just me in awe of creativity and new experiences
13 october 2025 - monday
one of the main reasons why i fell in love with being in virtual reality is the seemingly boundless limits of expression in all sense of the word. my first experiences with this were a bit silly - people running around in knuckles avatars, maybe spawning a rollercoaster in the middle of the world, or deciding to be wed to a stranger in a virtual church. even now, me and my friends get into roleplaying in worlds, poking fun at each other and immersing ourselves in the scenery of all the things around us.
it has been some years since i started being in VR, and it seems that with every year there is something new to look forward to just right around the corner. it could be a new headset, a new world released by a prominent world creator, assets that push the bounds of reality and immersiveness - the realm of VR is constantly changing and improving at a startingly fast rate. however, in specifically the rave scene in VRChat, there have been countless events back to back to back, month after month after month, blowing it out of the park each time and pushing the marker for what a "high quality" event means to the populace. when this marker is moved further, and moved often, it can create a sense of helplessness in some that this new high must always be reached or broken. with this post, i aim to share my experiences in a way that promotes growth, learning, and most importantly, joy and love for the scene. there is peace to be found in simply existing within a cultivated space, and i am very happy to say there were several places this past weekend that provided that peace.
hardgroove at PULSEVR.
hardgroove is one of my favorite subgenres in the wide umbrella genre that is EDM, and i was very pleased to see that my homie chilly was going to be playing at the end of the night! this past friday i had felt like i wasn't really in the mood to be partying all night, but i did want to dance at somepoint, so it was perfect for me to end my night there. since chill was gonna play at 10PM PT, i opted to get into the venue about a half hour before.
the world that they used for this event was a train with acidic, psychedelic FX lighting up the walls and the skybox of the world. despite the venue itself being literally a train, everyone was relatively the same size and not getting in each others way. i believe this is because the world had set a maximum user height of about 165cm, as i (a big hunky anime guy) usually at 178cm in game but had shrunken down to this specific number once in this world. while i understand doing so can raise the complaints of party-goers, it allows for people to feel like they "fit" realisitically into the environment. i noticed that those who were at the max height were still conscious of the space they took. as wild as the visual effects are, the atmosphere of the world and the event felt similar to real life. dancers by the decks, those conversing to each other drinking and a bit further away, people catching up after a long week of work, school, and life in general all coming together. the music felt fast but not too fast, groovy but not tiring or repetitive, and i found myself shocked at how fast time was passing.
at this point, i'm admittedly both a bit fucked up and tired from dancing. my dear friend played a song that our bro nonny produced and i sang in. it was a more than awesome time at an event run by people who clearly know what they're doing. you could say, "wow that's it? your friend played good music and you got a bit fucked up in psychedelic world in virtual reality. this is what impresses you?" and it's like uhhhh yeah! i am impressed that this event went well because there was a crowd of over 60 people in the instance even as the event ended, still waiting for more music to dance and vibe to. at the end of chilly's set, both staff of the event and attendees seemed incredibly happy. to me, this is very much a success to be impressed by. a group of people came together to run an event for others to have fun in, it went well, and now those who had a great time have a memory to look back on fondly in our "silly" virtual reality.
cozy ambience and lofi at COMFORT.
the word that immediately came to mind when i arrived in this world on saturday was "soft". this world has cushions galore, pillows and fuzzy materials and items of all kinds! i also saw that there were various areas for people to be cozy. upon entering, you'll walk down to the main "living room" which has the video screen and decks set right in front of some couches. the second floor has a smaller area in the corner which has somewhat of a perch that looks over the living room entirely. and somehow after hails' set, a canopy right above the decks and screen appeared! hails and i caught up briefly there, remarking on how this world would be perfect for hanging out and being little creatures with friends.
comfy kitten and wolfly are lovely people. i was welcomed warmly by both of them and their friends and i got to meet and befriend others. i fully expected to stay quiet during hails set, as i did not want to interfere or be too much in the space, but everyone in the instance was so engaging! it's reflective of the kind of vibe that both comfy and wolfly seem to want to embody for their spaces. when hosts exude the vibe they want their events to have, it can be really comforting (hehe) to those who are visiting the space for the first time. while i did not know everyone in the instance, it still felt fun to engage due to the casual and friendly atmosphere. i am very excited to invite others over to the next one!
various genres at SESSION.
