The Oldbie Project – Stroker Serpentine

By DrFran Babcock

I know what you’re thinking, but you are wrong. This is The Oldbie Project, and not an exposé tabloid article.

If you remember, the purpose of the Oldbie Project is to explore the lived experience of being a newbie in Second Life™, and Stroker’s rez day is November 8^th, 2003. I would have never asked for an interview, except that my few encounters with “the man who brought sex to Second Life™” were always pleasant.

On July 27^th of this year I came upon an interesting stream in the Second Life Universe forums. (http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/85577-will-real-slim-shady.html ) Poster eku Zhong tantalized the forum regulars by asking: Guess who’s back? The answer, of course, was Stroker Serpentine. If you are unaware of the history of all that preceded this return, you can read the links at the end of this interview, but I will not go into those now, as they do not pertain to The Oldbie Project. 

What was striking, was that Stroker was back, and he had gotten four sims to create his Strokerz Toyz.  The sims opened with a rez day party I attended, during which Stroker was afk when I visited. Following that, there was a hunt and opening on the sims. Regardless of your feelings about sex in Second Life™ a visit to Strokerz Toyz is a must, if only to see the fascinating build that Stroker has created. Stroker was always a believer in the creative force of Second Life™, and the power we all have to make the world we want. Therefore, the sims are a joy to behold, and it is evident that a lot of work and planning went into their construction.

Enough procrastination, here are Stroker’s very short responses to my questions. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that he was being reticent, but there is still value in his answers, and they repeat themes that have been stated previously in this series:

SL Newser:  How did you find out about Second Life™?

Stroker:  All my friends in an adult 2-D world called "Seducity" were migrating one by one. The thought of creating my own content intrigued me.

SL Newser:  What are your earliest memories of Second Life™?

Stroker:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms.

SL Newser:  What kept you logging back in during the early days?

Stroker:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms!

SL Newser:  What are your fondest memories of the early days?

SL Newser:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms!

SL Newser:  What are your funniest memories of the early days?

Stroker:  How embarrassed the people were that fell from their sky platforms...naked.

SL Newser:  Did you fall in love in Second Life™?

Stroker:  I fell in love with the people of Second Life. Their diversity, nationalities and creativity.

Stroker:  Who was your favorite Linden?

Stroker:  Bub Linden. He was a riot!

SL Newser:  What were your favorite activities?

Stroker:  Creating and selling content and using the proceeds to buy sex slaves! Muahaha!

SL Newser:  Do you still log in? If not, why not? If yes, what keeps you coming?

Stroker:  I log on most everyday. My partner SensualMami is the sun on my face. She is my muse. 

SL Newser:  What would you like the world to know about Second Life™?

Stroker:  It’s not *all* about sex. There's also art, games, clubs and amazing residents from all corners of the world.

The take-away from all this is that Stroker is back, and we can all wait and watch and see what unfolds.

Links:

Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/03/sex_drive0330

New World Notes – legal stuff

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/02/stroker-second-life-content-lawsuit-settled.html

Second Life Wikia:

http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Stroker_Serpentine

DrFran Babcock

Muertos Okawa and Her New Book

By Grease Coakes

Bixyl told me about a new author within the amazing realm of Second Life. Her name is Muertos Okawa (Muertos Ashbourne) and she just released her book on amazon.com. I took the time to meet with Muertos at the Ark the popular furry club http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quarabia/100/129/501

“What Dreams May Come, Kara’s Journey,” was interesting to read as I bought it for all of 99 cents and read it on Kindle reader on my computer. When I asked Muertos about her book she had this to say, ”It's been something that I have dreamed about since I was back in Jr. High, but for whatever reason, I never finished a story, or was unwilling to let anyone else see it. But finally my husband gave me the courage to let this one go and to let others see it.” Sorry guys Muertos is taken but you can still read her steamy book.

Muertos explained, "It is an erotica/romance depicting the journey of emotions that take place when the world of reality and fantasy collide."That’s certainly the case as I began reading the first few pages of her story. I won’t say anything. Kara is a lonely secretary who is looking for something more to fulfill her life. What she finds is more than she may be able to handle. Muertos said a second book a sequel to this will be written soon.

When I asked what is in this steamy book she said this, "Yes. It has Domination/Submission undertones throughout the adventure." Domination and submission undertones? Wow sounds like some heavy reading.

As writers we were talking to each other as characters take over and write their own dialogue and actions. I told her, "I've had characters that are growing on their own. Greg Griffin and Glenda Griffin might walk into their own stories. It seems as if the characters have a life of their own. And Ginny Griffin as the girl next door she certainly deserves more stories."

Muertos smiled, "Exactly. It's like I gave her life, but after that, I'm just the director, it's her life and she lives it like she wants to. Her fantasy becomes very much a part of her daily life, but to the exact extent, I cannot say. Not without giving away the ending."

For the people reading this article wondering whether or not to buy the book, I’d say it’s certainly a fun read. Muertos did say this was aimed at the lady audience. But when she mentioned it had adult themes I couldn’t resist. Her and I mentioned that sometimes we had to go back and fix the story.

Muertos told me, "Oh yeah. She took me in directions I hadn't planned, even in this first story. I found myself writing a paragraph and then having to redo it because it just didn't sound like Kara anymore." I had to do the same and rewrite the whole ending of my children’s book.

Muertos and I just talked for a while about our characters and writing in general. She did say this about Amazon, "That's one thing that I thank Amazon for with their Kindle format. I can write, and they don't have a million miles of red tape for me to go through to get my stuff out there."

I pretended like I didn’t know anything about writing and asked Muertos if she had any advice for anyone wanting to become an author. Here’s what she had to say, " Advice: Best thing I can say is just write what you enjoy. If you enjoyed writing it and it's something that you're proud of, then don't get too hung up on whether anyone else likes it. Some will, some won't. But either way, if you can enjoy the adventure of writing it and produce a piece that you're truly proud of, then that's the greatest reward in itself. As for the adult theme, don't take it too seriously. That's a broad spectrum and very vast audience, so someone out there will share your fetish, fantasy, whatever theme you write about."

Muertos certainly has good advice as reading her story was pretty fun. I won’t say what’s going on you the reader has to buy her amazon book and find out for yourself. I did ask her the burning question as a furry.

"If you're a neko would you ever think of writing a story involving furries?"

Muertos Okawa blushed, "Uhm actually...yes and it will be a later story in the What Dreams May Come series."

 “What Dreams May Come, Kara’s Journey” Is an excellent read. I look forward to Muertos’s sequels in her series as I read along her first book. The story can be found at the following link - http://www.amazon.com/What-DreamsMay-Come-ebook/dp/B00F1LSDXE/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378600502&sr=1-3&keywords=Melissa+Kite

Grease Coakes