Marrant Vita's Victorian Needs

The tough women of the wild west and Deadwood expectations

2010-08-14T13:24:00.000-07:00


Me in my Calamity Jane Inspired Outfit

We have female avatars (I cannot swear they are all run by female typists) who come through Deadwood, wanting to play bad guys or lawmen in Deadwood, most always dressed in sexy tight fitting black pants, breasts bursting out of low cut blouse or vest, large guns strapped around curving hips, long locks flowing down from a cowgirl hat tilting over a pretty, very well made up face. Most of the admins sigh when seeing this, as we know we're about to embark on a familiar debate.

Now, the Deadwood owners are willing to stretch history enough to allow women more roles than we would have had back in 1876 - we've had a couple of female mayors, a female sheriff, many female doctors. But when it comes to historical dress, there is a limit.

Calamity in Baggy Pants - red long johns underneath

We've had to explain - often over and over - that women can't wear tight sexy pants, revealing low cut tops and run around being fetching 21st century style while they shoot up bad guys or are themselves bad guys. Yeah yeah yeah, back in the 19th century a few bold and desperate women wore pants -- ugly pants -- and while they may have had a rich life complete with male and female lovers, to pull that off as a role play would require something more than what 90% of the players seem willing to give.

This drives off some, not all. Some want to know "what to wear". So, I felt inspired to make an outfit that a tough woman might have worn - inspired a bit by Calamity Jane (who was an alcoholic and had a truly tough life, if you read up on her) and a few more rugged women. The outfit is for sale on XStreet as well as in Deadwood and a couple of places - comes with a rifle, long johns and a bunch of other stuff.

Top L - R Bella Starr Pearl Hart Calamity Jane

Bottom L-R Charley Parkhurst Margaret Borland Etta Place

Meanwhile -- I can tell I'm turning into a crotchety old crone by my level of irritability in dealing with whatever's happened to the memory of the history, and the feminine movement in said history, over the past couple a hundred years as reflected by some activities in Deadwood in Second Life.

(This is where I stand on my soap box, waving my hands, my voice all cranky)

Maybe I have misread history - maybe I'm making too much of it. Let it go, I tell myself. What does it matter - history is yesterday, today is today!    Let's just forget the past and move on with the present. We're in Second Life to have fun -- historical role play is too much like work if you have to stick to annoying things like reality. So, let's pretend it was common for women to be doctors and play out that any man or woman who thought it was odd and refused to go to a female doctor is some sort of idiot.

Let's not even try to think about what life must have been like for a woman whose sexual orientation led her away from the demands of the times. Instead of trying to create a character who had to struggle with her homosexuality by hiding it from family and friends, perhaps while marrying, let's take the freedoms of Second Life into Deadwood and have her be fully out and accepted by all the community - a lipstick lesbian in tight pants, low cut top, carrying guns and dancing with her sweetheart at all the social functions.

Let's make-believe a woman who dressed like a man would not have been treated like some sort of social outcast.    In our attempt at historical accuracy, let's forget that women had to do chores inside with no air conditioning and outside in the sun wearing layers and layers of clothing - let's suppose instead they wore cut offs and tube tops. Victorian proper women can gather in the whorehouses, whores can roam the streets wearing what would amount to nothing today - because it's the 21st century, this is Second Life - we're here to have fun!

I may not step down from the soap box.... I haven't even touched on the matter of Native Americans (historically present but not in the town area of Deadwood) and prejudices (evidently in 1876 Deadwood, the majority of residents were liberals who had nothing against Native Americans or anyone else except those who were prejudiced).

Some days, after trying to explain that -"No, we (the admins, the owners or myself) are not prejudiced against (Indians, lesbians, women in pants, fill in your name here) but that yes, back in 1876 a lot of people were" - I begin to think that maybe Second Life isn't the place to run a historical role playing sim - where too many players come through either unaware or uninterested in playing the tough parts of history, which some of us find an exciting opportunity to look at ourselves back in history - how we might have been, or to explore what it might have been to be someone totally different.

A lot of people, I think, see role play as fun without the need to delve into characters. I get that - and there are places to do that. But I get a lot of fun out of what most do in Deadwood.   That's where the fun is to me - fun in exploring a character, in trying to be someone else.   No doubt why I have so many alts!

In Real Life, I rarely laugh as hard and as long as I do over the antics of fellow role players in Deadwood -- Daisy Stratten, Addison Leigh, Badger Bagley, Wyatt Alderton, Rod Eun, C.T. Kungler, J.F. Kanto, Malrik Rajesh, Leonel Sparta, Dio Kuhn and many more, some of whom have just passed through too briefly - are some of the most gifted and funnest folks I've had the pleasure to not meet.

One of the things I like about all of the Deadwood players is that most take their characters seriously, giving thought to who they are and how they'd react. It's the history - so maybe the younger crowd has had enough of that from their recent high school - college days and sees no use of history in current life (so my youngest says - and I think I recall saying the same when I was his age) Though it isn't always the young who leave or the older who stay.

From my peculiar perspective it seems we have a lot of players - mostly short lived, who come in wanting a different kind of fun not involving any kind of history (even googled history) and expecting a rather sanitized, more comfortable presentation of characters in Deadwood - which feels kind of one dimensional to me.

Most often what they find lacking in Deadwood's role play is 21st century standards of equality and justice (ones we can't even live up to in Real Life) - women and people of color (we haven't had any Muslims yet) having equal rights and treatment. Objections are made if whores and housewives can't sit down together in the saloons and have whiskey or tea together. There's disappointment that you can't just come in and shoot up the town, or become a powerful and important figure in the town.

Most of us do our best to play nice with each other, no mean feat considering that we all - in any of our lives - see ourselves as the prime player and others as supporting roles. As we mature a bit, we come to the humiliating realization that we are usually backdrop in the lives of everyone else. Once we settle with that, it can make life - real and Second - pretty interesting to view.

48 things I wish I could say as an admin

2010-08-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

When you are an admin and you are admining* you must be professional and not say what you think. It's like a job, without pay.

There are perks - mostly friendships and the satisfaction of helping people and the sim you're admining for -- but sometimes there are thoughts in your head you wish you could share with others. Can't do it in-sim...but can do it here!

Although these don't all fit since they are about work, I thought most of them did suit admining amusingly - er - amazingly - well.

1. Ahhh... I see the f_ck-up fairy has visited us again...

2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.

3. How about never? Is never good for you?

4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.

5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.

6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.

7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.

9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.

10. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit.

11. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.

12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.

13. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't give a damn.

14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.

15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.

16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.

18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental...

19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?

20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.

21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.

22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

23. No, my powers can only be used for good.

24. You sound reasonable... Time to up the medication.

25. Who me? I just wander from room to room.

26. And your crybaby whiny-ass opinion would be...?

27. Do I look like a people person?

28. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

29. I started out with nothing and still have most of it left.

30. You!... Off my planet!

31. Does your train of thought have a caboose?

32. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.

33. A PBS mind in an MTV world.

34. Allow me to introduce my selves.

35. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.

36. Well, this day was a total waste of makeup.

37. Not all noobies are annoying. Some are dead.

38. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.

39. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.

40. Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet

41. Can I trade this job for what's behind door one?

42. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

43. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?

44. Chaos, panic, & disorder - my work here is done.

45. How do I set a laser printer to stun?

46. I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted the paychecks.

47. If I throw a stick, will you leave?

48. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.

* and to those who tell me something I do or say isn't how an admin would act, let me try to explain that, like the time you saw your second grade teacher wearing shorts in the movie theater and were thrown into a kind of seven or eight year old reality conflict, its time to grow up and realize that admins also have a separate life outside of admining -- I'm not an admin 24/7 - sometimes I'm a human being.

The Joy of Mute

2010-07-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

Mute, glorious mute!

I just recently discovered the joy of the mute button - something I have been programmed not to use in real life because, you know, it's so RUDE to ignore people....

But, as I mature (read, grow old) and find life is too short to deal with difficult people, lately I have come to realize the wisdom and pleasure of pushing that little button. If you MUTE someone, you don't get their IM's, you don't accept anything they send to you (notecards, objects, etc.) and don't listen to their open chat if they are near you. If avatar impostors is enabled, muted Residents and attached objects will be replaced by a gray avatar impostor.

Rarely in the past have I used it, despite being an administrator, most times those banned have taken their lashes well. Too, being as I am only human, I don't like to use the mute button to shut someone out who may have some valid points.   I've muted those who are screaming obscenities in IM, and once I muted a fellow who was trying to "gift" me with things fellow admin Clay told me would have done me some serious damage. I muted the objects he was sending, too. Keen-o!

That was long ago, too.

But lately I have started pushing the MUTE button to deal with people who I am finding obnoxious, either in their role play or OOC.    It's my own little short term solution, far better than cussing at someone. The MUTE button is my friend. I highly recommend this for those who are truly not into drama scenes -- if you don't want to find yourself caught in endless and pointless discussions, debates, arguments with someone who doesn't seem to get the point, the MUTE button can be your friend too...

This is mostly my non-admin characters who have the luxury of doing this - though not always.

There was the fellow in another sim who started IMing me for advice on how to rape his girlfriend -- oh, sure, I could argue and talk back and scream at him, but that MUTE button just shut him right up.

The two women in a hair shop where I was who were screaming and talking loudly - I'm not sure about what or why -- MUTED!!!!!   and I was able to shop in peace and tranquility...

