VR Style September 2010

Welcome to the world of Dieselpunk !

S E R A P H C I T Y - R E T R OF U T U R I S T I C A M A Z E M E N T W H E R E H I S T OR Y M E E T S F A N S T A S Y T H E F A S H I ON OF D I E S E L P U N K E M P IR E CL U B

September 2010

Table of Contents

12

Info Byte

18

Travel Log

28

Careys Corner

36

World of Fashion

86

Around The Grid

Bridging Fantasy and History The Empire Club Avatar Evolution

Fashion of Dieselpunk The Carrington Seraph City

100 The Frothing Dingo

Confidence Lost

Editorial Staff Publishers

Iolejanana Chajit

Features Editor

Sherrie Shepherd

Fashion Editor

Nadia Felwitch

Layout Editor

Nakari Tolsen

Copy Editor

Aristipuss Larsen

Contributing Writers Model : IoleJanana Chajit Photographer : Nakari Tolsen Dress : Glam Satin Dress by: Sonnata Morales A BIG thank you to Sonnata for making the dress for this months cover.

Crazy Ibor Rajeesh Navarathna Carey DeCuir Rusty Seisenbacher Sherrie Shepherd Kiara Mazi

Photographers

Kimmie Rayna Pam Astonia Nakari Tolsen

VR Style Magazine Since June 2009 http://issuu.com/slvibe/docs/sept2010 Second Life Magazine Email: iolejananachajit@gmail.com

EDITORS NOTE

Diesel Punk Bridging Fantasy and History

by Sherrie Shepherd A life-style and roleplay growing in popularity in SL is the Dieselpunk subculture.

Dieselpunk shares its roots with Steampunk, the wildly popular fantasy and science fiction genre rooted in the Victorian era but with fantasy steam powered machines giving a speculative interpretation of history.

However, Dieselpunk bridges the gap between fantasy and history. This genre blends the aesthetics of the 1920’s through 1940’s, a time colored by Art Deco, pulp heroes and swing music.

Dieselpunk is an alternate-history environment in which the most important aspect of society is diesel fuel and the machinery that depend upon it.

Picture the 1930’s without the Great Depression and a history where World War II never happened albeit as a prolonged cold war.

The 1920s architecture introduced the

skyscraper while inventions like the automobile and the aeroplane captured and dominated the minds, the lifestyles and imaginations of the masses.

Pulp heroes of the 1920s and 1930s were later immortalized in movies like The Rocketeer, Darkman, Dick Tracy, and the Batman series. The 1927 cult classic Metropolis epitomized the dieselpunk genre. Games also helped to catapult dieselpunk in popularity, such as the role-play game Children of the Sun.

The art and culture of the dieselpunk world would be influenced heavily by the Futurist and Modern art movements that occurred towards the end of the first Great War (1919) with Art Deco dominating the style.

The music combines elements of the blues, jazz, ragtime, cabaret and the big band swing.

Let’s not forget the fashion of the dieselpunk era. Much to the delight of SL Dieselpunk enthusiasts, talented SL designers have captured the essence of Dieselpunk in the most elegant of styles of 1920s through 1940s incorporating that edge of decadence symbolic of the freedom of expression of the era.

If you are already hooked on the dieselpunk genre, there are excellent role-play venues in world to experience the lifestyle, like Seraph City. If you haven’t taken the leap into dieselpunk yet, perhaps you should. A great adventure awaits you!

Travel Log

by Rusty Seisenbacher photos by Kimmie Rayna

If its true that every girl is crazy 'bout a sharped dressed man, then fellas its time to put on your tailcoat, maybe a tuxedo and certainly your best top hat and go meet your sweet at The Empire Jazz Club, a swinging place dedicated to the jazz era of the roaring 20s and 30s.

The Empire Jazz Club is a "small Jazz club in Seraph City playing classic music from a classic era. Listen to the music of the 20s and 30s in a relaxing atmosphere." The club is owned by Rafael Fabre, who in addition to owning The Empire Jazz Club also runs The Steampunk Tribune - a Neo Victorian and Steampunk Blog and news source. Rafael also has a blog called SL Jazz after Midnight.

