Sci-fi Actor Yee Jee Tso Interview At Spooky Strides

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

The "Spooky Strides" Halloween event for "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" had a large number of music events. But that was not all. At one point, they had a TV and movie actor to talk to: Yee Jee Tso. It took place at 4PM SL time at October 24.

NOW @ Spooky Strides: Actor Yee Jee Tso  4pm-5pm
you've seen them in Snowpiercer, Psych, Battlestar Gaalctica, Dr Who, and MANY more things.  LIVE LIVE Halloween Question & Answer event.

The event took place in front of an audience. Tso appeared in the avatar "yjtso Resident." He sat in front of a chair, next to a real-life picture of him.  Also nearby was a Relay kiosk for donations. Various people from the crowd would ask questions. Occasionally someone would be thanked after a donation.

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "You have been in a ton of films!"

Tso, "Yea there's been a few lucky moments over the years, haha."

VєηυŞ (Venus Amore), "So Yee, I know you have done a lot of things in your career over time. Do you still enjoy it now as much as you did in your earlier years?"

Tso, "Yea being on set is fun. Haven't been doing it lately as I took a hiatus. (The) last show was Snowpiercer. Great crew."

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle)  "Well, let's go, top three? I wont judge the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie!"

Tso, "Oh I'm not totally sure about Mary Kate. If I recall correctly it was an animated thing. Top three: Doctor Who. Maybe Snowpiercer is in top 3? I dunno, that's hard to say, 50/50 maybe. Oh 'Honey I Shrunk The Kids' was an interesting time. Unfortunately Peter and i did not spend too much time together."

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "The Muppets Christmas Movie!! So fun."

Tso, "MUPPETS! That is top three for sure. Small part, but very fun and amazing to work with the muppets. Good cast too. Although I saw some of the muppets being 'transported,' and it was a bit freaky,.cause they just sit there. I was expecting them to start talking to me. They had crazy CNC machines to make all the detailed set stuff. Yes when you go up close they still look real. Well, they were real, I guess, in a way (laughter). The CNC machine means they could make it look almost exactly like they designed it."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Which character that you have played would you say is most like yourself?"

Tso, "Oooo, good question. Um. well I'm pretty nerdy in real life. I work in software engineering, so that could be a few roles. Actually Teddy Chin in 'Antitrust,' he was an open source software developer."

When Nance Clowes thanked someone for donating to the kiosk, Tso asked, "So Nance, when I click on that kiso, I go to a web page. Do I just click a donate button and do a web chcekout?"

Nance answered, "The kiosk lets people donate to it in 'Second Life' Linden money."

Tso responded, "Oh I'd love to do that but not sure how." Nance informed, "You CAN donate by Paypal, directly to American Cancer Society, which is also us, at https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/12854 ."

Tso then noticed something, "Ooooo, nice cover of radio head." VєηυŞ (Venus Amore) told him, "This is 'Post Modern Jukebox.'"

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "So (about the) hiatus? Will you be returning to this life? Or are you enjoying hiatus?"

Tso, "Hiatus, yea I'm enjoying trying out other things, like I've been producing music or learning to. But I'll get back into acting at some point."

Liz Wilner, "Of all the roles you've had, which was your all time fav?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "The characters you play seem to be more on the positive side, do you ever think to play more dark characters?"

Tso, "Dark characters, yea. On 'Witches of East End,' I played this guy that was possessed by demons and went insane. Also when I was young they used to cast me in Chinese gang member roles (laughter)."

Liz Wilner, "Is there any current show or project out there that you would love to be cast in?"

Tso, "Brandon Sanderson's stuff, because I read them all with my kids, so they'd be super-stoked. Or maybe the new 'Wheel of Time' series?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Which character that you have played would you actually like to be friends with in real life?"

Tso, "Oooo, good question. Okay, there was one on Smallville where my character could make electric energy bolts and stuff. So, that could come in handy I think, if we were good friends. Maybe he could like power my house or something."

(a few chuckles in response)

"Also (the) Snowpiercer guy was one of the richest people in the world. Not that in real life, I'm looking to have rich friends. But since we're fantasizing about fictional friends, might as well be one who can buy me a jet. Haha!"

Liz Wilner: "Can you name a show you like right now, that you watch?"

Tso, "Show right now,that I watch. To be honest, I don't watch much of anything anymore. My kids and I were watching 'Mandalorian' together a while ago."

The donating came up again when Nance spoke up, "You guys have helped us raise nearly 1/4 Million
lindens this expo so far." Tso replied, "Nice! So I made a Paypal thing, but I'd love to try it with the Second Life coins or whatever, how do you make that work?" VєηυŞ told him, "I can help you in IM." Tso spoke, "Sorry I'm pretty bad at operating this thing."

Nance Clowes, "How was working on 'Psych?'"

Tso: "Oh those guys are hilarious! It's constant improv. Very funny, naturally funny people. And (it) gives you the freedom to just do whatever when you're acting with them."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "As an Asian, do you think it was easy or hard to get into movies/shows when you started your career?"

Tso, "Oh another good question. Yeah, it was more difficult. The thing is, there are less roles available. It's better now, but back then for every audition I got, my white male friends would get five or ten. Now, they would bring up the point that more of them would go to the audition making it more competitive. But they limit the number of people they see for each. And they can only hire one per part. So the competition thing only goes so far. You need the sheer number of opportunities."