Someone sending me long and scathing IM's or notecards that have no bearing on reality -- after trying to reply logically... MUTE!!!!

An old friend who turned out to be no friend at all, but who shows up occasionally in places where I like to role-play -- I don't need to hear the dialog I'm never included in so MUTE!!!!!

Those whose role play drives me insane for reasons that may not make sense to anyone but me..... my own pet peeves .. .MUTE!!!!!

Anyone being obnoxious and incessantly sending IM's -- MUTE!!!

My MUTES may only last a few moments - they may last for weeks, or even forever - but I feel empowered that I have the choice to push that button and watch the other avatar turn silent and gray until I have regained my composure.

It's always good, I find, to check the MUTE list periodically to see if I accidentally added someone, or if it's time to take someone off the list. It's good to make a note in the person you've muted's profile explaining why you muted them -- sort of your own little ban list.

How do I feel about being muted?   Not all that swell -- I'm never sure if I've been muted at all, or if it was by accident (very easy to do!) or on purpose -- but whenever I try to roleplay with someone and am met with silence - when my IM's go unaswered,   I figure, yep, I been muted. I can be obnoxious too! Go ahead, I see that finger flittering over the button - MUTE me, make your day!

How can you tell if you've been muted?

~ you are always ignored by the Muter
~ your IM's go unanswered
~ your notecards or other gifts aren't received
~the Muter doesn't seem to notice you when you walk nearby

If you want to be sure, send them a notecard or a nice gift. Or you can ask a friend to ask the Muter, or ask them to give the Muter a note - best to let the third party know what's going on and of course, be nice.

Rudimentary Roleplay

2010-06-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

With Deadwood being recently featured on Second Life's Destination Guide, we've had an influx of newbies to the sim -- and I mean noobies!

Among those a day or two old, tromping through to try out their free guns and hot pink penises, have come some who have been around long enough to like Second Life, but who haven't had much experience with role playing. Some find it a foreign sounding term (and in fact, for some, English is not their first language). I also ran across a really nice fellow in Berlin who thought that role playing was some exotic thing he couldn't / wouldn't / shouldn't do - which of course is nonsense!

Those of us* who have been role playing for awhile - and particularly who are set on one style of role play - can turn newcomers away, I think, as we run around whirling our IC and OOC terms, and whipping out our excellent and oh so superior role play, not because we're mean but simply having forgotten what it's like to be new to the sport!

No expert on role play, I've learned a lot simply by playing in Deadwood for the past nearly 3 years! So, I have pulled together to hand out, if wanted, a really Basic Roleplaying in Deadwood notecard - most probably it applies elsewhere, too, so I thought I'd post it here.   We have offered RP 101, but I think this is PRE-RP 101, meant to put those who are unfamiliar with it at ease. It really isn't as fancy as it sounds, and we really aren't that superior to the rest of the world. Honest.

*by those of us, I mostly mean ME :)

What is roleplaying?

Roleplaying is a form of acting a part, pretending to be someone else. Most people in Second Life are doing a little role playing. Some are doing a lot.

The role play we do in Deadwood is different from what you will see day to day in Second Life.
~~~~~

What kind of role playing is done in Deadwood?

In Deadwood or other historical roleplaying sims, we are doing historical re-enactment, or immersive roleplay.

How do you do that?

You begin by creating a rough outline of a character for your avatar from the 1870's who is in Deadwood South Dakota.

Don't worry too much about this! Male/female? Old/young?

People came to Deadwood from all over. You can come and watch others for a little while before deciding - you can even decide to change your character after watching, but you need to be someone to start.

Characters and relationships usually develop slowly - just like in real life. So it is OK not to have a storyline yet and it is very OK not to reveal it right away to people. Just like in real life, people will have to find out as they get to know the character. Don't worry about not having a full story yet!

You will get to know your character too!

I have my rough character, now what?

Try to be as authentic as possible, dressing like and becoming that character.

Historical clothing is important. It's also important to talk like your character would have in the time period they are in, and to remove yourself from the 21st century.

When you are your character, you speak for them. You think as they do.

It isn't really as hard as it sounds to pretend to be someone else.

Basics:

~ You only know what you can "see" -you can't read the thoughts of others (even if they type them!)
   You can't hear what people are saying if you could not hear it in real life in the same setting.
   You can't see around corners, behind doors, inside buildings (even if you can cam around in Second Life)

~ You do not know anybody's name unless they tell you or you overhear it. They can't know yours either!

~ You speak in full words, whenever possible (no IMHO, lol, roflmao brb, afk!)

~ You don't refer to modern things or things that haven't happened yet. No President Obama! No airplanes, automobiles,telephones, televisions, microwaves!

~ You always speak IC in Deadwood, we don't speak OOC, not even in parentheses! ((***see below for what OOC and IC mean -- basically, we don't say: "have to let the dogs out, brb!" or "wb, Alvin!" or "sorry I crashed, wow!")

~ Speak ONLY for your self - otherwise you are said to be god-moding!

(Example: you can raise your hand to strike someone, but the other player knows if they were hit.
You can respond to being hit by someone, but only you knows how hard the blow affected you).

~~Terms You May Hear~~~~

***OOC is Out of Character - speaking as yourself, the typist.

***IC is In Character - speaking as the character you are playing.

When in Deadwood, we stay In Character. If we need to talk Out of Character, we switch to IM's.

Think of watching a Shakesperean play and suddenly one of the characters turns to another and says something like,

"How about those Red Sox?" or "Hey, Joe, I forgot my lines!"

Talking OOC throws the feeling of make believe/pretend/being in a play off and can ruin the moment for others.

God-moding - Playing god. Hearing through walls, reading minds, making things happen for others without their permission.   God moding can get you banned if you keep doing it!

Emoting describing what your character is doing

If you don't want to talk much, especially at first, you can do what is called "emoting". This can be used to let people know what you are feeling (emotions) or just to let your presence be known.

You might want to have your character stand to the side and watch quietly.

Doing this lets others know you are there, so you aren't just a silent body! Sometimes others may respond to you if you do this!

Joe Smith steps back from the two gunmen, his hand resting on his Colt.
or
Sue Smith looks curiously at the group of people, and steps up closer to listen.
Sally Jones looks around, slightly confused.

~~Some styles of typing used ~~

Here are a few ways you can type this in:

type in /me will give the results of

Joe Smith stands to the side and quietly watches.
You can also use an *

Joe Smith: *stands to the side and quietly watches*

or ~

Joe Smith: ~stands to the side and quietly watches~

There's nothing right or wrong, or fancy about this, it just gives a different look to your typed text. Try it out and see which you are most comfortable with!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Talking OOOC - Out of Character

What if I need to ask a question Out of Character?

Ask another character in an IM - if they don't answer, ask someone else or ask an admin - if one isn't nearby, use /99 admin

~~~~~~~~~~~
What if I need to leave in the middle of a role play scene?

Your character can excuse themselves and leave - use your creativity! Maybe you hear someone calling you, remember an errand, have to go make or eat dinner, or -if you are going to leave your avatar there - gaze off in the distance.

handling a return of yourself or others can be done in the same way - work it into the scene if you have to. Often, though, nothing needs to be said unless you were a major player in the scene.

=======================
NOTE: some role play directions tell you to disable meters, group tags because they are distracting -- in Deadwood, you need to wear your meter and group tags at all times, unless told otherwise by the admins (sometimes in OOC group meetings).

TOOOOOO cute!!!!!

2010-06-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

In fixing up one of my outfits to make a child outfit suitable for a little girl in Berlin 1920, I found a need for a pair of Mary Jane shoes. Shoes, sadly, are not my forte, so I did a search and found a pair for 30L on Xchange - for a photo shoot, I figured they'd do.

OMG, how cute are these? And truly, I'm not a shoe (or clothing) person - friends have to nudge me inworld to remind me I've been wearing the same outfit for three weeks.

These are the PERFECT shoe to add to your 1920's outfit (or 1930's or 40's or 50's and on and on!)

They look adorable with the sweater outfit I have for Berlin ..

This is a tintable hand-knit sweater and knee sock set (I made them myself!) with a matching bow - I am shamelessly offering these for sale on Xchange for 59L ... the outfit is no transfer but modify (to fit different child avatars) and copy so you can make up all you want. You get the blue plaid skirt and a black skirt with white lace trim, but of course you can add these to any skirts you might have in inventory. For sale at https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2390838

Also suitable for children in Berlin - two boys outfits - I took the corduroy and wool suits made for Deadwood consisting of a shirt, jacket and knickers plus socks and ankle boots and added a set of shorts and a cardigan sweater to each as shorts were evidently big in the 1920's for boys. Also included is a matching cap, plus a box with my free boys hair - kind of a bowl cut that can fill in if you don't have something ready yet. These are also on sale on Xchange for 59L each.

Boy's Plaid Shorts and Sweater Outfit

Boy's Corduroy Shorts and Sweater Outfit

Back to those adorable, affordable Mary Janes! I went to the shop of the maker (I bow in awe!) and snooped around. There are some modern times party dresses and some rain boots and modern sandals. The dresses were about 300L. The Mary Janes were there, sooo cute! But the prize, I thought, was this outfit!

It looks German to me - or Scandanavian enough to fit on a child in Berlin who is going to a dress up event. It comes with a pair of red Mary Janes, too (I wore black because the red ones seemed to make my feet look big!)

And best of all, this whole cute outfit is only 60L!!!!