Desiring to build a small, intimate jazz venue, Rafael eventually worked with Blue Jishnu, who built the type of venue as envisioned by Rafael, while keeping the appearance within the Art Deco style of the sim.

The era of the 1920s and 30s can also be known as the Dieselpunk era, when the styles and tastes shifted dramatically from the eloquence and social reservation of the Victorian, Steampunk era. Dieselpunk (also

known as Pulp or Noir) is characterized most notably by the streamlined, Art Deco styles of building and by its Jazz, blues and swing music.

The sim itself is fairly new and about 70% finished with many shops and a cinema still under construction at this time. Eventually, dames and gangsters should be crossing paths while RPing or shopping in the period themed shops or maybe ducking into a quiet cool place like The Empire Jazz Club, to sit and listen to some coooool jazz.

Currently, Rafael has a number of jazz feeds playing on the radio at the bar, with a series of live performances planned for the club.

Being so involved in the SL Jazz scene gives Rafael

insight and familiarity with many of SL's finest Jazz musicians, so he hopes to arrange bookings soon. The stage and microphone are all set.

The next time you need to relax but don't want the usual large, loud venue, where you can sit in a private corner and sip a drink, maybe attend to business or just hang onto that special someone and dance till the sun comes up, do consider dropping by The Empire Jazz Club

Careys Corner

by Carey DeCuir

Remember when you first entered Second Life? You downloaded the standard browser, selected an avatar from a group of generic avatars and proceeded to crashed into things. The avatars appeared stiff, plastic and outfitted with very plain clothing. But this was actually the beginning of an amazing journey between you and your avatar. The two of you began a growing and evolving relationship while exploring the Second Life meta-verse. This relationship provided valuable insights about those parts of yourself that you can't always express in the real world. At the risk of sounding academic, I am proposing that we evolve through at least three distinct phases in that relationship..

Enjoy!!

Phase 1: The Puppeteer Our earliest experiences in Second Life are about walking and flying without crashing into things. We learn to chat, move objects, change clothing and teleport around to interesting places. We feel a bit awkward as we strive to understand the unwritten “rules” of social engagement, often acutely aware of the disparity between us and those who have been in Second Life for a long time. At first we feel detached from our avatar as it seems like a somewhat clumsy curiosity exploring a strange new world. We act as the puppet master, guiding our charge through a variety of experiences, exploring the vast meta-verse that constitutes Second Life.

Each sim offers a different environment, frequented by people with different interests and therefore offering unique opportunities for interactions. We discover a freedom to explore adventures that might not be appropriate activities in our real lives. One could argue that these adventures are really manifestations of our secrete desires, or perhaps we just want to see if they “fit”. We throw our avatar into many different types of activities, almost with reckless abandon, just because we can.

Fortunately, we feel safe in Second Life to explore these role-playing (RP) adventures because we do not face the type of consequences we would in real life. We are totally free to indulge in fantasies with our alter ego, to experience second-hand how it might feel. After all, this avatar is not really us, but rather just a collection of pixels we are guiding across the screen.

Phase 2: Merging Identities.

The transition to ownership, where your avatar and you become very much the same, is often gradual and depends on your level of involvement in the “game” of Second Life. There are several things that seduce us into more of an ownership role.

First, we begin designing our “look”,

creating a style for our avatar that represents some aspect(s) of ourself or some style we wish to project. Putting time, thought and creative energy into your avatar develops both a sense of intimacy with your creation and a greater sense of ownership.

You also begin making friends.

Relationships are developed with people in Second Life based on your adventures, role-playing situations and common interests. As you interact with others, your avatar becomes personalized.

You give your avatar some aspects of your personality and establish values for your avatar's behaviors.

Other people react to you based on how you look, what you say and what you do in Second Life. The reactions from your friends provide feedback which you might use to fine-tune your looks and behaviors.