Rayvynex Resident, "Do you have any tips for anyone hoping to get a start ?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "What acting advice would you give to your younger self just starting off in acting?"

Tso, "Yes keep doing it. It's all about perseverance. And advice to my younger self - Focus. Stop messing about (chuckle). In between gigs find something useful to do with yourself instead of f*rting around."

(a few chuckles from the audience)

VєηυŞ (Venus Amore), "Ok everyone we have time for maybe one more question he has to go to another engagement."

RezzDammit Resident: (Bixyl Shuftan) "Are you going to be coming back to Second Life, either for events like this, for personal fun, or both?  (and pardon about my using an alt, Second Life is one place you can be two places at once)."

Tso, "Yep, next week Venus has another one setup."

Nance Clowes, "Guys, Yee Jee Tso will be back for a Part 2, on Satuday the 30th at 1pm."

Tso, "Cool, it was really nice to meet you all (smile)."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Thank you so much for answering our questions."

Rayvynex Resident, "We will look for you on the Big Screen!"

The interview then ended, and Tso left the stage for the musician that came next.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

A Look At The Sci-Fi Expo

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday October 8 to Sunday October 17, 2021, the Sci-Fi Expo took place in Second Life. Subtitled "A Journey to New Eden," it was a celebration of science-fiction (and to some extent fantasy), it also had the purpose of raising money for Making Strides for Breast Cancer. 

The event took place in six temporary sims near the permanent American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society 2 sims. They were Aperture, New Eden, Arecibo II, The Remnant, Genisis Spire, and The Old Dam. For those not familiar with the "Portal" game, "Aperture" was the name of the corporation. The "IPink ICan" sim was host to the "I Pink I Can" event that took place at the same time. 

One minor complaint I've heard from a few Relayers is that some of the Sci-Fi Cons and Expos seemed a little plain in how they were made, compared to events like the Relay Weekend. 

This wasn't so much the case this time. The sims appeared to me to be much better done.

Lately, my schedule can be occasionally unpredictable. While I wasn't at the opening day of the Expo, I was able to be at several events the following day on Saturday the 9th. From 10 AM to Noon SL time at the main stage in Aperture, "DJ Kayla and the Roos," members of the Roos team of the Relay for Life, were playing onstage to a crowd.

 

 "Who you gonna call?" The Roos in this case.

From 1 to 4PM, there were the "Combat Bumper Boats ... Grab your friends and your water wings for some fun on the high seas!  Rez a bumper boat and challenge your friends to see who will remain dry, and who will be all wet behind the ears.  This is definitely a fun time you don't want to miss!"

The rules were fairly straightforward. Click on the boat rezzer, sit on the boat, select a color, then go at it in a free-for-all with no score. 

The boats when rezzed all started with 100 points of health. When they hit the shore, they lost a little health. When hitting another boat, they would lose more health. If there was a method to make another boat lose more health than you, I never did find it. Occasionally, there was a cartoon "smash," "zoing," "boing," or some other animated effect floating in the air.

There was also a water gun one could squirt at other players. I wasn't sure if it did a tiny amount of damage, or none at all. But we were using them anyway.

From 6 to 9PM that night was the superhero-themed "Bat Dance." As the narrator put it, "Don your super suit and enter the depths of the Batcave for a party that will even put a smile on the face of the Dark Knight!  It's a super night of dancing that will be absolutely heroic!" 

We ended up having a, super, time.

 On Tuesday at 8PM, it was DJ Mattie's turn on stage.

 "It's time for another event at the Sci-Fi Expo Main Stage. Performing at 8PM is the talented DJ Mattie. 'Shi was raised on country music, blues, bluegrass and classic rock. Shi still has a great passion for these genres, country being hir favorite. Music has always gotten hir though some of the worst times in hir life, and now shi love to share some of these wonderful tunes with folks here on SL' Come on over as we kick cancer's behind and have a fun time doing it."

 Someone passed around a few hula hoops. 

And there was quite a diverse audience.

I also decided to give the Sci-fi Expo quest a try. 

The plot of the quest involves Earth trying to broker a peace between the various factions of the colony world of New Eden. But the global communication network is down, and one of the research assistants from Earth has gone missing with a data crystal with information the delegation needs to get things going.

But as anyone whom has done these kinds of quests before, it wasn't that easy. Even when you find the research assistant, your quest has only just begun. She plugged an ancient computer into the communication network. 

In trying to find out what's going on, you discover a powerful artificial intelligence in the alien computer, which doesn't necessarily put Humanity's interests as priority.

You also run into the Greslok, the planet's native race.

 Much of their home area is littered with starship debris, which the human government has promise to clean up, eventually.

As it turns out, the Greslok live simply now, but long ago were more advanced and created a powerful artificial intelligence they ended up going to war with one another resulting in the destruction of technology, including the AI.

With the AI now seemingly reactivated, you go to turn off the main source of it's power.

You don't succeed in turning off the power. But you do get the artificial superinteligence to think about it's situation. In the end, a truce is agreed to, and it agrees to share some teraforming technology.

That's pretty much what I saw at the Sci-fi Expo. I did hear on Discord that on the day before it's close, it had raised more than 1,750,000 Lindens, or $7000 US dollars.