i did not plan to be here, to put it bluntly bwahah. i had told hails after their set on saturday that i was kind of thinking of logging off, but wanted to see if there was something else that i could just sit in. for some reason on saturday i was not really feeling like dancing, which is fine, i danced a lot on friday. but it is times like this that it can be hard to find something to do. i saw sir rose's name down for a venue called SESSION and decided fuck it why not? i haven't listed to sir rose spin for a bit. my friend fray ended up joining and she and i chatted while sir rose set a fitting vibe for the interestingly texture sparse world that we were in.
while fray and i were relaxing and vibing to the set, we didn't realize that we were missing out a bit of the world. some people yelled out to rejoin just as another friend of fray and i, ovadu, joined in. all of us rejoined, and everything in the world seemed the same except for the lights being brighter. live world updates during events aren't uncommon, so i just figured that was that. until then we overheard others say to go to the bathroom and to touch the mysterious item. and so we did.
the world went from the projected lights being the main point of saturated color in the world to shadows and colors contrasting heavily, the sparseness of the textures in the world forgotten as the true highlight of this venue became clear to me. the focus was very much the intimacy that this sort of lighting creates, the closeness of individuals as the music progressed, the softness of light against the meshes of everyone's avatars and the assets of the world. the minimalist approach in this event wowed me because it simplifies the core aspects of listening to music in a social setting, or in this case, a social platform in virtual reality. here, there are no giant mirrors are drones going at high speeds in vast, wide open spaces. this feels like someone's home, someone's living room that we've kind of raided. it feels like a house party, yet also a dream. the experience here is real, but not tangible in the traditional sense, and i absolutely loved it.
unfortunately at this point, i was already quite tired. i promised myself that the next time SESSION returned, i would stay up for the whole thing even if it meant that i would sit in the fog on the couch. i bid my friends goodnight and logged off.
what did i get from these three events? let's quickly review.
- PULSEVR - an immersive yet psychedelic dance experience surrounded by friends and a fun yet electirc atmosphere.
- COMFORT - cozy, relaxing vibes that encourage socialization, musical exploration, and of course, maximum comfort!
- SESSION - an experience that embraces experimentation and simplicity.
events of course are very much for the staff and organizers at it is for the attendees. putting your vision, your passion, and especially your time in something can be a lot, but it is engaging with the good friends and community around you that is the greatest reward. remember - a lot of these events are run for free. as attendees, i think it's important for us to say out loud (or on obscure, hard to find posts like this on the internet LMAO) how much we like and enjoy things. i have seen over the years artists and hosts alike get stuck on the /delivery/ and the /reception/ of the event rather than the event itself. so much of VR is changing, as i mentioned earlier in this entry. embracing change can be a hard thing, and i am very pleased to see that in the events that i attended this weekend, both those who were in charge of running events and those who were there to attend them were of one group. at the end of the day, every single one of us wants to be part of something, and it all starts with choosing to be there, to be present.
if you'd like to listen to hails' and chill's sets, they'll be linked in friends' stuff.
for the venues that i mentioned, please check out the links below:
> PULSE VR - bluesky | discord | website | vrchat group PULSE.6317
> COMFORT - comfy kitten's bluesky | wolfly's bluesky | vrchat group COMF.9259
> SESSION - bluesky | discord | vrchat group SESH.6088
bonus photos from MIDNIGHT LUV.
i felt like it would be inappropriate for me to include this event as part of this blog post as i had the unfortunate luck of crashing out of the world. it happens when you're in virtual reality as loading everything around you can be a lot, but for my case it usually is my network. shoutout to MIDNIGHT LUV, i cannot wait to be able to go again!!!! sebbrah was going crazy and it felt good to stomp to some techno.
the atmosphere of this world reminds me of a city in my childhood. the dampness feels familiar and i found myself wandering outside for a bit taking these shots.
i grew up in a port city, so it was busy but it definitely wasn't sprawling like tokyo or lively in the way that osaka was. the city was both colorful and messy, with its fair share of street art - collaborations between japanese artists and artists from overseas - and somewhat abandoned alleyways. despite our city having a very low crime rate, my parents always advised us to not go down those alleys alone. somehow, these virtual streets give me the same kind of cautious energy, but it somehow feels nostalgic? i probably sound crazy describing this. but i get very attached to worlds that feel like it was a part of a dream that i might have had about home.
lights here are really cool. i very much want to return here again, i want to take in the environment again. i'm just still kinda mad that there's times that my connection shits itself and then 10 minutes later it's back to normal. by the time it came back for me though all the energy was taken out of me as every time this happens i just get so sad. i am a very emotional guy, as i have said on this site for probably many (too many) times at this point. i got sad, i ate some melons, and then i felt better. we move forward somehow.
hi thanks for reading! please do take care, next post the following week!