Together, you and your avatar interact with a community of friends.

Then, for many of us, something truly

amazing happens. You become intimate with somebody in Second Life. The intensity of the feelings you get from watching your avatar during these intimate moments is way beyond what you had ever expected. You become deeply, emotionally involved to the point of actually experiencin g physical sensations.

Academics who study these things would say that you are having an “out of body experience” based on your visualspatial interactions.

Oh how delicious it is, and afterwards, well you just had no idea how intensely this would affect you.

Your avatar is truly becoming an extension of your real world self and those boundaries can get pretty blurry at times.

The transition from puppeteer to ownership is often very gradual. It may come as a shock when you finally realize how intimately you are involved with your avatar. A friend pointed out that it wasn't

until her first avatar “contracted a 'bug' and melted” that she became aware of how much she was invested in her avatar. She was shocked at how much she missed it and realized that she “ had woven myself into the virtual fabric of my SL identity. I was my avatar completely”.

Phase 3: Evolving Autonomy The last phase is very subtle and may happen after an extended period of immersion in Second Life. There comes a point when your avatar begins evolving a personality that is somewhat distinct from who you are in the real world. This may come about from the serious role playing (RP) some people do in Second Life. The Gor-based sims and activities offer a good illustration of this point. In Gor, your avatar develops clan relationships, perhaps becomes a master or a slave and develops a complex identity over a long period of time.

This identity is recognized by many other people who are constantly reinforcing it by their reactions to you. Interestingly, your avatar character begins to evolve a series of new persona's based on a sense of shared group history and the constant feedback from those around you. This persona is constantly evolving as group expectations and RP situations change. Not all of this change is predictable, nor is all of it is under your control. Your enter into a dynamic and interactive flow of situations, all of which will have an impact on you and how you might respond. Your avatar persona grows with and into these situations, taking you along for the ride. Eventually, your role in the game begins defining, at least in part, who your avatar is and how your avatar reacts. And then you return to real life and you, the human, leaves it all behind with your avatar.

Having a partner in SL and developing a virtual life together is another example for how the identity of your avatar can change.

The avatars representing you and your

partner grow together in a life that is necessarily kept separate from the real world. The two of you develop a history, a way communicating and an intimacy that exists only in this meta-verse. Your avatar slips so easily into this mode when you are in Second Life and you, the human, are forced to leave this life behind when you go back to your other world. At this point, most people begin compartmentalizing their experiences in Second Life, something that is often necessary to protect your real world situation, if not your sanity.

However, compartmentalizing your emotions and behavior is also about compartmentalizing certain aspects of the relationship with your avatar. After developing such an intimate relationship with your avatar during the ownership phase, you are now forced to create some psychological distance between you and your avatar. This distance allows for two things to take place. You, the human, are now free of real life guilt for the intensity of your emotions relative to what your avatar does in Second Life. In effect, you are assigning those emotions and behaviors to your avatar, making them somewhat separate from you and relieving you of some responsibility. The other thing that happens is that you effectively give your avatar permission to develop aspects of his/her own personality in accordance with your activities in Second Life. Your avatar is now free to begin evolving behaviors and feelings, loosely tied to you for sure, but based on the changing interactions and situations occurring within Second Life.

You and your avatar begin engaging in an intricate dance the moment you join Second Life. Your dance evolves through a series of complex relationships centered around you. Your dance delicately steps between the physical and virtual worlds of your life and it can be a vehicle for significant growth. Enjoy!!