Where? These can be found at Bearwear at Kissling Village, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kissling/201/71/72/

There are also a couple of sweaters for boys there...

Was soll nicht dort über Berlin 1920 lieben?

2010-05-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

When I'm not in Deadwood, chances are good that I can be found in Berlin 1920. This is a very well built sim where you can find a lot of interesting buildings in which to play, and often a few people who are willing to talk with you. Children are welcome, as long as they follow all the rules. It would be likely that children could be found in the streets of Berlin in this time period - not all would be orphans or homeless, but many would be outside, working or trying to get outside of small stuffy apartments! Avatar animals - dogs and cats - are also welcome, as long as they look realistic and are played like animals, not like talking animals.

There are too many nooks and crannies to show you in the pictures I took - but the city is incredibly well laid out, with apartments available over shops, restaurants and tucked away in unexpected places. Here's an overview - a lot of which you can see from the apartment I share with a friend. I've been renting there for a month or more, but have only just started venturing out into the community. And this is a community, where people care about the sim and each other.

Me, lounging on one of our shabby couches

I decided a bicycle was a great way to get around, although walking allows you to explore alleys and climb up stairs.

Of course, wholesome young American college student that I am, I didn't realize that the building I'm standing outside of is a brothel - I had no way of seeing inside (but you can).

After bicycling for a bit, I decided to cool off in the public pool - free swim suits are offered as you walk in -- this is the 1920's woman suit.

After cooling off, I continued around and stumbled upon the local Police station - as with many places, there are poseballs that put you in some interesting positions - here I'm listening in. You can also get into arguments, or find yourself passionately kissing your companion.

There are Happy Hours every day, as well as other scheduled events.

Hardcore roleplayers may find the talk about town a little unsettling, as not everyone is familiar with role play - conversation can change from the 1920's to present day in a heart beat, though efforts are being made to encourage people to learn and enjoy.

So far the rules about staying in character are not strict, although any variation from the dress code will get you a swift and firm IM request to change or get out of town.

The welcome area offers no reason to be inappropriately dressed - you'll find two great, if somewhat dowdy, dresses for ladies (I took this one and modified it to make a very cute outfit, befitting my 20 something character)...

and a man's suit and short hair cut modeled by my handsome friend here

. An umbrella and period automobile are also provided, along with other freebies most provided by vendors who are also active citizens of Berlin.

The activities and politics are all pre-Nazi era - no roleplay, reference to or dress is allowed that refers to Hitler or Nazism - this is a pleasant, relaxed 1920's time period between World War I and II.   You can learn more about this by visiting the website and the forum.

This is a great sim with a lot of possibility -- nice to find another place (like Deadwood) where there is a focus on history, where there's an interest in roleplay and storylines, and where forced sex, violence and angst are not the major themes.

Useful things to know:

      1) Don't tp into the location you see on someone's Profile - go to the welcome area - I accidentally tp'd an inappropriately dressed alt in to what I thought was the welcome area but it was outside of my apartment - within 1 second I had a less than warm welcome that would have turned me off if I wasn't already a resident!

    2) Don't wear guns - from information I found on a bulletin board outside the Police station:
Please read this notecard carefully as breaking the gun laws in Berlin can get you permanently banned.

-Do NOT carry a gun in public.
-Do NOT shoot a gun in public.
-DO NOT SHOOT SOMEONE
-You can buy a gun, own a gun and carry it inside your own private residence.
-If you are seen carrying a gun in public you will be arrested by the Berlin Polizei, you will be locked up in a police cell for 1 week (RL time), you can of course leave the cell and do as you please outside Berlin but for this period you may not walk around Berlin and only visit the sim if you will spend the time you are there in the cell.
You will also have to pay a 1000L$ fine.
-If you fire a gun in public you will be arrested by the Berlin Polizei, you will be locked up in a police cell for 1 month (RL time), you can of course leave the cell and do as you please outside Berlin but for this period you may not walk around Berlin and only visit the sim if you will spend the time you are there in the cell.
You will also have to pay a 5000L$ fine.
-If you fire a gun in public and actually shoot someone you will be arrested by the Berlin Polizei, you will be locked up in a police cell for 3 months (RL time), you can of course leave the cell and do as you please outside Berlin but for this period you may not walk around Berlin and only visit the sim if you will spend the time you are there in the cell.
You will also have to pay a 15000L$ fine.

These are the maximum possible punishments, it may also be decided to give you a lower punishment depending on the situation but know that you may receive something as heavy as what you read above.
In the end it of course all depends on the situation.

Just don't carry or use a gun in 1920s Berlin without realising the risks you run.
We are not a 'Wild West' or '1920s Chigago gangsters' sim and will not allow people walking around with guns and shooting them unless there is a VERY good roleplay motivated realistic scenario.
And even then those involved can receive a punishment.
We base our response on history, you will be treated as you would have been treated by the Berlin Law in late 1920s Berlin.
FAILING TO ABIDE BY THESE PUNISHMENTS MAY GET YOU BANNED FROM THIS SIM.

********

Another interesting note I found in the same place was that dying in Berlin can get you permanently banned.

- If you die in Berlin, you risk being banned forever!
Of course this only happens if the situation is realistic and not just some crazy griefer shooting the place up. But, if you roleplay death, you may have to sacrifice your avatar, as dead people can no longer walk the Berlin streets.

- The police force is mainly in Berlin to maintain order, and to enforce real sim rules. They may not be interested in taking part in roleplay.
Please keep this in mind when contacting them for a roleplay situation.

This is a sim with a lot of possibilities - if you're looking for another place for serious immersive roleplay, come and try it out!

Other places to play

2010-05-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

Today, still taking a break from Deadwood, I visited a newer Western sim, Cedar Creek in Red Cedar http://slurl.com/secondlife/Red%20Cedar%20/222/124 /501/ I'm exploring places where children are welcome to role play, as well as other western sims. This one looks like a winner!

Owner Gretchen Janick reports that they have been #3 in the Showcase of roleplay sims, and the only Western sim in the top 10.

The welcome area is clearly set up - necessary things are easy to find by clicking on tastefully decorated boxes. Shortly after I arrived, Gretchen popped in and helped me with the group invite. Note that your avatar must be 30 days old in order for you to be invited, although you can shop in the surrounding area (Native American goods are found, along with Western clothing, guns, and other items.)

You receive an explanation of the history of Cedar Creek, Meter explanations and such. The rules are fairly simply and clearly stated; most are familiar to those who have role played in any western sim.

Noteworthy: child avatars are allowed (no use of guns and children may not be harmed in any way); human avatars only; native americans are welcome; slavery is not allowed; chat logs should be included in any complaints.

A couple of my favorites from the rules (as someone who has been an admin, I loved these!)

" During the Victorian era were no mini skirts, belly freetops, bling, tennis shoes, combat boots, camouflage suits, t-shirts, high heels or fur bikinis to name a few."

and this clear explanation of what happens if you break rules:

Rule Enforcement:
1st offense – Verbal Warning
2nd offense – 3 day ban from Cedar Creek
3rd offense – Permanent Ban

There are also free clothing for men, women and Native Americans. I helped myself to all since you never known what you might want to mix and match!

Free Men's outfit includes a hat, shirt, pants and shoes

Free Woman's outfit includes blouse, belt, skirt and glitch pants

Free Native American outfit includes Buckskin Top, Moccasins, Pants and Skirt (for woman)

The sim was decorated for the American Memorial Day week-end when I arrived, but very tastefully, nothing to take away from the historical feeling of the sim which is set in Cedar Creek, a fictionalized town set in the western frontier region of Oklahoma Territory circa 1890's. The territory is occupied by the Chickasaw and Cherokee peoples, in addition to white settlers who are moving in to the area.

I spent some time wandering through the sim - the town area is compact, with a saloon, jail, cafe, general store and doc's office. Most of the buildings were decent - I would have done away with the red cross over the medical building and the clearly visible line dance pose balls in the saloon - but other than that, it seemed a good start for the beginnings of a small town. (Janick told me the flags, and I assume the pole shown in the picture above, were only up for Memorial Day).

The general store had quality guns by a familiar vendor - L. Mortlock & Company.

The information you receive explains "As you enter Cedar Creek, what is apparent are the mountains of red sandstone, which stand in the distance dominating the sky line. Oklahoma Territory itself stands to one side of the Great Plains....Just to the south are the Wichita Mountains, granite outcrops surrounded by lush grazing land."

Indeed, you find exactly that and more!

I trekked out further and found several houses tucked into spots all over - the history explains this to you.

"With the Homestead act of 1862 came the settlers. This act allowed individuals to claim 160 acres of land for settlement, so long as it was occupied and improved by the settler. At high noon on the 22nd of April, 1889, fifty thousand people, among them Niko and Gretchen Janick, lined up waiting for the cannon that would signal the largest reclamation of land in history. The Janick Family discovered a small valley with a creek running through it, dotted by majestic cedars. The beauty of the area struck the couple and they soon saw the potential and laid claim. Within a year small settlement sprang up, a few buildings, a stock yard. Then the people came ."

The land in the sim is truly beautiful - in addition to the dry red sandstone, you will find trees, streams, waterfalls and a river -- and there are homesteads available. 1,000L a week will buy you 300 prims to fill with historical style buildings, animals, plants, gardens.

The Sheriff's House

I found myself by a gorgeous waterfall .. peaceful, yes? (except for a rather out of place commercially laid out fishing set offer which I didn't show in the photo)...

but just to my right, over the hill and around the corner is the Native American area...