 There was more of course. Wildstar Beaumont would take a number of pictures and post them on his Flickr. And one can check out more on the blog (here). 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

GoSpeed Racer On Her Published Novels

By Bixyl Shuftan

Many longtime residents know GoSpeed Racer (GoSpeed Rasere) as a DJ for many of Bay City's events and the owner of the KONA Internat radio station, as well as for being "Cleverly Named" after a character in cartoons. But she's also a published writer. She has written three novels inspired by Second Life, under her real life name R. Jacques. The third was just recently published on Amazon. I recently went to interview her about them.

We met up at her place near KONA Stream Studios. "Welcome," she greeted, "It's three levels, an underground, the surface, and my private studio up in the sky." I noticed a statue on the grounds which looked like the one on her cover in the third book, and made a note to bring it up later. We walked inside and sat down.

"So to begin with," I asked, "what gave you the idea for the stories?" "Several things," GoSpeed answered, "I've always been a science fiction fan. In Second Life I've been exposed to so many other people's imagination. Especially potent was their roleplay experiences. Many roleplay groups have forums packed full of storylines generated in SL." When I asked which ones were her favorites, she responded, "Oh, I never participated. I don't have the time or motivation to get so deeply involved. Bedsides, being 'GoSpeed' is enough for me to begin with (smile). Like many of us, my SL avatar is a character of our own making which only partially represents our true selves."

I then asked when did she start writing her first book. As it turned out, she had earlier projects before her published works, "I did start a short story back in 2009, but I never finished. Fast-forward to 2015 and my favorite podcaster/author did a two-part podcast about writing novels. It was then I decided to take the plunge and begin writing. I wrote a 20,000 word short space opera novel. It's pretty rough, I must admit. But I plan to revise and release it one day.

Her attention turned to her first published novel, Raser's War, "My first released novel I began in 2016. It was an origin story of sorts about GoSpeed and how she and her fellow NPCs in a futuristic virtual world gained their independence, but in the process, lose their innocence. Some 500 years in the future, mankind is at peace. That also implies life can be a bit boring of course, so many people seek entertainment and fulfillment in virtual space. GoSpeed is a virtaul resident of one world, Simvie Loko. Her kind, the NPCs, serve human users. As you may know, Utopias are never perfect. And humans plan a rebellion against authority, a world-ruling artificial intelligence named Gaiana. Gaiana hates dissent, so he sends forces into Simvie Loko to root out the rebels. The rebels fight back, and GoSpeed is recruited to fight with the rebels."

On the cover of her second book, We Built This City, Bay City is prominently featured on the cover. "It is a continuation of GoSpeed's journey," she called it, "The new world she lives in has less meaning. Her life on the island is not what she wants, so she goes to Bay City to find a new life. The story is much darker as GoSpeed loses her way and gets involved in activities she'd never dream of doing in her past life: PTSD, Loss of a relationship, losing her place in society.

"We Built This City is the most Second Life relatable of the three stories. I included (with their permission) many residents of Bay City, (such as) Marianne McCann, Uccello Poultry, Pygar Bu, Thomas Hooker." I asked what the residents thought of their cameos. Racer answered, "Oh, they loved them! Oh, there is one caveat I used when writing about SL avatars. The basic premise behind 21st Century avatars in a 25th century simulation was that they were modeled after social media found in Internet archives. You may recall news stories about how it is possible to recreat personalities based on social media postings? Say you have hundreds or thousands of pictures, blog posts, etc... You could come up with a personality. Using that as a premise, the characters I wrote tended to deviate to a degree compared to how they act now." Some had comparable roles, such as Marianne's counterpart being the city's mayor and that of blogger Uccello being a TV journalist.

This time, the main antagonist is a criminal organization. "There is a neighboring city that was sourced from a late 1940s noire themed game (like L.A. Noire) run by the mafia," GoSpeed explained, "Angel City, a pseudo Los Angeles, actually." There's also more than just the mafia separating the two communities, "As you can imagine, there would be a clash of cultures and values between a mid 20th century people and a mid 21st century group." Among the characters are a couple whom had been cryogenicaly frozen in the 21st Century whose minds are uploaded into the virtual world to inhabit avatars.

Recently published this month was her third book, The Bounding Main. "The third novel wraps up a few storylines and opens up the world of Simvie Loko to new lands," GoSpeed explained, "The first novel was about a loss of innocence. The second was the fall from grace. The thrid ias about forgiveness and starting anew. To get into the meat of the story, a new civilization is detected in a region of Simvie Loko that was off-limits. GoSpeed joins a joint expedition between Angel City and the ordinary citizens. They venture south to contact these new countries, and of course, things wind up being more complicated than they imagined."

I brought to her attention the statue on the cover, which was like the one in her yard. "Yes, a Roman centurion," she told me, then smiled, "which is relevant to the storyline. There are 'Romans' in the story." But these weren't exactly what we usually think of, "NPCs (aka Citizens) are from the 25th century. 49ers, residents of Angel City, are 20th century relics. The new countries they discover are from different parts of history, and alternate history to be precise. Remember the Star Trek episode with the planet that had 20th century Romans? Kinda like that."

I then asked if she was planning another book in the series. "This particualr series is finished," GoSpeed answered, "but there are other contemporary stories in Simvie Loko I can write about. I plan to write an anthology of short stories about various characters and locales in the world, like, the founding of Bay City, the first days of Angel City's arrival and the chaos that followed. You can only put so much in a novel. I want to give a few characters their due. It's also a form of world building too."