Introducing Fashion in the world of

DIESELPUNK

By Nadia Felwitch You may be wondering what is Dieselpunk? When I was asked to feature the world of diesel punk in this issue I was like what the heck is that? LoL so with my given theme and the world wide web and lots of curiosity to find out what dieselpunk was all about, I started my research. Wikipedia says: “Dieselpunk is an alternate-history environment in which the most important aspect of society is diesel fuel, and the machinery that depends upon it.” Another, dieselpunk.org defines it as “Dieselpunk is a genre of art and a budding subculture that enjoys the aesthetics of the 1920's - 1950's; a time when diesel technology was king. A time filled with super spies, pulp heroes, robot villains, and gum shoes beating the mean streets. www.museumstuff.com states Dieselpunk fashion blends the styles commonly found during the diesel era with contemporary styles to create a fusion of both. The "punk" nature of the subculture comes from expressing a more complete presence in public akin to the fashion styles popular during the diesel era such as waistcoats, covered arms, hosiery, styles of shoes, and head wear to name a few. Dieselpunk emphasizes the inclusion of such accouterments to render one's look "complete," in defiance of modern custom.

Photos by: Grim Brothers & Nymphetamine Nakari Tolsen Sonatta Morales & Curious Seamstress Kimmie Rayna Tres Beau Pam Astonia

So to break it down a bit diesel punk is set in the pulp era and powered, as you may have guessed from the name, by diesel engines. This whole genre/culture bridges the gap between fantasy and history. Artists or anyone with a spark of creativity in their soul create in the diesel world. It's classy.

It's fashion. It's inspiration. It's art. It's awesome.

Although diesel punk is fairly new to second life, there are several designers and an entire sim dedicated to this era. This month I bring to you some of those talented designers and their work and all can be found at Seraph City http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seraph%20City /173/132/106 and of course at their main locations.

First of all I would like to introduce you to Grim Bros designed by Cutea Benelli. Very interesting twist here Cutea has it all. Her recipe for her creations has a dash of everything punk: diesel, steam, and cyber! To see more in depth illustration of how Cutea remixes it all watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD7xX BInhqs and to see all she has to offer and more check out grim bros on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimbros or take your very own personal tour at : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clematis%20Is land/118/50/22

Next I have for you Sonatta designed

by Sonatta Moreles. Instead of trying to describe her artistic talent myself I feel its best if I quote her “ I want women to look elegant, classy and dangerous. I want the drama of silks and velvets, champagne, gloves and hats. I want to bring back the beauty that was lost somewhere in the past…” And that says it all ladies. The feel that you get from entering her doors right up to you moment you wear her designs is all this and more. Keep up with her lovely creations here: http://sonattamorales.blogspot.com/ or shop till you drop here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ballyboo/120/ 229/126

Finally, my next three designers: Tres Beau designed by Kimmera Madison, Nymphetamine designed by Paeoti Pomeray, and Curious Seamstress designed by Kembri Tomsen; are all found at the Carrington in Seraph City, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seraph%20City/1 73/132/106 .

A lovely combination of style, glamour, and seduction found in all these shops and more.

I hope you all enjoyed our portrayal of diesel punk the VR Style way. Remember there is no rule of thumb for a “proper� diesel punk look.

Style and be Creative and make your own version of what diesel means to you and most importantly have fun!!

Tres Beau main store can be found here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lace/138/145/23

The Carrington

by Nadia Felwitch and Breezy Carver

One of the most fantastic builds I found while researching Diesel Punk for the issue housed several of my featured designers for this issue.

It was the Carrington at Seraph City.

This building is simply amazing and has an awesome background. Let me share with you the history of this magnificent creation.

In 1889, Charles Carver and his lovely wife Catherine had a fantastic vision, the idea being, create a wonderful experience in eloquent shopping, with the most unique customer care and the finest quality in designs for the sophisticated carriage trade. Imagine an upscale department Store. The goal being, to create an all important respected client base with positive top of mind awareness in three key elements: 1) Excellent Customer Service 2) Pristine creative Product lines 3) take the very best care of all associated with the Brand.

A further goal, was to have the Brand build over time and perhaps, expand to every major city of the world .

So in 1892,The Vision was launched and The Carrington of New York City had it's grand opening. In less then two years the Carvers expanded to Paris. The Carrington was all they hoped for and more, a gallery was added and a gorgeous luncheon atrium.

The Carrington was now known for impeccable customer care and service.