This is also explained in the hand out you receive about the History of Cedar Creek:

" Prior to 1831 the western area of the Territory was largely unoccupied except for the buffalo and a few small tribes of Native Americans. This changed with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which lead to the dispossession of thousands of Cherokee, Chocktaw, Muscogee and Seminoles from their tribal lands in the southeast. These Native peoples were marched by force northwest to Oklahoma Territory. A small village of Cherokee, founded by Standing Bear and Beloved Woman Lozen, stands to the northeast of town as a testament to the descendants of the repatriation of the Indian Nations along the "Trail of Tears". Fifteen thousand Cherokee were moved from their tribal and ancestral home; an estimated 4,000 never reached their final destination."

I'll return another time in Native American avatar to check this out more closely - a quick look through showed a lot of huge tipis and some very realistic looking activities - weaving, beading, grinding and such.

Because I visited on Memorial Day week-end, there were relatively few players in town - my intent is to go back mid week for another visit. I was impressed with the care taken in laying out the history, the rules, and the sim itself.

If you are looking for a Western sim to check out as an addition to your favorite, I'd suggest giving this new sim a chance. The welcoming area is also a good place to shop!

*****
They don't yet have a forum, but members get a notecard with Events listed, and you can find them also in Search. Below are Upcoming Events as of this posting:

Saturday 05/29/2010 11:00AM SLT - 1:00PM SLT
"Ballroom Blitz"
Live DJ
Contest "Best in Outlaw Gear"

Saturday 06/05/2010 11:00AM SLT - 1:00PM SLT
"Tarts and Vicars"
Live DJ
Contest "Best Tart" & "Best Vicar"

Saturday 06/12/2010 11:00AM SLT - 1:00PM SLT
"Get Lei'd"
Live DJ
Contest "Best in Hula"

Saturday 06/19/2010 11:00AM SLT - 1:00PM SLT
"Costume Party"
Live DJ
Contest "Best Costume"

Traveling in SL

2010-05-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Times in Deadwood have been slow so I've been traveling around a bit - mostly listening to live music in a couple of places. Nice way to meet people and get stuff done (like rl laundry, dusting, etc.) There are some excellent live musicians in SL - nothing better to soothe, excite or entertain than listening to real music. During the day, I have the Brits - at night, all kinds of Americas to choose from -- give it a try if you haven't!

If you like the blues, I have to recommend trying out The Cottonfield Stage at Mississippi Delta Blues.

While waiting for the show to start, I took a ride on a train that goes around the sim, popping off a couple of times to wander around. You're right on the water, of course, so you can go down and do a little lazy fishing or try to boat (I wasn't very successful). Set in the 1940's Mississippi Delta Blues, before the live show starts, blues music is filtered in.

Dancing to the music of Jimmyt49

http://jimmyt49.tripod.com

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mississippi%20Delta%20Blues/189/172/27/

On the use of alts....

2010-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

****
POST NOTE:

When will I ever learn to keep my questions to myself? Probably never -- this post was originally created because the topic raised questions in my head, and also with a friend of mine who was quite morally outraged about the original topic posted below. After we debated the topic for some time, I thought it might be clearer to post my thoughts here. My intent was to raise a rhetorical question, not start some sort of in-world war with anyone.

It was not my intent to pick on anyone, to start a war, to set myself up as someone who does no wrong and who is passing judgment on someone else. Unfortunately, I seem to have done just that.

However, I'm not going to remove this post -- I wrote it with the intent of raising questions, not pointing fingers - it doesn't name names and I don't believe it even passes judgments.

Friends (Quakers) call this type of questioning 'queries' - things we ask ourselves, more than we ask them of others. Usually if a query causes us unease, it means we need to dig deeper within ourselves to discover why, rather than looking toward others - Matthew 7.3 comes to mind.

(And yes - the unexpected and unpublished here responses to this post have caused me to ask myself some of my own queries about myself, how I interact with others and what I might do to improve that without having to shut my mouth when an interesting question comes up).

******The Original Post is Below **************

Oh my..... while I love my alts (those who deserve it, of course).. I sometimes find the uses people make of their own alts are sometimes quite imaginative and ... sometimes questionable. Heck, I question my own sanity in the use of my alts...

In Deadwood 1.0, when one of my alts, Lola, was happily married to J.F. Kanto, one of our adopted children, Jessica, was played by me. It just made things easier -- there was no doubting whether or not Jessica would show up if we needed her, or if she'd agree or disagree to our storyline.

Currently I have an alt who is both a "steady customer" and a love interest for Lola in role play. He also comes in handy when trying out dances and other pose balls that require two. And he has an alt as a staff member - she's always there when he needs her, and she doesn't have to worry about losing her job.

It can get complicated -- there have been times when I've had arguments with myself - Marrant as an adult competed with Lola for the affections of JF, and even shot her -- and then there are those times when you really need a couple of those alts to be in the same place at the same time.

And yes, I hide some alts -- sometimes an alt is an escape from others, a way to be somebody different, a chance to be bratty or mean or stupid or bigoted or ... many things.

But what made me start pondering this wasn't really the use of alts in roleplay, but the use of them in marketing yourself, when I stumbled upon someone who appeared to be using a secret alt as a kind of a promotional tool. My first thought, of course, was "why didn't I think of that?" - but my second thought was - "um... "

Now, I am an admitted "marketeer" (is that term still in use?) from way back. Even in real life, I'm always finding ways to promote things. But I have to confess, I have some very mixed feelings about the use of alts to market oneself unless it's done on the up and up.

Is it merely clever marketing to have an alt who reviews the very products you sell, even if they also kindly review those of others?

Does it even matter? No one is being harmed, no money being taken away. At least, it's a method of advertising that does no harm; at worst, its a bit of deception not unfamiliar in Second Life, or real life come to think of it.

Because, of course, this is only Second Life - it's only a game. And yet... it does bring cause for reflection especially when on the main blog, thanks are given to the alt for the praises one has received from oneself.

Thoughts on roleplaying - beyond the rules

2010-05-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

     Boy, it's being an educational week or two for me as I learn more about what "role play" means to me.   I'm venturing out into Second Life, from the virtual safety of Deadwood to find fellow role players and writers. I've looked into role playing groups, and I'm even taking a class in role play (well, one of my alts is) that will get me some kind of certificate showing I'm serious.
    It's hard to find good role play partners, though not hard to find good people with whom to role play (I don't like my participles to dangle). I figure, as is often true in real life, if you're looking for partners, sometimes you need to expand your horizons. Part of that for me has turned out to be finding ways to improve my role play.
           When I first started in early Sept 2007, I had no idea what role play in a virtual world was. Oh, yeah.. I'd acted and loved that back in high school and a bit beyond, even doing a little directing. And I've been a writer for years.
             I have no memory of how I found Deadwood - I don't think I'd even watched the show as I don't have HBO.   But somehow I was on the stagecoach and ended up there, and there I still am hoping it never disappears, but knowing I had best have some other places ready in case it does.
              In my early days, I had no idea of the "basic rules" of role play and had to learn them the hard way (by making mistakes). What I'm finding now is a need to go beyond the rules and etiquette of Role playing -- both are important and have been nicely addressed in other places and in classes.
             What I need is a way to discover, nurture and enjoy my particular style of role play - which I think is some combination of straight dialogue and blogging - para without the paragraphs within the context of the role play itself.
        The first time I heard someone doing para role play, I reacted as if I was hearing someone speak in tongues. Seemed alien, strange and not my style. And yet... I do like the writing that goes into it, the history and background, the descriptive inner thoughts. For me, I think I just want that to be tucked away somewhere - in another place,not in open chat -- (have I mentioned I'm an INFP?) where others can read it if they want. Of course, that won't work for everyone - that may only work for me. But it gives me some kind of thrill.
            I love developing new characters, participating with others in role play, talking in sentences with dialect and usually with humor. There's room for improvement on my emoting - descriptive sentences that describe what my character is thinking or doing, rather than actual dialogue. I haven't used emoting a lot, fearing I will wake up one day and find myself para role playing all over.
             In my research, I was startled to find there are role players who write up much of their dialog ahead of time - I thought you had to do it as you went - so I'll give some thought to that though I have no idea how you would make that work with a partner.
               I've nothing against writing, in fact I love it! My former partner and I used to write little scenes to each other, complete with dialogue -though we didn't use it as a script, it was just for fun. I love writing so one of my plans for improving my role playing is to work more on my writing. Tying that into role play through the use of blogs as I love to take a piece of role play chat with others and turn it into a little story.   Fictionalizing a role play chat even more!
              This is fun, exploring what works for me.The more I wander around, digging into things, the more I realize there's a whole lot of different kinds of role play going on. And personally, I don't think one is better than the other. Past understanding the rules and etiquette, it's essential for me to know how to write about my characters, doing a little research and contemplation, digging within, then asking myself what kind of role playing fits me best, how can I get better, where can I find me some more people and places and time to role play?

A role play with a child from the past...

2010-05-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Miss Bedlam advises Elizabeth on Boys and Friendship and Life

« on: September 10, 2008, 10:08:53 AM »

I do miss Mrs. Bedlam, who played in DW 1.0, which is where this role play came from. It was fun for both and I think a good example of how adults and children can do a role play with meaning in a sim where you'd think there was no place for children. It's always so wonderful when adult avatars "get it"!

