Ravan DaSilva, 6 feet 10 inches with a muscular body covered in tattoos, needed a change of scenery. Last summer he bought a plot of land on remote, tropical Ferox Island, where he decided to design and build a house. Conveniently, Ruby Riva, his stunning next-door neighbor had expert architectural skills. He noticed right away that she too was single.
                                                
They took the time to get to know each other. And there was no denying something else was at work.

“A little connection started within the first few days,” said Ravan.

Soon, others on Ferox noticed they were spending little time with anyone else. Their intense romance landed them at the altar a month and a half later.

In Essex, England, Steve Farrant, a 34-year-old former body builder with red hair, was experiencing a similar pull of attraction and desire. His pursuit was Jayne Roden, a divorced 39-year-old mother of two from Wales. They met online, and their casual, flirtatious banter quickly escalated to long conversations each day. Within six weeks of their first online meeting they started having phone conversations. They decided to meet in person to test their compatibility. Farrant drove the 200 miles from the south of England to Roden’s Welsh home.

Through the entire nerve-filled drive Farrant felt like a teenager on a first date. “My brain was all over the place,” he said. When he pulled up to her driveway his hands were shaking. He walked up to her house and somehow got the courage to knock. He was dumbfounded when she opened the door.

“I didn’t know if I should shake her hand, spin her around or kiss her,” he said, of the brunette waif. “I was like a scared rabbit in headlights.”

Roden took the initiative. She grabbed hold of Farrant and gave him a kiss. He was thrilled. “I was at a loss for words,” he said. “It was one of the best nights of my life.”

Ravan and Ruby. Farrant and Roden. Parallel love stories, parallel lives. But Ravan and Ruby are not real people. They are "avatars," digital characters in the online universe called Second Life (secondlife.com). Ravan is the creation of Farrant ; Ruby the creation of Roden. And based on their avatars' romance, Farrant and Roden tested their relationship in the real world. Perhaps no technology has begun to rewrite the rules of courtship more than Second Life.

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