I don’t want anyone in SL to know. Because we’ve all seen what happens when people get hold of a secret that they think is especially…..  juicy. What should I do?

Love, Scared in SL.

Hi Scared in SL,

Don’t tell people your secret. Definitely don’t. That’s the best way to be sure that things won’t bite you on the ass. People in SL are mean. People outside of SL are mean. People are mean. If you tell one person that you used to be an underage camwhore, ten people will know soon enough.

You definitely seem to need to work on your real life a bit, though. SL can definitely provide an emotional crutch when it’s necessary, but it sounds like RL is the crutch to your SL. Maybe your fiancé doesn’t want to set a date for your wedding until you fix your life a bit? Why can’t you move in with him? I know the job market is like squeezing blood out of a stone sometimes, but keep trying, and aim below your skillset if necessary to get through the door again.

But… really. I think I call bullshit on this letter. Amazon was founded in 1994 and went online in 1995, which is 14 years ago, so you would have had to have been a camwhore around the time Amazon launched – which, to my knowledge, is back when webcams weren’t exactly common. Kudos on trying though.

Lauren,

A guy I know is just absolutely perfect. He rocks my world, he’s sweet and funny and attentive, and we really get on. I know he has a rl and he is happy in it, but I don’t want a rl relationship with anyone I meet in sl. I’m sure we’re on exactly the same page in terms of what we want and need in SL… but he’s so nice to everyone, I can’t be sure he’s singling me out because he likes me. What do I do?!

Love, Befuddled

Hi Befuddled,

Wow, ok. This is so watery, it’s like a non-question. You didn’t say whether or not you’ve told him how you felt, but if you haven’t then that would be a great place to start. There are plenty of questions over whether or not a relationship in SL constitutes cheating on your RL partner, and while I tend to think it isn’t as long as everyone is absolutely crystal clear what is going on, not everyone is as honest as that requires.

But, ultimately, all SL relationships are just pictures of people kissing. So, have fun with that.

Right, that’s it. Just two?! For shame. I did get a notecard dropped to me regarding a question from last week, but it didn’t contain a question, so there isn’t anything to answer. If you do have any questions, end them with a question mark – anything else is just a comment.

Love,

Lauren xo