[20:32] Grey Bedlam smiles at the little girl as she walks down the street. "Hello."
[20:33] Elizabeth smiles
[20:33] Elizabeth Vita: Hello
[20:33] Grey Bedlam: How are you doing today?
[20:33] Elizabeth Vita shrugs
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita: I'm waiting for CarrieAnne, but I think she's mad at me
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita sighs: She never wants to play anymore
[20:34] Grey Bedlam: Well, that's no good. Why would she be mad at you?
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita: I don't know
[20:35] Grey Bedlam purses her lips and taps them with a finger in thought. "I see... and why doesn't she want to play anymore?"
[20:36] Elizabeth Vita: I don't know... maybe she's got chores
[20:36] Elizabeth Vita sighs: Since she turned ten she's been busy
[20:36] Elizabeth Vita: I'm only nine
[20:36] Grey Bedlam nods. "Well, having chores never stopped me from wanting to play... Sometimes it made me not able to play. Oh, I see... well, it's a big change. When is your birthday?"
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: September 22nd
[20:37] Grey Bedlam: Well, that's not too far off.
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: I might be dead by then..people die every day and you never knows when it might be your turn
[20:39] Grey Bedlam frowns, shocked by the child's view of mortality. She nods a little though. "While that's true, you could live for another fifty years." She pauses. "I was just learning French when I was your age. Do you speak French?"
[20:40] Elizabeth Vita nods: Me and Carrie Anne was learning it from Miss Astolat
[20:41] A little tear trickles down Elizabeth Vita's check and she wipes it off
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita: We learnt how to say bon jour and au voir
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita: Do you know how to say chicken in French?
[20:42] Grey Bedlam smiles "I know how to say many things. One of them is a phrase the French use... la joie de la vie. Do you know what that means?"
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita shakes her head no
[20:44] Grey Bedlam leans in and hands the girl a lace handkerchief. "Chin up, darling. It means 'The joy of life'. The French have a philosophy that life is filled with little pleasures and it is an honor to find them where you can. Nothing is ever all bad. There's always something good in everything."
[20:44] Elizabeth Vita sniffles and takes the handkerchief, using it to pat at some tears
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: Jonathon is mad at me too, we had a fight
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: Now I don't have any friends
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: I don't know if that's good
[20:46] Grey Bedlam smiles. "For instance, if CarrieAnne was available to play, we wouldn't be talking, and I wouldn't be able to meet you." She makes a little frown. "What did you fight about? Oh, you have friends. Friends fight all the time, but what makes them friends is eventually not being mad at each other anymore."
[20:47] Grey Bedlam taps the tip of her own nose and smiles. "and I'd be honored to be your friend."
[20:47] Elizabeth Vita gulps down a tear or two: He was real mad cause he told me I eat baby chickens and I said I do not
[20:47] Elizabeth Vita smiles at the lady: thank you...
[20:47] Elizabeth Vita: I'm Elizabeth Vita
[20:47] Grey Bedlam: My name is Grey Bedlam.
[20:47] Grey Bedlam: Why'd he say you eat baby chickens?
[20:48] Elizabeth Vita: I told him I do not eat meat and he said I do because I eat eggs and eggs is baby chickens and Carrie Anne said eggs are not baby chickens til they are fert'lied
[20:49] Grey Bedlam: Carrie Anne is right... but boys are funny. I will tell you a secret about them if you'd like.
[20:49] Elizabeth Vita looks up
[20:50] Grey Bedlam leans in to whisper.
[20:50] Elizabeth Vita blinks
[20:51] Grey Bedlam: Boys don't like to ever be wrong, especially when a girl is the one that corrects them. Sometimes you have to let them think they're right. They get intimidated by girls that are smarter than they are.
[20:51] Elizabeth Vita smiles
[20:51] Grey Bedlam smiles and leans back, still half-crouched to be on the child's eye level.
[20:52] Grey Bedlam: Besides, I'm sure there's a book in the library about it.
[20:52] Elizabeth Vita doubts it in this century
[20:53] Grey Bedlam thinks you're probably right... at least here.... hmmm....
[20:55] Grey Bedlam chuckles. "The general rule is to not argue with them. If you know you're right, state it, and then if they start to argue, walk away. " She winks conspiratorialy.
[20:55] Elizabeth Vita thinks about that: But .. but then they think they sooo smart
[20:55] Elizabeth Vita: Jonathon gets bossy
[20:56] Grey Bedlam: Let the boy rationalize it to himself if he can... If you seem confidant in your knowledge enough to display that his opinion means nothing to you, then you win.
[20:57] Grey Bedlam: It's the ladylike way to win an argument. Don't let him fluster you, smile prettily at him and then ignore him. You can't be bossed by someone you ignore. Eventually he'll get tired of it and stop... or do something silly and make himself look stupid.
[20:57] Elizabeth Vita sighs
[20:57] Elizabeth Vita: How come women can't just be the bosses?
[20:57] Grey Bedlam taps her temple. "Boys are bigger and stronger, but girls are more clever." She chuckles again. "Besides, give him time and he'll be following you around like a lost puppy."
[20:58] Grey Bedlam smiles. "Oh, we are. We just let the boys think they are. It makes them happy."
[20:58] Elizabeth Vita: We have a club called the Boys Club Run by Girls and we boss them around, and they don't even know it
[20:59] Elizabeth Vita lip quivers a bit: Me and Carrie Anne started it
[20:59] Grey Bedlam laughs behind her hand. "You're very clever girls. Boys and men won't do anything to offend a lady unless they're uncouth--and if they are, the other boys and men sort them out on their own. Jonathan is probably just too young to know the rules yet."
[21:00] Elizabeth Vita: We have a chicken for a pet but we want to name it Lady Whatever Chicken is in French only we don't know what French is for chicken
[21:00] Elizabeth Vita: It's our club pet
[21:00] Grey Bedlam reaches a hand out to pat the child's hair. "Oh, Elizabeth, dear... don't fuss. I'll bet that Carrie Anne isn't mad at you. I bet it's just that she's older now so has more chores and things to do."
[21:01] Elizabeth Vita swallows down her tears again and nods, sniffling and dabbing with the handkerchief
[21:01] Elizabeth Vita blows her nose and then holds out the handkerchief to the lady: Thank you
[21:03] Grey Bedlam waves it back to the girl. "Consider it a gift." She chuckles softly. "The word for Chicken is 'Poulet'."
[21:05] Elizabeth Vita smiles: Oh, thank you... Lady Poulet
[21:05] Elizabeth Vita smiles a little: I'll tell CarrieAnne.. if..when I see her again
[21:06] Elizabeth Vita: Thank you Miss Bedlam
[21:06] Elizabeth Vita: I gotta goin now
[21:06] Grey Bedlam: When, dear. When. Remember, Joie de la vie. With the joy of life. Think about it the next time to see or do things. Even the littlest things, nothing is without value. You are quite welcome, Elizabeth.
[21:06] Grey Bedlam: It was a pleasure speaking with you.
[21:07] Elizabeth Vita stands and smiles
[21:07] Elizabeth Vita: Do you work around here?
[21:08] Elizabeth Vita slides the handkerchief in her pocket
[21:08] Grey Bedlam: Yes, I keep the ledgers neat at the Gem. I also might be coming to help with your schooling soon.
[21:08] Elizabeth Vita: Ohhh, that's good... *smiles* I like school
[21:09] Grey Bedlam smiles again. "I'm not surprised.."
[21:10] Elizabeth Vita: Good night ma'am
[21:10] Elizabeth Vita: Thank you again for.. being my friend and all
[21:10] Grey Bedlam: Good night, Elizabeth. Sleep well.

How to have sex in SL without "really" having sex in SL

2010-04-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we're starting something here (or perhaps its out there somewhere, and we're just discovering it).

Below is another Soiled Dove scene in Deadwood 2.0, sans actual sex... and there are promises of more to come (so to speak :) ) from other working girls...

Cletus (aka Randall Carfield) is in the Palace, recuperating from a recent paid encounter with Miss Daisy.

[2010/04/22 18:33] Randall Carfield grins over at the red headed whore with his tar colored teeth
[2010/04/22 18:33] Lolaraine McGinnis smiles at the man and tosses her hair some more
[2010/04/22 18:34] Lolaraine McGinnis reaches forward and fiddles with his scarf
[2010/04/22 18:34] Lolaraine McGinnis: How ya doin' hon?
[2010/04/22 18:34] Randall Carfield: Yee weren't here earlier, I coulda double my fun.
[2010/04/22 18:34] Lolaraine McGinnis laughs: You betcha
[2010/04/22 18:35] Daisy Stratten: Oh my lord Lola *laughs*
[2010/04/22 18:35] Randall Carfield: Few more drinks an' may be standin' back at full mast. Heh!
[2010/04/22 18:36] Lolaraine McGinnis laughs
[2010/04/22 18:36] Lolaraine McGinnis: We always ready hun
[2010/04/22 18:36] Lolaraine McGinnis winks
[2010/04/22 18:36] Daisy Stratten: Will you excuse me for a moment, folks?
[2010/04/22 18:37] Randall Carfield: Oh certainly. *winks at Daisy*
[2010/04/22 18:37] Randall Carfield: That gal is still tuckered from earlier. *tugs his pants up and sighs a little*
[2010/04/22 18:37] Lolaraine McGinnis: She done drunk too much

(more dialog in the saloon)