"After my anthology I plan to write about some of the characters leaving the virtual world and inhabiting android bodies. Two of them, Abba and Ravishal were sent to Mars to finish the job Abba started decades before. Her origin is alluded to in the first novel." So some of the virtual characters do end up in the real world, "Space is very harsh to human bodies. So, why not send androids with human personalities? ... To quote Elton John, Mars is cold as hell. Plus the radiation is pretty harsh too."

GoSpeed hoped that her novels would inspire others in Second Life to start writing, "There is a VAST amount of creativity here and so many stories that can be told. If I can self publish, then anyone so inclined can." She mentioned Book Island, saying aspiring writers could head there and share excerpts, "You can read them aloud or have the hostess, Selina Greene read them in voice chat. I shared scenes here and there as I wrote them. It is nice and informative to hear your writing read."

GoSpeed's novels can be purchased through Amazon on her page there (link) and Smashwords (link). On Saturday March 30, there will be a discussion about The Bounding Main at Book Island at Noon SL time.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Nydia Tungsten about "Switched Destinies"

By Bixyl Shuftan

Nydia Tungsten is known for many things in Second Life, DJ, estate manager, community leader, video director, and writer. Of her writing talents, she has recently applied them to real-life. Earlier this week, she announced her novel "Switched Destinies" has appeared on Amazon.

"It was a LONG time coming," Nydia told me of the story finally being published, saying it had taken "about eight months or so" to write. Of where the idea came from, "When I was 18 I think, I had a rough idea hit me. I tried to put it down then, (but) got poo-pooed by family, so I gave it up. ... It was too, strange for them. The lead character was a cougar, in a human world. This was WAY before I ever even HEARD the word furry (laughter). This was MANY moons ago."

So what made her decide to give the story another try? She explained, "I was riding with my brother in his truck, spending many an hour just watching the world go by. Then one day I let my mind wander, and I found (the story) again. It was like saying hello to an old friend. I spoke to my brother about it, and he told me to get it out of my system and see where it goes. So he bought me a laptop and I started putting it down."

"The next hurdle was finding someone to help editing it," she went on, "My daughter and a few others helped me with it. My daughter read it when she was, 12 I think. She took over my laptop and read it...and read it and read it, she would have read the whole thing in one go if I didn't take it away and make her go to sleep. When she did finish, she was raving about it and about how I HAD to publish it because (according to her) it was better than any of the 'Harry Potter' books she read. I told her she was just being nice and I almost had a fight on my hands (laughter)."

So what is the story about? The description on Amazon is, "Two souls, viewed by many of their kinds’ as eccentric lunatics, suddenly find themselves switched within their parallel universes. Now in strange new lands, each is having to learn about the other side of the mirror. In the all new Switched Destinies.” The story is a science-fiction/fantasy one in which a human scientist, Kevin Baron, ends up changing places with his counterpart in a universe where the world is populated by anthropomorphic beings, or furries, such as cat people, rabbit people, and many other varieties.

But a population made up of people looking like various animals is just the first surprise, "He finds a new culture and some shocking surprises, but also a few friends along the way." The society is roughly Medieval in technology, "Honor and status it what 90% of what their society is built on. Weapons consist of swords and bows, for the most part. Most can use some form of magic, and some can be really good with it. There are different 'classes' of people as well." From the human visitor's point of view, "the basic laws can be a bit, extreme, and how conflicts are handled."

Nydia didn't want to give away too much of the story and the characters, "I am so proud of how they came together. I want the readers to enjoy the 'First Experience' for themselves. And the more they know in advance reduces that for them. I want them to experience like I did, as it happens whether it is to laugh or cry or wonder. They way they tell their story, you are carried along with them, as they learn about each other and their ways."

When asked about what influences she had when coming up with the story, she answered, "I am not sure what inspired me to start it, but they, the characters, inspired me to keep going, to see what happens next." She's also started a sequel of both the further adventures of the human hero and his furry counterpart, "though my editor, my daughter, is now pushing me to write the story of what happens in the human world more. She is the self proclaimed "Expert" on my books since she has read them so many times. The second book follows the same time line as the first. The third takes place a few years later. So there are three, possibly four, more books coming." Does either hero find a way back to his home universe? Nydia isn't telling.

One thing she was willing to reveal was the woman, a rabbit/raccoon hybrid or "mix," whom the human visitor ends up in a relationship with and marrying. The character is named Nydia, but she didn't name her after her Second Life persona, but the other way around as she had developed her years earlier, "she is TOTALLY different from me, but when I started Second Life it asked me to come up with a name, and her name was the one that came out." She did have an avatar of the character in Second Life, "One of my (close friends), Jian, made an avi of her. I am SO proud of it. I only were it for special occasions, so I don't soil her image (laughter)."

She then changed avatars to the appearance of the "Switched Destinies" character, and spoke to me as if the character, "Good Afternoon Bixyl, I am the Lady of Baron Manor Nydia Tangen." Of the character starting off with a low status in her society but ending up the second in charge of a noble house, "Since you know of what my station in life was, you know how shocked I was to get to where I am today. My spouse, may the Goddess bless him, hasn't a clue, nor care of any such status I may have had in the past. But just tells me 'I am worth it,' and he loves his 'Little bandit' to which I usually roll my eyes and laugh at his other worldly ideals. But I do love him, and will die for him if ever called to do so, we all would."