World famous eloquent classic fashion designs created by the best fashion designers around the world, from undergarments to wedding gowns, from day suits to evening formal gowns, from tuxedos to day dresses, gorgeous accessories all with the unique style and unforgettable flair. It was the 1920s and for woman, fashion included, perhaps the most progressive period decade to date !

In 1922 tragedy stuck, for Charles and Catherine were killed in auto accident.

Their only child, Breezy Carver, with a heart of gold would take over the family business, becoming the first female CEO and President of a large retail department chain operation. Glamour in fashion was stronger then ever and the dynamic Deco influence in architecture was on fire.

There were now three Carrington Operations. one on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the second in Paris and the third in London. It was mid 1924 and Breezy knew it was time to expand this one of a kind operation yet again.

She went to the hottest city at the time in the USA. Seraph City, The City of Angels !

First task on her list was to find the right builder to bring her very own Deco vision to life in Seraph City. Second, reach out to the all important amazing designers willing to take this risk with her and three, get it all in place and done as soon as possible !

First task, The builder, there was no question whom Breezy went to first. The Amazing evil but so talented and creative Doctor Obolensky.

Breezy had no doubts, he would agree to take on the challenge. He was his amazing diabolical grand evil self, but in hours photos where to be sent back and forth, ideas and designs being discussed and The Doctor had the miniature Model created the very next day. Breezy was thrilled as the evil Doctors' design was with out a doubt, most original and quite breathtaking. As we say in any world "One Take Baby".

Doctor Obolensky put endless thought, time and heart into this creation. It was never intended to be a secret but there was so much going on, no one saw or knew what was going on it till he placed the full scale model on 303 Main Street the week the Sim arrived.

There is now a plaque in the Carrington Lobby to this Modest Grand Character, It Reads "The Carrington Building, Designed and constructed by the wonderfully creative, villainous evil genius, and all around good guy Doctor Obolensky, Under the watchful eye of the Iron Bay Prison System Work Release Program, May the First Nineteen Twenty Something " With the build well under way, it was time to approach the Designers themselves. The idea, bringing the very best in quality, was not only exciting to Breezy but the thought of taking the risk and investing long term, with some of the very best in couture for this fabulous hot city appealed to her and all involved. In fact not one said no ! Of course the end result is The Carrington in Seraph City with four separate fabulous designer shops, Blackopal

Designs, Curious Seamstress, Nymphetamine Boutique, Tres Beau Designs as well as one spectacular artist's gallery all together in one spectacular build.

Now featured in the Not so Secret Lounge is the original and unforgettable photo collection of the Skusting Dagger Gallery. I had the great honor and privilege to do a brief interview with the very talented photographer, Skusting Dagger himself: Nadia: Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? What's your educational background?

What are your general professional and nonprofessional interests?

Skusting: I moved to NYC, from Upstate NY in 1984. Moved to Brooklyn in '85. I attended art school at Rochester Institute of Technology in the 70's. I have been a graphic artist in the children's clothing industry for the past 20 years or so. Artistically, I dabble in many forms from watercolor and acrylic painting to digital art and amateur photography.

Nadia: How long have you been a photographer?

Skusting: I am merely an amateur photographer, and I will photograph anything that seems interesting.

Nadia: What inspires you?

Skusting: I am inspired by just about anything that crosses my path. Music, art, sciencefiction, horror, and a nice cold beer Nadia: As a photographer in your own words tell me what is diesel punk?

Skusting: To me, diesel punk is an evolutionary descendent of steampunk.... an era based science fiction genre, which also includes elements of film noir and art deco.

All of Skusting Daggers work can be found at the following locations in SL: Seraph City - The Carrington Lounge Located on the second floor of The Carrington (use elevator at top of stairs) http://slurl.com/second life/Seraph%20City/188 /138/106

New Babbage - Ruby's Pub (in the Canal District) located in the Gallery on the 2nd and 3rd floors of Ruby's Pub http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Babbage%20Canals/175/55/ 106 The Carrington had its Grand Opening Sunday May 16th, Seraph City was proud to be part of the Steam lands Grand Tour For Life , (2010 steam land nation Fundraiser for RFL with 11 outstanding events over two days.) It was an amazing success .Thus Far the Carrington a Vision thanks to many has become a beautiful second life dream come true.