[2010/04/22 18:46] Randall Carfield sets his glass down and winks at Lola, "First darlin' how about ah go drain my lizard, then I takes ya across the street and enjoy the fruits oh my labors."
[2010/04/22 18:47] Lolaraine McGinnis laughs: alright sugar
[2010/04/22 18:47] Lolaraine McGinnis: you got the money honey, I got the time
[2010/04/22 18:47] Lolaraine McGinnis: You want a turn, Windlow?
[2010/04/22 18:47] Lolaraine McGinnis: Shouldn't be more'na hour
[2010/04/22 18:47] Lolaraine McGinnis: At the most
[2010/04/22 18:48] Lolaraine McGinnis: I bathes in between *smiles and flutters her lashes
[2010/04/22 18:48] Flint Windlow: hmmm? No, not right now darling, but thanks
[2010/04/22 18:48] Lolaraine McGinnis: Well now don't you forgit me
[2010/04/22 18:48] Flint Windlow: I'm sure ya do.. *smiles just a bit
[2010/04/22 18:48] Lolaraine McGinnis: I ain't forgettin you
[2010/04/22 18:48] Randall Carfield sways out drunkenly to the side of the saloon, he props on hand up against the side of the building and proceeds to relive himself, "Ahhhhh...."
[2010/04/22 18:48] Lolaraine McGinnis looks flirtatiously at him
[2010/04/22 18:48] Flint Windlow: Oh, I'm sure I won't... though I tend towards the smaller gals.. *glances over at Daisy
[2010/04/22 18:49] Flint Windlow: They is easier ta hold down... *grins only slightly
[2010/04/22 18:50] Lolaraine McGinnis shrugs: Whatever toots yer noodle hon
[2010/04/22 18:50] Randall Carfield looks up towards the sky and hums alittle while he finishes the task at hand, he bends his knees and shakes afew times before buttioning up and stumbling back into the saloon, "Whooo."
[2010/04/22 18:50] Flint Windlow: Not that I is sellin' ya short Ma'am... *lifts his drink to her
[2010/04/22 18:50] Lolaraine McGinnis grins: No 'fense takin'
[2010/04/22 18:51] Randall Carfield: Thar we go...
[2010/04/22 18:51] Lolaraine McGinnis: Men got their likes
[2010/04/22 18:51] Flint Windlow: Yes... that they do
[2010/04/22 18:51] Lolaraine McGinnis smiles at the other man: Say, what were yer name agin?
[2010/04/22 18:51] Lolaraine McGinnis: I always likes ta know what ta shout out in my moment a delight
[2010/04/22 18:51] Randall Carfield: Cletus R. Fallowfield.
[2010/04/22 18:51] Lolaraine McGinnis: That be a .... mouthful
[2010/04/22 18:52] Flint Windlow tries to remember the mans name, knowing he'll forget
[2010/04/22 18:52] Lolaraine McGinnis: Maybe I jes say.. hon
[2010/04/22 18:52] Lolaraine McGinnis: You ready Cletus?
[2010/04/22 18:53] Randall Carfield: Oh saddle up darlin', it's gonna be a buckin' ride.
[2010/04/22 18:53] Lolaraine McGinnis: Let's take a bottle with us...
[2010/04/22 18:53] Lolaraine McGinnis grabs a bottle from behind the counter
[2010/04/22 18:53] Randall Carfield: Why certainly. *licks his lips*
[2010/04/22 18:53] Lolaraine McGinnis: See ya later Windlow
[2010/04/22 18:53] Lolaraine McGinnis: Tell Daisy ta knock afore she enter, will ya?
[2010/04/22 18:53] Flint Windlow nods.. "you kids have fun..."

Cletus and Lola enter the cabin:

[2010/04/22 18:54] Lolaraine McGinnis sets the bottle down
[2010/04/22 18:54] Lolaraine McGinnis: That there's my bed
[2010/04/22 18:55] Randall Carfield: Yee haw! I gets to try both in one day!
[2010/04/22 18:55] Lolaraine McGinnis grins
[2010/04/22 18:55] Lolaraine McGinnis: Take off yer boots
[2010/04/22 18:55] Lolaraine McGinnis: We don't like no mud in here
[2010/04/22 18:55] Lolaraine McGinnis pours some whiskey into a couple of tin cans
[2010/04/22 18:56] Randall Carfield bends down and pulls and tugs on his boots, he reefs and tries to shakes them off, "Yer... just a sec..."
[2010/04/22 18:56] Lolaraine McGinnis watches, sipping her whiskey and holding his tin can of it
[2010/04/22 18:56] Randall Carfield ticks them against the side of the cottage as they flop against the wall and thud
[2010/04/22 18:57] Lolaraine McGinnis offers him the tin can
[2010/04/22 18:57] Lolaraine McGinnis: Here ya go
[2010/04/22 18:57] Lolaraine McGinnis: You gonna keep the hat on?
[2010/04/22 18:57] Lolaraine McGinnis: Alright wit' me if'n ya does, some men likes to
[2010/04/22 18:57] Randall Carfield wiggles his toes through two rotten socks as he takes the can, he sniffs the order rising from his boots as takes a drink, "Ahh like home."
[2010/04/22 18:57] Lolaraine McGinnis grins: Now afore we gits to it, payment first
[2010/04/22 18:57] Randall Carfield takes his hat and tosses it of, he slides his jacket off into a clump on the floor
[2010/04/22 18:58] Lolaraine McGinnis: That be 50 cent fer jes the reglar
[2010/04/22 18:58] Lolaraine McGinnis: Dollar more if'n you wants my clothes ta come off
[2010/04/22 18:59] Randall Carfield takes out a pouch and pours some gold flake out and hands it over, only 50 cents having not much flake left.
[2010/04/22 18:59] Lolaraine McGinnis takes the flake and sticks it in her shoe
[2010/04/22 18:59] Randall Carfield: Yer friend done took me earlier.. ya coulda had more...
[2010/04/22 18:59] Lolaraine McGinnis shrugs
[2010/04/22 18:59] Lolaraine McGinnis: You had more money, you coulda had more
[2010/04/22 18:59] Lolaraine McGinnis laughs
[2010/04/22 19:00] Randall Carfield hangs his gun belt on the best post for easy accesss.
[2010/04/22 19:00] Lolaraine McGinnis: We jes' do the reglar then, I keeps my dress on an' all
[2010/04/22 19:00] Lolaraine McGinnis: You can touch where ya wants though
[2010/04/22 19:00] Lolaraine McGinnis: Jes don't rip nothinb'
[2010/04/22 19:01] Randall Carfield: Whoo hoo! Giddy up woman! Less talkin' more gettin' down!!
[2010/04/22 19:01] Lolaraine McGinnis: alrighty
[2010/04/22 19:01] Lolaraine McGinnis: You be on the tops or bottoms?
[2010/04/22 19:01] Randall Carfield: Top, ah's a popular fellar and may have'ta run to me next appointment quick.
[2010/04/22 19:02] Lolaraine McGinnis nods: That most pop'lar
[2010/04/22 19:02] Lolaraine McGinnis: Cept with married men
[2010/04/22 19:02] Lolaraine McGinnis lays down on the bed and pulls her skirt up
[2010/04/22 19:02] Lolaraine McGinnis: Go to it
[2010/04/22 19:03] Randall Carfield dives in and makes a loud noise not unlike an disgruntled goat, "BAHHHH!"
[2010/04/22 19:03] Lolaraine McGinnis yawns and looks at the wall
[2010/04/22 19:03] Lolaraine McGinnis: oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah
[2010/04/22 19:03] Lolaraine McGinnis: go baby go baby uh huh
[2010/04/22 19:03] Lolaraine McGinnis shouts: oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah go baby go baby go baby
[2010/04/22 19:04] Randall Carfield flops around like a fish and hollars, "Yippe!!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!"
[2010/04/22 19:04] Lolaraine McGinnis: Uh huh uh huh you good
[2010/04/22 19:04] Lolaraine McGinnis stifles a yawn
[2010/04/22 19:05] Lolaraine McGinnis shouts: Uh huh uh huh you good oh yeah mmm hmmm oh yeah
[2010/04/22 19:05] Randall Carfield bobs up and down like he's riding a bronco, "YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
[2010/04/22 19:05] Randall Carfield lets out a loud hoot to finish his performance
[2010/04/22 19:06] Lolaraine McGinnis lays there
[2010/04/22 19:06] Lolaraine McGinnis: You done hon?
[2010/04/22 19:06] Randall Carfield shouts: WHOOOOOOO YIPPIE!!! YEAH!!!
[2010/04/22 19:06] Lolaraine McGinnis strokes his hair: Were that good for ya?
[2010/04/22 19:07] Randall Carfield stand up and does his pants up the adjusts him and grunts, "Whoo! That were some pole greasin'."
[2010/04/22 19:07] Lolaraine McGinnis leans up and props herself on her elbow
[2010/04/22 19:07] Lolaraine McGinnis: You good hon
[2010/04/22 19:07] Lolaraine McGinnis: One a the best I done had
[2010/04/22 19:07] Lolaraine McGinnis: Shame ta take yer money but.. I gotta
[2010/04/22 19:07] Randall Carfield grins, "Well thar be more where that dun come from."
[2010/04/22 19:08] Randall Carfield fetches his gunbelt off the pole and buckles it on then twists it until it is the way he likes.
[2010/04/22 19:08] Lolaraine McGinnis looks for a towel
[2010/04/22 19:09] Lolaraine McGinnis cleans herself up
[2010/04/22 19:09] Lolaraine McGinnis tosses the towel in a bucket
[2010/04/22 19:09] Randall Carfield grabs his boots and shoves his feet back into them
[2010/04/22 19:09] Lolaraine McGinnis smooths her hair and her dress
[2010/04/22 19:09] Lolaraine McGinnis smiles at him
[2010/04/22 19:09] Lolaraine McGinnis: Real good, hope we gits ta do it agin
[2010/04/22 19:10] Lolaraine McGinnis: You got everything tucked back in?
[2010/04/22 19:10] Randall Carfield nods, "Ah's do indeed. I's gonna work twice as hard and come backs to see ya'lls.
[2010/04/22 19:10] Lolaraine McGinnis sashays out