And what did the character think some of the more odd things about humans and Earth? "Hmm, the shear number there are of you and your just ONE species, which you would think would make it easier to get along, but doesn't for some reason. And if I have to be honest, when I found out what some of you eat, I was a bit more than disturbed." Asking what that was, she answered, "Well, you eat rabbits and raccoons for a start. But what shocked me to the very core was ... well, my spouse told us ... dear Goddess ... we .. they taste like ..... chicken! And since I am a 'Mix' of the two, surely you can see why I would find that disturbing."

And what did her spouse find surprising about this world's food? The character answered that it was that magic was sometimes used in cooking, "He was surprised by self-stirring bowls of all things. We were more shocked he actually knew which side of the pan to cook on. I mean, he IS male, so we were absolutely shocked! His first dish he made, didn't look very appetizing, like worms covered in blood. But it turned out WONDERFULLY! He called it, what was it again, 'spagetty?' My personal favorite was what he called 'cheesecake,' he put strawberries on it, oh dear Goddess, it was so decadent!" Others in the world caught interest in his food as well, "It was so odd, but good. It is now being server in 'Shelly's' in Hightown itself. Most refer to it as exotic. What adds to it is the fact that is was a MALE that created these dishes. ... There are NO male chefs anywhere. Men just can't cook." When asked about examples when they had to such as when lost in the wilderness, she answered, "Lost in the wilderness? A male? Never. They rarely even leave their towns."

Asking the author if there was anything else she wanted to add, Nydia responded, "The meeting between my namesake and her spouse Kevin is an interesting one. She is a very honest an loyal woman. But, don't threaten her spouse or family. She has and will kill for them. ... I hope you enjoy our story."

Shortly after the interview, Nydia announced that Amazon had published her book.

As most of you know I have been trying to publish my book for longer than I have been in SL. Yesterday it happened. I was so all over the board in just giddiness, I may not have explained it well. Anyways, here is the link to the book. It is up and active. If you buy it let me know  how you like the story. Feel free to share the link with the readers in your life

"Switched Destinies" is available on Amazon for $5.00.

Bixyl Shuftan

Ranchan Weidman and the Robotech Roleplay

By Bixyl Shuftan

High above the HV Community sim is a space carrier which Ranchan Weidman made her home in Second Life, and the hangout of many of her friends. The carrier, and a few other places high above the sim, are the settings for a Robotech Roleplay. The roleplay is not a new one, but has been going on for close to a decade, since 2008. The game has players from both the early days, and some more recent ones. It is not a "combat rolepay" like New Bastogne, but instead the various settings help put the players in the mood, as well as the uniforms the players often wear. The game is played out much like a real life roleplaying game, with Ranchan acting as the gamemaster and the players various characters helping to defend Earth, Ranchan occasionally calling on the players to make dice rolls when making an action or responding to one.

"For the last nine years, players have participated in my blended version of Robotech / Albedo," Ranchan told me, "It's a Sci-fi space drama which incorporates a large part of the history of the original Robotech Universe mixed with The Albedo Universe. The players have enjoyed a mix of settings within the theme of Science Fiction /Fantasy from being in space, to the cold of Alaska and down in the nice islands of Hawaii."

Although the game is often called "Robotech" out of convenience, the title Ranchan gave it is "Robotech: The Albedo Alliance." For those who don't know, "Robotech" is the American version of Japanese anime TV shows and movies in which human pilots fly space fighters that can fold into robots in combat against giant aliens called Zentraedi, whom are a warrior culture that finds a number of aspects of human society, such as music and love, hard to understand and sometimes frightening. "Albedo" is a less well-known science fiction tale, Ranchan stating, "Albedo is the shortened version of Albedo : Anthropomorphics. Artist Steven A Gallacci Art Featured here http://www.furaffinity.net/user/stevegallacci , and here http://www.stevegallacci.com , in where he created a universe of anthropomorphic animals in a slightly futuristic setting but dealing with an in depth look of political , social and military values ideals and repercussions. I would highly recommend reading the story. It's well written and thought through."

The plot of the roleplay's story universe diverged from that of cannon Robotech from the very start, "There are lots of things I remember, and I fondly remember how things got started for this roleplay. One of the things I stress to any new player, and as of late, older ones, I will not be following the cannon story line of Robotech. The story itself opened up with a bit of background history for the universe I was going to create, and the players were going to live in and help shape. ... Robotech fans ... would recall the day the SDF 1 crashed onto Earth. And that's about as much original cannon material I relied on to start with. Everything after that point is unique to the universe. When the SDF-1 crashed, it opened a tear in the space - time continuum . This space - time tear, pulled a cruise ship from the Albedo Universe, over, thus forever introducing anthropomorphics to humans

"From there, after 10 years of strife and working together. we introduce the players characters to the world. This being abbreviated from what the players actually read in the note card. But when it first started, our players were just arriving at boot camp, at an island nearby Macross Island. The SDF was three months out of being completed, when our first set of players started their training. The first set of trainees were, Miya Cross, Nydia Tungsten, L'sai Aeon, Icebolt Aeon, Umbra Gardenvale, Tanya Ayoob, Kit Repine, and Squick. "