Together Breezy and her amazing partner, the distinguished Doctor Rafael Fabre, owner of The Empire Room, and his fantastic informative and entertaining blogs are thrilled to call Seraph City home and along with many others Welcome all to enjoy and explore these enjoyable locals on This Hot creative Sim.

The Steam punk Tribune http://www.steampunktri bune.com/ Second life Jazz After Midnight http://sljazzaftermidnight.bl ogspot.com/

Seraph City Retrofuturistic Amazement

by Sherrie Shepherd photos by: Nakari Tolsen

Seraph City epitomizes the true characteristics of the Dieselpunk subculture transporting you back to a rewritten history of the 1920s, 30s and 40s where Art Deco architecture, pulp heroes, the music of the big bands and vintage fashions of the era create an environment that captures the essence of elegance, glamour and sophistication.

You can easily picture an iconic movie actress being escorted through throngs of adoring fans to a premier of her latest film at the Crescent Theater or making a grand entrance at a party in her honor at the posh Empire Club.

Owner and primary creator of Seraph City, Pumpkin Tripsa, spoke of his interest in the dieselpunk subculture, “My interest in dieselpunk began before I was aware of the term. I became hooked on the aesthetics behind films like the Dark City, The Thirteenth Floor and the Rocketeer immediately. I love the timeless aspect of it juxtaposed with the creative latitude given by the pulp genres.�

Tripsa has always admired the creators of themed communities. He reflected, “To create a themed sim seemed to me to have huge potential for creative expression. The decision to create a dieselpunk sim out of the endless choices was an easy one. There are few genres that lend themselves to such a wide variety of social possibilities. The goal of Seraph City is to provide a setting that is equally suitable for robbing a bank, bootlegging liquor or falling in love. Few eras are capable of such a wide scope of possibilities.”

When asked about his inspiration for Seraph City, Tripsa explained, “To take a quote from the Creative Commons project, creativity always builds upon the past and Seraph City is certainly no exception.

Luckily, the dieselpunk and pulp aesthetic is one that has lent itself to many works in film and print. Our primary resources were the movies Skycaptain and the World of Tomorrow, The Rocketeer, Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor. Others include the Xbox game, Crimson Skies and the webcomic Lackadaisy. All of these examples contain great art deco architecture and a timeless atmosphere that I think translates beautifully to a virtual world setting.”

In terms of laying out the city, Tripsa shares credit with Kaylee Frye and the other residents of Seraph City

saying, “The design work was done by Kaylee Frye and myself. Our work was mostly infrastructure related, such as the streets and the City Hall building that Kaylee created. We

named the streets after a wide variety of things. Lackadaisy is a great webcomic with some great style and roleplay inspiration, so that became one of the streets. The mayor of New Babbage, Mosseveno Tenk, was very helpful in getting me up to speed with the estate management information, so we named one of the streets Moss Avenue. The New Champagne Rooms is one of our most valued destinations with incredible vintage entertainment and shops, so it was only natural to create a Champagne Street. But the vast majority of the city's work has been done by the residents. They deserve the credit for what Seraph City has become.”

Two such residents who are key players at Seraph City are Breezy Carver and her partner, the distinguished Dr. Rafael Fabre.

Carver is the owner of “The Carrington”, a spectacular Art Deco build by Doctor Obolensky, which is an upscale department store, at 303 Main Street specializing in unique period clothing from day wear to glamorous evening wear as well as lovely ladies’ lingerie. Four amazing clothing designers, Blakopal Designs, Curious Seamstress, Nyphetmine Boutique, and Tres Beau Designs can be found at “The Carrington”. Fabre is the owner of the adjacent and popular night spot, the Empire Club.