[2010/04/22 19:11] Daisy Stratten: Hello again Lola *smiles tightly*

[2010/04/22 19:11] Lolaraine McGinnis sashays in (to the Palace), smoothing at her slightly wrinkled dress
[2010/04/22 19:11] Lolaraine McGinnis smiles at Daisy and the men
[2010/04/22 19:11] Lolaraine McGinnis: Gentlemens
[2010/04/22 19:11] Caed Aldwych tips his hat
[2010/04/22 19:11] Flint Windlow nods at Lola... "Ma'am"
[2010/04/22 19:12] Lolaraine McGinnis tucks a loose hair back
[2010/04/22 19:12] Daisy Stratten lowers her voice and hisses at Lola, "I was just with that fella an hour ago and he ain't had time fer a bath."
[2010/04/22 19:12] Lolaraine McGinnis shrugs
[2010/04/22 19:12] Daisy Stratten sighs
[2010/04/22 19:12] Lolaraine McGinnis: He wiped up a bit

Those Soiled Doves

2010-04-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Oh, yes... there are soiled doves in Deadwood 2.0 - at least four prospective houses / saloons opening up! There's Trixie's down by the butcher's shop, the beginnings of the Bella Union toward where you come into town, Cooper's Tent somewhere in the middle and Daisy's Phoenix. And that don't even count the independent women working out of tents and cabins.

Seems the big rush of girls due to arrive hasn't happened yet. There was lively and lengthy discussion on the Deadwood 1.0    forum, started up by our own very respectable (um, I think) Madam DuFaux, about why there just weren't enough regular saloon girls /parlor girls in town. Consensus seemed to be that there was confusion amongst typists about whether or not the "working girls" were really doing some IM "working" -- was it role play or sex for Lindens in IC?

In addition, we had an unrealistic amount of proper ladies in DW 1 many of whom took to hanging around the saloons as if they were tea shops.     I plead guilty to being one who started a "Ladies of Deadwood" group, for the *nose up in air* proper business women and ladies of Deadwood (Madams were included, but not their *ahem* employees). And it appears a similar group has started in DW 2.0.

Of course, ladies gotta be in Deadwood and not everyone can play a Madam or prostitute, a saloon or parlor girl.

But lots of effort is going into making the new Deadwood more like the old Deadwood, where the men were men and most of the women early on were outright whores. Possibly entertainers or saloon girls, but they weren't exactly "ladies".   Still, there was a great happiness on the part of the miners at the arrival of the prostitutes and there was no proper middle class set that would have frowned upon these girls. They would have been part of the rather rowdy and unruly community. And in fact, prostitution in Deadwood stayed on long after the Gold Rush ended - "No city ordinance was ever passed to outlaw the practice, despite state laws forbidding prostitution. Several months before the l980 raid the police chief defended non-enforcement of state law."   Note that that's NINETEEN 80, not EIGHTEEN 80.
(source: http://www.deadwoodmagazine.com/archivedsite/Archives/Girls_Raid.htm)

In an effort to support and encourage those who would like to role play doves, a group has been started by Daisy Stratten and Lolaraine McGinnis - invitations will be sent out but anyone who is playing a shady lady should contact one of them if an invitation hasn't been received.   No men allowed ~ Loose women unite!

Questions and discussion might include - how far can you go in open chat role playing? How can you make it clear to your 'customers' that this is role play? How do you make it clear to other typists that this is role play - you aren't .. uh.... And what happens if real SL "escorts" come in and want to make money - how can we help them put role play first?   The group can talk amongst itself!

Here's a good sampling of some excellent role play only hanky panky going on that plays a scene without crossing any lines.
..
[17:16] BlackJack Landar turns and sees a stunning redhead and smiles....Hello Miss.
[17:16] Lillian Tomsen looks around and arches a brow at Copper "This all they is? Ain't losin' yer touch are ya, Copper?"
[17:16] Lillian Tomsen turns to the man who addressed her and offers up a honeyed smile as she sashays closer "well hello there, if you ain't 'bout the finest specimen of a man I ever did see..."
[17:17] BlackJack Landar holds up a finger....whiskey if you please.
[17:17] BlackJack Landar smiles back....My dear Miss, I must say you take my breath away.
[17:18] Lillian Tomsen rests her arm atop your shoulder and leans in, moistening her lips "Name's Lil, and you gotme gaspin a bit m'self...reckon you could feel of m'heart and see if itsa beatin alright?"
[17:18] BlackJack Landar pulls out several coins.....This will cover her drink as well.
[17:18] Lillian Tomsen draws in a deep breath, forcing her already ample chest out even furthery.
[17:18] Lillian Tomsen: aww now you're a sweet one, too..nice t'see a gentleman.
[17:19] Lillian Tomsen leans up and whispers in his ear, flicking her tongue along the lobe "I swanee, if you ain't handsome"
[17:19] BlackJack Landar smiles.....My dear, I think you and I will become very good friends.
[17:20] BlackJack Landar slips his arm around her waist pulling her in close.
[17:20] Lillian Tomsen presses up against him with a smile as she reaches for the drink and tosses it back, offering up a deep moan as he pulls her closer "I think you may be right"
[17:20] BlackJack Landar picks up the drink and tosses it back as well.....
[17:21] BlackJack Landar looks down into her face.....You know, you remind me of someone I knew once down Texas way.
[17:22] Lillian Tomsen rolls around in his grasp to the front of him, looking up in challenge "well I always was fond of Texas...you a Texan feller? They say everythangs bigger in Texas.."
[17:22] Lillian Tomsen leans up and traces the outline of his mouth with her tongue as she whispers "reckon thats so?"
[17:23] BlackJack Landar smiles....Not originally, but I been around a bit
[17:23] Lillian Tomsen lowers her face and looks up at you through thick coal painted lashes "well I ain't one t'hold bein' worldly against a man. Fact.."
[17:23] BlackJack Landar leans down and nuzzles the side of her neck and then whispers in her ear.....perhaps we can find more private quarters to discuss our transaction.
[17:24] Lillian Tomsen runs her hands down your chest as she surveys you "I reckon i kinda like that quality"
[17:24] Lillian Tomsen looks up with a wink "Don't waste no time, I like that, too"
[17:24] BlackJack Landar grins....Life is too short to waste.
[17:24] Lillian Tomsen leans around the man and nods to Copper
[17:25] Lillian Tomsen: Tell you what, why don't you an' me take us a little walk?
[17:25] Lillian Tomsen chuckles at the man's exclamation "not yet but directly"
[17:25] BlackJack Landar: I think that is a splendid idea my dear. The language here is a bit course.
[17:25] Lillian Tomsen winks up at the man
[17:26] Lillian Tomsen: oh yes and I'm a lady of tenderness...
[17:26] BlackJack Landar frowns back at the man.
[17:26] Lillian Tomsen presses her hips against him
[17:27] BlackJack Landar lets his hand slide up her spine.....
[17:27] BlackJack Landar: Now where are you from Lil?
[17:27] Lillian Tomsen reaches for his belt and runs her fingertips down the front of his pants "daylight's wastin"
[17:27] BlackJack Landar: Well lets get going then my dear. I hate to waste time.
[17:28] Lillian Tomsen turns and walks towards the front of the tent, swaying her hips seductively as she tosses back her hair and winks
[17:28] BlackJack Landar walks behind her enjoying the the view
[17:29] Lillian Tomsen walks around and reads the signs "you up for a challenge? Docs place looks empty"
[17:30] BlackJack Landar: I enjoy a challenge Miss Lil.
[17:30] Lillian Tomsen looks about the room with eagle eyes as she spots a large jug on the desk and turns with a twinkle in her eye
[17:30] Lillian Tomsen: and I enjoy a real man for a change
[17:31] Lillian Tomsen steps closer to you and runs her fingertips beneath your lapels, gripping and pulling you close in a swift movement
[17:31] BlackJack Landar grins....Now you are talking my dear. I do enjoy a quality woman.
[17:31] BlackJack Landar slips his arms around her waist looking down at her
[17:31] Lillian Tomsen leans up with parted lips "we shoulda brought more whiskey, I just love the taste of whiskey on a man's lips"
[17:36] Lillian Tomsen reaches down and tugs at the front of his pants "Feller, you better disarm so's i kin git to the gun i'ma aimin' for
[17:37] BlackJack Landar reaches down to unbuckle the gunbelt.
[17:37] Lillian Tomsen takes note of how expensive his guns look and mentally begins guessing how much he has on him as she presses her lips to his and delves in with a small hot tongue
[17:38] BlackJack Landar reaches over and drops the rig on the boxes
[17:39] Lillian Tomsen smiles as she tugs him back towards the desk, talking with her lips still against his "Reckon you're man enough to handle old Lil?"
[17:39] BlackJack Landar returns the kiss, his own tongue moving to meet hers...
[17:39] BlackJack Landar smiles....I think you are about to find out.
[17:39] Lillian Tomsen feels the desk against her backside and hopes up on it, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him closer to her
[17:40] Lillian Tomsen reaches behind her for the jug and gets a white knuckle grip on it
[17:40] BlackJack Landar kisses her harder as her presses against her.
[17:41] Lillian Tomsen moans as the kiss deepens, trying not to think about how damn handsome he is as she brings the bottle up and down hard towards his head
[17:42] BlackJack Landar drops to one knee from the hit, eyes watering, he looks up.....
[17:42] Lillian Tomsen looks down at him and leans down, pressing her mouth hungrily to his as she twists her tongue around his once more and brings the bottle down again
[17:44] BlackJack Landar presss back up to her grabbing the wrist with the jug ...
[17:44] BlackJack Landar squeezes the wrist unmercifully hard...
[17:45] Lillian Tomsen widens her eyes in confusion and gasps as he squeezes her wrist, falling to her knees with a yelp
[17:45] BlackJack Landar looks down at her as he holds her wrist, the pulls her up.
[17:46] Lillian Tomsen jerks away as he pulls her to her feet, setting her jaw in anger "feller if'n you know whats good for ya.."
[17:46] BlackJack Landar unslings his shotgun....If I know whats good for me?
[17:47] BlackJack Landar: My dear, you do not know who you are dealing with do you?
[17:47] Lillian Tomsen steps away and narrows her eyes, flipping open her skirt and drawing a derringer from her garter belt to point at him with eyes of fire "well then, I reckon we're both of like situations in that respect"
[17:49] BlackJack Landar looks at the little derringer and grins.....Lilian, I think you and I are one of a kind. I have plans to get rich. Maybe you would like to be part of it?
[17:50] Lillian Tomsen arches a brow and offers a half smile and uncocks her gun "I'm listenin'"