Besides the plotlines of the roleplay, what's been going on with the place it's been held is a story in itself, Ranchan explaining, "Things were slow at first for the roleplay as I was still holding my own, running Club Afterburner, putting together the military training base the trainees were studying at and building a 100 m diameter labyrinth under the RDF CVN Aegwei I for a treasure hunt. It was only after Linden Lab changed the rules on void sims, changing them to Homesteads, and bumping up the cost that we had to abandon Pacific Waters and took up residence on Sunweaver Air, which later became HV Community sim, and not having the duties of the club things started to pace faster for the role play. The void sim offered the size of a full sim but a quarter of the prims , script allowance and avatars that could be on it. After moving over from there. we were squished into roughly less than a quarter size sim. I had to trim down further when my real life situation drastically changed and I couldn't support the parcels I had. so we became pretty small in size. It was around that time that we moved from the northeast corner of HV community to where we are now, about center east to just off center of the sim that I dedicated some of the land to a worthwhile cause.

"I've built at least 20 versions of the ARMD platform to fit each parcel. We're currently on a decent sized parcel, about 108m by 64. maybe 80 meters. ... My builders that have helped me with some of the zones. really deserve a good portion of the credit too. A special thanks to them 'cause my landscaping skills suck compared to building things .Kinya Resident and Matoazma 'Mato Foxy.' "

I asked about the ship's many different versions over time. Ranchan answered, "Four of the versions were for prim (and) land size. Everything else was overhaul. Like spring cleaning, only more frequent."

I asked about how often does the roleplay have sessions, asking if it had one a week. Ranchan answered, "We've started to do two. One of our long time members schedule at work changed and the goal was to include her more so a second day had been brought in. Been running a second day for over eight months now. The eventual goal is to have something going each day, with some parts being live interactions, as if you and I were walking through the hallways, and stopped to have a chat, then moved past that, one heads to a different location, while say I headed to the bridge of the ship etc. But that's going to require a bit more game assistants staff, and a lot more players."

I asked about the various plots over time. Ranchan answered, "Every player has a sub plot that they are involved with some how. Sometimes the sub plots become larger side plots and main plots as because of not strictly following the main story, but the players following an untold story of the combined universe has allowed for a lot of flexibility. A lot of 'who cares what Rick Hunter did, or Toki did, but what Nydia Tungsten did, or Miya Cross has done. Mato's achievements, and what our new players Christine ( played by Skylark 'Snowy' ) and Puella ( played by Kiwi ) are doing.' Unfortunately, with time and how it is (with) Second Life, for some players real life has stolen their time, not letting them come on and participate. Tanya Ayoob, our ship 'Gunbunny' Special Forces specialist hasn't been on in at least a few years."

"For me, I dwell in an abyss of plots and sub plots. I love to end sessions at times, with cliffhangers. A sample set of plots that I believe the players have enjoyed are as follows. One adventure led the players to take part in a ball at a ski lodge in Alaska. They had to detour an assassin plot against one of the delegates which were attending a meeting being held there. That one turned into a ski chase down hill. Another one took place at a roller rink. the players were going in to rescue the squadron commander, Shelly 'Kit' Sintol. She had been abducted while on vacation by a former friend of Umbra Gardenvale, who was leading an anti military group. One of the first plots during the training phase was surviving the wilderness after being shot down on a routine helo repelling lesson."

Asking more about the ski chase, Ranchan described, "After the team uncovered who the assassins were, some of the group that were involved attempted to get away from the players. One of them had managed to get onto a pair of skis and were rushing away down a non trail path. But they were captured still in the end. After the three sessions of the players arriving at the base in Alaska, they headed to a hotel, individually, although there were some that arrived in pairs. got dressed up for the night at the lodge, and eventually made it to attendance of the party they were able to uncover the who and neutralize the threats fairly swiftly. Although the one that got away on skis did make it down hill to a set of private cabins which was where he was taken down as well. that part only took one session to wrap up. I had built a small small not to scale model of the lodge up in the mountain, and a few of the cabins down below. After that, is when Mato started to take part as well."

The current plot  involves the team having been assigned their own ship, of which Matoazma captains, but Ranchan couldn't go too much in detail of the subplots, "Those are still in the progress of rolling out."

Of the roleplay's future, Ranchan told me, "Well, I would love to add more players, and bump some current players to staff that still play so that eventually this can be a more interactive roleplay with bells and whistles and running 24/7, and I hope that I can continue providing material for the players so they don't get bored."

"I would love to thank all of my players, past, present, and hopefully future for taking part in helping to shape the history of the universe that I started. Every one's contribution with their character into the story lines means a great deal to me. I enjoy watching players relax, characters develop and mature and hope that they have enjoyed it as much as I have, and continue to do."

The Newser may do articles in the future about the roleplay, such as in depth articles about the players and their characters.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: The Interstellar Alliance Roleplay

By Foxythejamie

A group with simple beginnings, as the Interstellar Alliance (ISA), the fleet has a lot to live up to. However in most categories, it fell short of that goal, quite a bit. From bad administrators, to not so good role plays, among others.

The story starts quite a bit ago, with the ISA 1.0. In ISA 1.0, if you could fit a back story to your character, it was approved. The group was small, but amazing. The sim design was something to stare in awe at as well. However things started going south after a bit of trouble.