The Java Jive, owned by Ceejay Writer, is a quaint venue for casual dining and get togethers while enjoying live entertainment in a cozy setting. Owner and manager of the New Champagne Rooms, Miss Ahnyanka Delphin, herself a Lady of Burlesque, has created a forum for a

Tripsa and Pumpkin Tripsa

sultry and classic version of Burlesque. Her beautiful club is decorated in the style of the high class burlesque theaters of days gone by.

Guests sit comfortably, four at a table, able to lean over and share a laugh with friends as the ladies of burlesque delight the audience with their naughty one-liners and tastefully enticing dance moves.

Tripsa shared what he felt his role should be as the creator of Seraph City, “I really wanted to avoid being anything more than a light guiding hand with the creation of Seraph City.

The risk that a dictatorship poses is creating a city that is monotone and static. I'm not sure how we got such an amazing group of creators together around this project, but it's been nothing short of an orchestral chorus of amazing content flowing into the city. A fair number of the residents came from New Babbage and already had connections to each other that way. The balance of people were

assimilated by the friendly atmosphere. There have been a number of builds that were created through resident to resident collaboration. A good example is the Java Jive, conceived by Ceejay Writer, whose shell was built by Rip Wirefly.

It's as if everyone is aware that all efforts are mutually beneficial, despite that fact never being mentioned. There's a wonderful synergy at work, and it's really amazing to watch. Two of our big contributors are Breezy Carver with The Carrington and Ahnyanka Delphin with the New Champagne Rooms, who both host outstanding events and the best vintage clothing designers in SL. We also have a dieselpunk radio stream created by Radio Riel's Gabrielle Riel who has a plot here as well.

However, there really hasn't been a resident who hasn't played a key role in some form or another. Even our community members who don't own land have played an important part in creating and inspiring Seraph City's direction through blog posts on our website or by participating in regular events.”

While light role-play is the standard for Seraph City, Tripsa also offered, “I think enforced RP sims have their place, and it's an important one to SL's vitality.

However, it can be a bit less inviting than optional RP sims such as ours. Seraph City was created to be enjoyed and enjoyed by all types of people, whether or not they're wearing era clothing. On the other side

of the spectrum, roleplaying can be great fun. Without it, the city is nothing but an attractive setting.

Light roleplay allows us to shop, grab a cup of coffee with a friend, do some bootlegging, see a burlesque show or vintage flick all in the same city depending on our mood. I also think that the greatest experiences come from inspired behavior, not from pages of rules. Seraph City makes for a good backdrop to achieve this goal.”

There are many options for activities at Seraph City beyond the vital impromptu roleplay that occurs. There are regular and special events scheduled in nearly every location of the city. There is a

parade planned later this summer featuring electric floats that will traverse the brightly lit streets. Tripsa added, “Beyond these organized events, there are many activities that are available at all times. The great thing about Seraph City is that you don't have to own land to feel at home here. There are many places like the Java Jive, the Automat, and the Empire Club that are just waiting to give you a rich setting to chat with a friend or go on a date. We also have a vintage movie theater where you can catch a late night movie with your special someone or by your lonesome.

What makes Seraph City nice is that the whole city is full of places to escape to. One of the most popular things to do is strolling lazily down the streets with a lover on your arm.”

Tripsa wants the SL community to know that, “Seraph City is the place to go for timeless romance, quality entertainment, exciting roleplay and the best in vintage fashions, all set in the age of radio with retrofuturistic amazement.” He spoke of the future for Seraph City saying, “-This has been a fantastic experience for us and has only just begun. We've begun construction on the next expansion, the model of which can be seen in the second floor of City Hall. The future of Seraph City is very bright and I can't wait to see what amazing things the residents and community members of the city come up with next.”

To find out more about Seraph City contact Tripsa and/or join their website, SeraphCity.com where anyone is welcome to join and contribute experiences and ideas.

The Frothing Dingo

by Crazy Ibor

Confidence Lost

September Horoscope

by Rajeesh Navarathna