revisiting my time within the virtual world

19 february 2026, saturday

lately, virtual reality has felt like a place further away than i've remembered.

real life has gotten a pretty firm hold on me at the moment. last weekend, i logged on with very low expectations. i just wanted to see my friends, catch up, talk some shop with people who commissioned me and end my session after two hours of being on. needless to say, my friends and the virtual reality chatting communities i involve myself in exceeded my expectations. i ended up being online for nearly three hours last friday, with only a short 15 minute break in the middle. i got to see friends, listen to some banging music, and have moments of peace in comforting virtual environments.

a photo of fray and my hand doing a thumbs up that i sent to ray as an invite to our instance

recently, joji released a new album called 'piss in the wind' and i wanted to find some to listen to it while in vrchat. for this album listening party, i chose the world 'last station home' by reava - a world with structures built into the trees, a sea of clouds surrounding us and reaching far into the horizon. the atmosphere in this world is very cozy, as my friends and i gathered onto the main balcony area right by the railing.

worlds with a dream-like quality are pretty up there for me. as much as i love it when worlds are immersive and realistic, so much so that i feel physically present there, i like being in environments that aren't entirely tangible in real life. like, to be honest, if i were up far into the clouds and i couldn't see the ground, i'd probably freak out and be unable to sing along to 'LOVE YOU LESS'. virtual reality is the perfect medium to experience things that may feel very uncanny in real life.

when i log onto vrchat, my join status is usually set to orange or red, meaning that users can either request to join me or they won't be able to join me at all, respectively. when i open up hangout instances like this though, i go on green, and it brings about a different energy than being in club or music event instances. people come in just wanting to chat or hangout, to socialize and listen. i've admittedly been so busy that i didn't notice how much i missed this, being able to just sit in a virtual room with my friends. despite the original intention of the hangout being listening to joji's new album, it ultimately became a time and place for us all to be present with and for each other, and it was really beautiful. a lot of my life right now feels very much GO GO GO, and it feels very good to have virtual reality be where i can decompress even just for a little bit. interactions don't have to be instantaneous or strictly over text or in a formal manner.

group shot of us taken by ovadu

after about an hour that friday, people broke off for different plans. i headed off to check out rizumu's techno night!

techno night at rizumu always makes me happy to see, even if i cannot host it myself anymore. i was able to stop by ember's set last friday and the world the rizumu staff picked out for the night was perfect - a cyperpunk-esque nightclub with huge screens and bright, saturated lights. syncus was also vjing for ember during this set, their gloopy, glitchy visuals on the screens.

screens in vrchat are the subject of many a heated debate, especially within our music scene. there's times that it's less appropriate to have a big screen, but for this night and for this venue it felt right. there was one big screen right above the DJ, and another towards the right on the wall when you walk into the underground urban venue.

perhaps in a more brutalist setting, these large saturated screens wouldn't fit. but, for the cyberpunk + futuristic vibe that the venue gave, it felt like i was coming up on a bustling, illuminating nightclub. to be quite honest, if i came across a place like this in real life i don't think i'd feel very encouraged or brave enough to go in, bwahaha. but in a virtual setting, i can take my time perusing the world and feel no social anxiety for doing so. actually, i spent a minute or two outside the main part of the venue just marveling at seeing the poster i made for the event in the world.

i love it when worlds make you want to explore them, like this one. if there were no technological or physical limitations, i would love for a gigantic, virtual city to be built where we can actually walk to the club on the streets, walk down the stairs, flinch at the graininess of the railing and feel anticipation and sweat as we descend down into the club space. this venue very much feels like it could be part of such a virtual city, as i also noticed it felt very nicely proportioned. i didn't feel particularly large or that things were sized out of place. while i do appreciate elements of surrealism in virtual reality worlds, feeling like i'm not a giant in a club world and that i don't have to get tiny to have an enjoyable experience is really nice, i gotta say.

ember always kills it with techno, i know i'll always be able to vibe when they're playing. they're also one of those DJs that aren't afraid to dance mid set, which i know i definitely am LOL. it's so cool to see someone get so groovy with it while they're mixing.

wow don't they look so swag???

my last stop of the night was frenslop friday, a very casual music event hosted by fray and etoori and their friends and mutuals. i'm so glad that fray and them do these sorts of things. i wanted to listen and dance to more music, but i also wanted to be around friends and socialize, so thank god this was going on. the way it works is that newer DJs and friends are encouraged to play what they want, with the venue being in the basement of someone's house. honestly, i would like to think of most popups and local music events happening just like this: a group of friends hanging out and asking who wants to spin music that week.

fray got me feeling hopeful and creative with that melodic and uplifting trance, it was a really great end for my friday night.

fray and etoori during fray's set

i'd like to post regularly here in the virtual reality blog again! i'm really sorry i've been absent. if you'd like to understand my current feelings and random thoughts about everything going on currently with me, go check out my regular blog!

thank you to the friends, mutuals, and community members who have made virtual reality feel like home, especially with everything going on in my personal life. recounting memories like the ones above and also being reminded of what is coming has grounded me. i won't take your words and time for granted, and i will strive to continue to write here and see what's to come.