A Second Life resident seeking a discreet fresh start has changed her name somewhere the platform could immediately tell 89 other people about it.
Tamsin Evermore, formerly Tamsin Blackthorn, said the change reflected “a deeply personal journey” which she had no wish to discuss, shortly before completing it in the middle of a packed nightclub. “I’m not someone who needs to make an announcement,” she explained, having arranged for the announcement to be made by Second Life itself. “This is something I’m doing for me.”
The notification appeared in local chat between a host welcoming someone called BigDave and an animated gesture of a rabbit having a seizure. Within seconds, seven people had asked whether she was all right, four had sent hearts, and one had written “new chapter babes”, despite having no information about the previous chapter or indeed the book. Tamsin replied that she would rather not go into it, before offering the room a brief explanation of why she would rather not go into it.
“Sometimes you reach a point where you have to choose yourself,” she told the room. “That’s all I’m saying.” She then said several more things. “I’ve spent too long being who other people needed me to be. Some of you will understand. Some of you already know. And some people will know exactly why this has happened.” Residents who had been enjoying a fairly undemanding evening listening to Depeche Mode were suddenly required to work out which category they belonged to.
Friend Bethany Vale confirmed that the change had come as a complete surprise, apart from Tamsin’s status updates about doors closing, her removal of a man from her profile, and a photograph of an empty bench captioned “Eventually, you learn.” Bethany said she was proud of her friend's determination to handle the matter privately. “She’s been very private about it,” she explained. “We’ve only had the three conversations today.”
Tamsin insisted she had chosen the club simply because she happened to be there when she felt ready, although she had arrived 40 minutes earlier, checked who was online and asked whether the region was nearly full. “I could have done it at home, obviously,” she said. “But home has a lot of memories.” Her home is a rented skybox furnished on Tuesday.
The DJ subsequently dedicated a track to “Tamsin and her new beginning”, prompting her to type “omg please don’t make a fuss” followed by six hearts and a crying face. By this point, two residents had messaged her former partner, one had messaged the wrong former partner, and a woman who had been away making toast returned to find herself expected to have an opinion. Several other residents were now attempting to establish whether the name change represented a relationship breakdown, a spiritual awakening or another disagreement involving somebody's SL daughter.
Tamsin later thanked everyone for respecting her privacy, explaining that the support she had received from people who knew absolutely nothing about the situation had been overwhelming. “It means so much that nobody has made this into a big thing,” she said. “I really just want to move forward quietly.”
At press time, a friend who had missed the notification asked what her old name was.
“I’d rather not keep bringing it up,” Tamsin replied, before pasting the announcement again.