After a few griefer attacks which left the sim completely empty, and void of items, the group's owner decided to move sims. However, little did everyone know, his plan was to also move away from ISA 1.0. He turned it into a Star Trek roleplay, with 3 ships. Thus, the ISA 2.0 was born.

That is where most of the problems had started. To start off, the group owner removed his second in command, and replaced her with someone else, who proved to be a bad choice of an administrator. He then started liquidating whole groups within his now growing group, which pretty much ended up with quite a few people leaving the role plays. After a few more weeks the groups were made entirely up of people who had never even heard of the ISA 1.0.

Well then after he and his XO (Executive Officer, or second in command) scrapped that roleplay as well. They started a new roleplay, named The 12th Expeditionary Fleet. The name might suggest that everyone on the ship will be exploring far off places, and getting into loads of trouble. Well the second of that is true. There is loads of trouble. However the trouble doesn't lie within the storyline. The trouble lies within the roleplay itself.

Let's start with my first roleplay on the sim. It started out less than well. With me being a marine, trying to keep the culture of ISA 1.0 alive, there was no seat for me. So I had asked the Captain where he wanted me to be, and he responded by simply saying "I do not care." Well that got me a bit perturbed, however I stayed for the roleplay. I am now wishing I hadn't. For in the time of 1 hr and 30 minutes, we endured a Captain who thought meta gaming, god modding, and power playing were a great way to run a story line.

For non role players, meta gaming means you use things you found out, out of character, in an in character story line. For example, if someone IMs you information, and you use that information in a roleplay. Power playing means you are not letting anyone else respond to what you are doing. This means if you just walk over to someone, punch them, and walk away. God modding is the worst one yet. This one means you are role playing with someone else's character using an rp tool.

Well the meta gaming we had to endure through that first roleplay was the Captain seeming to know exactly where the asteroids were, even when they were not on screen. He seemed to know that a ship, which had not been heard from in over 50 years, was floating in the middle of space, as well as knowing exactly where the ship was. Also seeming to know exactly which way a planet, which was over 200 Light years away, was from the abandoned ship.

The power playing we endured was the captain getting mad at a lot of characters and biting their tails, or slapping them. Then he would simply return to his seat without even waiting for a response. Of course that could have been easily overlooked.

However the worst thing being done by the captain, was an rp tool being used by him, to roleplay as other characters. He role played as my character as well as a few other, prompting some to leave mid rp.

The second roleplay I was in, was with a different Captain, this one being the owner of the group, but had pretty much the same outcome. This captain was also role playing as if he had never even seen a full episode of the great series. During the roleplay we encountered a ship with a weapon that was apparently powerful enough to pierce the shields, and then burn a hole straight through our saucer section. Yet somehow, this extremely powerful ship took one hit from a Quantum Torpedo, and was not only destroyed, it was vaporized. I am no expert in the show, but for one, I know for a fact that if something were to pierce the shields, then we'd have no shields left. Also, if something really was that powerful, it would be able to withstand an entire barrage of torpedoes. In Star Trek, ships with powerful guns are themselves powerful, and able to withstand a multitude of attacks.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this roleplay. In my mind they took a great theme and just soiled it.

Jamie

Star Fleet Galactic: Adventures of the USS Ironhorse

By Foxythejamie

"Star Trek" roleplay is not new to Second Life. In fact one of the first roleplay groups here was in fact a Trek group. However different groups have different ways of roleplaying, and that is not just one of the unique things about the Star Fleet Galactic, or SFG. From a dedicated group, to multiple bridges, and multiple captains. This group is one for the history books.

SFG is the child of the ingenious thinking of a man named Steve Atlanta. He alone builds bridges, and even worlds for his group. He himself is one of the two Admirals of the group. The other Admiral being Kitty. Together, these two have helped this small group thrive, and grow into what it is today...A multi bridged, multi crewed rp group, with a passion for having fun.

To whoever said you can't make a parcel roleplay work well, you need to come here, because not only do they have a parcel, they also have over 80 different, unique planets, all built by Steve himself. SFG is literally a small roleplay that can do, has done, and will do great things.

Another aspect that makes this group one of the best, is the sheer will of the roleplayers. The players, are given an outline of what the mission is, however they are free to choose what happens during the roleplay, whether it's the ship being boarded, or them boarding an enemy ship, you never know what way the RP will go, which adds to the suspense.

All in all, this is truly worth looking at, if you want a star trek roleplay that allows you to be who you are.

Images from Steve Atlanta

Jamie

Interview With Talia Sunsong, Author of "Twilight of the Star Vampires"

A friend in Second Life media recently told me about Talia Sunsong (taliasunsong), whom had written a science-fiction parody: "Twilight of the Star Vampires." She had been at book readings, and giving out links to where one could get the stories.

Today is the last day for free for book 1, then book 2 will be free for 5 days. It's a trilogy. I'm giving a book reading today at 2pm at Open Books at Four Bridges. You don't need a kindle to read it, as Amazon gives free kindle software.

I met up with Talia, Paula Sunsong in real life, at Open Books between readings. She was in a happy mood, as friends of hers had "really whipped up some magic. My book is #1 in my category, parody."

"So how long have you been writing?" I asked her. Talia answered, "I started writing at the age of 10, hoping to become a novelist. I wrote a roleplaying game published by Hero Games. It was a science fiction game ... 'Star Hero.' ... I also founded a free newspaper called 'The Rallyer.' "

I asked her how the paper went. Talia answered, "As a journalist for 'The Rallyer' newspaper, I covered an event where the police started clubbing people. I myself was hit with a metal baton. I had no major injuries, fortunately. Later the police even shot into the crowd with rubber bullets and I was in that crowd." I winced, "Ouch, how many were hit, and how close did those get to you?" "There were within six to eight feet of me. I did not hear of any injuries. The scary part was, I just saw the police shoot. I did not know whether it was rubber or real bullets." "How did the protest get violent?" I asked. She answered, "The police were actually more violent than the protestors. In fact the police beat uptwo2 police review commissioners who were in the crowd observing. The police did not know they were police review commissioners for the city." She paused, "I guess writing satire is a lighthearted contrast to my journalism career."

"Star Vampires is my first satirical work," Talia told me, "I like poking fun at overbearing corporate marketing and governments. It has several love stories intertwined with action. It opens with the Vullcan Spocko being turned into a vampire. He asks 'Is logic all that there is?' Later, he turns Edward Cullet into a vampire by force, and kidnaps Edward for the Vulcanturi Empire. Edward has two children with Queen Paddymay: Luck and Lela." She grinned, "You might recognized the similarity to Luke and Leia Skywalker of 'Star Wars,' Spock of 'Star Trek,' and Edward of 'Twilight.'Spocko meets Lela, Edward's daughter, when she is trapped on the Dearth Star. Both Being telepathic, they feel as if they are 'soulmates' but Lela is wary of the Vulcanturi Spocko for kidnapping her father."

I chuckled a bit, "sounds like a number of people and things from those three stories get parodied." "Yes it was fun to joke about well known images," Talia told me, "On one planet they meet a 'Keepler elf of Nabiscko' who makes magic cookies in a tree. The Queen threatens to cut off the supply of Mint Milano cookies if the Senate does not help her. If only that threat worked in the real world to keep politicians in order. (laughter) Another love story is Obegone, the Jetti knight, who falls for Brun Solow (Hans Solo's replacement). Obegone also dated "Jabya the Hot" (Jabba the Hut's replacement in the story)."

"Guess 'Pizza the Hutt' was already taken," I mused. Talia chuckled,  "Mel Brooks scooped me on Pizza the Hut (giggle)." She continued, "Obegone met her at "Singles Roulette" where the men sit on a large spinning floor that spins, placing each man in front of a woman as a date. Jabya does not like being dumped by Obegone, but she gets revenge, having Brun Solow frozen in carbonite."

"Was the Star Wars parody 'Spaceballs' any influence?" I asked. Talia answered that it was, "I enjoyed 'Spaceballs' and 'Galaxy Quest' as inspiration. The playfulness of those movies frees my mind to write. Humor is freeing of creativity" "Were there any other influences?" I asked. She told me there were, "I think roleplaying games gave me the opportunity to play different characters, act out plots and joke with friends. That fueled me for writing. Roleplaying in Second Life can mean a lot of things from medieval fantasy to sexual fantasy." She then winked and giggled.

After a chuckle, I asked, "Did any of these games have an especially memorable plotline and scenes?" Talia's answer was, "In person, I started with Dungeon and Dragons, I liked Champions (the superhero game), Star Hero (the science fiction game I wrote) and private eye/spy games. Later I actually became a private eye in real life. Psychologists used roleplaying as therapy decades before roleplaying games were sold. I think roleplaying gives you a new perspective."

Talia being a detective caught my attention, "How did it go?" She answered, "I was a San Francisco private investigator for 3 years, like Sam Spade (smile). I had one case where I was following a man suspected of injury fraud. An ambassador's car with national flags got in between us. I was afraid I'd be arrested for tailing an ambassador (laughter). After a mile or two, the ambassador's car turned off and I was hot on the trail of the suspect again. One man I videod playing baseball when he claimed to be too injured to work. He flipped off the camera. My boss thought it was hilarious, and played it in slow motion to our whole office." She chuckled, "So you could say roleplaying and the silliness of life inspires my humor."

I asked Talia what were people saying about "Star Vampires?" She answered "I got a great five star review" on the book's page on Amazon, "People have said it is entertaining and yet has meaning in poking fun at mass marketing. Caglevision gave it a 5 star review. He is an author himself. ... My 'Twilight of the Star Vampires' is a trilogy and each book will be free for 5 days. The last one will by close the Xmas, like a gift."

"So what are your plans after 'Star Vampires?'," I asked Talia. "I have a fantasy short story about a witch with faulty powers," she told me, "I'm planning on putting it on Amazon. I also have been writing a book on how I put my diabetes into remission with diet and exercise." Of the witch, her spells don't quite work, "Her spells go haywire. Anything could happen with a spell misfire." She chuckled, leaving it to my imagination as to what could happen with such misfires.

"Any advice for those trying to write satire and parody?" I requested. Talia's answer was, "I like to say "Everyone is born with their own unique genius. Everyone  has a story to tell. I'd like to hear your story and to share mine. Today we have the tools to reach billions of people and 'sing our song.' "

It was about this time the interview ended. We chatted a little longer, then we soon went about our separate ways.

"Don't go to your grave with your song unsung."

Bixyl Shuftan