The Alderton twin's blog

2010-04-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

My new characters, Marr and Mary Alderton, will be keeping their own journal of their experiences and feelings about Deadwood.

The new Deadwood is an awesome experience -- there's a very real feeling about it that made me realize this is not the easiest place for someone to play a child, and brings more light to the problems folks have with child avs in places. It strikes me that if one wants to play a child in Deadwood (and this may translate to any sims in Second Life that are not child focused, but allow children), a typist needs to be sure to be realistic and responsible not only to their character, but to the effect of their character on their fellow typists who are attempting to role-play realistically.

Deadwood 2.0 isn't (necessarily) a hot bed of sex which is the thing that starts most anti-child alt people going. For those not convinced that people like me are 50 year old balding male pedophiles, there are those who worry that having us "creepy" child av's around puts a damper on their style in adult situations which aren't always tied into sex. And as I enter into the new Deadwood, which is excitingly close to that series I watched on television, I can suddenly see how having child avies around, while adding something positive, can also take away from the quality of role-playing.

Our new roleplaying town simply isn't the place for children to be found wandering aimlessly around alone. Nor is it a place where a woman would feel comfortable by herself. Hell, a woman might not even feel comfortable traveling with her husband, brother, father.    It's rough and dirty and there's no nice and familiar place for a woman to stay.

An adult female avatar can probably find a way to survive alone, for a little while anyway. Realistically, she would have to find support fast - whether with a man, an employer or a group of people.   We have a number of typists who like to play tough gals, intelligent and the ancestors of today's liberated (pardon the term) modern woman.    It's a stretch that the sim allows -- we can accept the argument that many of the women who freely went to Deadwood would have been more outgoing, independent, intelligent, educated, free-thinking, etc. than the typical woman of her time.

Children are a different story. Children were not heading to Deadwood independently to seek their fortune. They would have ended up there by chance -- their parents or guardians moved there, or were on their way there, and the child followed.   Any child - orphaned or not - will be spotted if alone and questioned by an adult, this being the nature of the characters and the typists who play in Deadwood. Some will want to know and tell the kids to scram -- some will want to know and get them back home - some may want to know and put the child to work scrubbing floors if the child has no protectors.    Realistically, no young child would survive long alone, stealing food and finding places to sleep - but anyone who wants to play their child avie that way needs to remember to look lean and hungry, have roughed up clothes and to stay away from most adults who are going to question them.

Speaking as a sometime child avatar, I believe child avies need to take extra care of and have much consideration for their affect on those who would be their adult back up.    They need to not interrupt adult story lines where an unescorted or unknown child would not be - they need to not disrupt role play by trying to be the center of attention. The way this sim is at this moment in time means a child avie cannot just jump in where adults are and start role-playing without realizing they are part of an ensemble that may add a burden to fellow role-players. I say this even though I think most of my friends will say "Oh, no, no problem," because my friends are really nice people who don't like hurting other people's feelings. A child avie needs to realize this -- your friends and some others (childavatar-phobes aside) may say it's OK when it might not be.

I'm not one who wants to play a child as part of a mommy-daddy family unit -- not my thing -- I prefer to play the independent loner child who is orphaned and whose care-takers are vaguely interested in them, so I can roam about like I want. In Deadwood 1.0, as a child avatar I could wander and come and go as I wanted - it was easy to find excuses to be hanging around most anywhere where adults were. My excuses of doing errands, or having a grandmother - aunt - parent somewhere on the sim worked because it had gotten more civilized and safe.

That isn't gonna fly in Deadwood 2.0, not for any child under 12, and probably not for any female child under 16.

At this point in the life of this developing little town, it isn't likely there would be abandoned or orphaned children yet. As Wyatt Alderton asked (in what "sounded" like an anguished IM, which reflected the thoughts of the typist) as he led his wife and children through town, "What kind of a man would bring his family into this?"    Wyatt, of course, is the exception to most rules -- he's a visionary alcoholic entrepreneur who was probably convinced this was a good idea when it occurred to him. And though this was a question the typist was asking those playing his wife and children.. I think it might have been a thought that passed through the mind of the character when reality sank in.

There is some temptation on my part to have the twins sent back home to a safer world while the parents (Wyatt and Grace Alderton) go about their business. That is something realistic that could happen. I'm aware that their having twin teen-agers to worry about can put a damper on their roleplaying. Marr and Mary, age 13, clearly cannot wander around Deadwood unattended. The Aldertons wouldn't allow it - the girls (well, Mary anyway) wouldn't want to -- there's little for them to do yet that is appropriate for youngsters and most likely in the early days of Deadwood, there were few if any families.

But part of me wants to stick around and see how we can work this out so that the adult Aldertons don't have an albatross around their necks when their children are in Deadwood, spending their role-playing time worrying about and supervising the activities of their daughters.

For anyone considering playing a child in the new Deadwood, I'd have to urge some very serious thought about who their character is and how they are going to play a child without being a pain or burden to others - both those who are part of their storyline, and those who they may come across.

Clear and open communication, some thought and thoughtfulness among each other (child avies to adult avies and vice versa) can make sure everybody is doing what we all want to do in Deadwood - be creative and have fun.

Notes for Child Roleplay in Deadwood

2010-03-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

I wrote up notes for being a kid in Deadwood, my one (lazy) contribution to Deadwood 2.0. Thought I'd also post them here, slightly edited for those who might be considering role-laying a child in Deadwood or any other Western or Victorian sim. I left out some of our rules for role play in the sim (there are very few).. this all comes from different sources gathered over the past couple of years -- people, books, websites .. some of the books and websites are listed at the end, but there are really too many to remember!

What’s a Kid like You Doing in a town like this?

The Wild West was rough and unsettled. In the town where I play, most children would not have survived alone – girls especially (sorry!) would be in need of adult supervision because girls were not allowed as much freedom as boys.

You can be in the Wild West for some good reasons – mostly because your family is there –or was there. If you don’t actually have a family, you can still talk about having a Ma or Pa who is around doing errands or who sent you into town to do errands.

You may have been orphaned or abandoned – you may want to hide that or lie about it or hang out at the orphanage (if there is one) or find someone to let you work for them in exchange for a place to sleep and a little food.

What Kids Wore in the 1870’s in the Wild West

The Wild West in the mid 1800’s, where I role-play, was cold in the winter, and we play it warm in the summer. Depending on how much money a kid’s family had, a kid might dress in layers of rags or be dressed (still in layers of clothing!) like a miniature adult.

Girls would dress like their mothers did, but their skirts would be a bit shorter and their hair let down longer. You could generally tell the age of a girl by the length of her skirt – a 7 year old’s skirt might be just below her knee – by 16, her skirt would be full length. Boys could be expected to wear knee britches until they were 12 or 13. (Boys under 4 commonly wore dresses sometimes with a bustle! And short pants beneath)

Everyday wear for girls under 16 would include a pinafore or smock to protect their clothing from dust and dirty. Older girls might wear a housedress or apron, like their mothers.
Leggings and shoes would be worn, even in the hottest weather. Well to do families would certainly include in their daughter’s wardrobe a camisole, pantaloons and slip. A son from that family would be expected to wear long johns, socks and shoes and a tie with his jacket. They would, of course, attempt to be current with the times.

Although heavily trimmed and decorated, children's clothes were nonetheless usually simpler than those of adults.

Daughters of miners or working class people might have less clothing, simpler designs, and cheaper (though sturdier) fabric sewn by their mothers. Sons of miners might wear overalls or suspenders. Their clothing might be cut from clothing of their parents or hand me downs from older siblings.

Because paleness, not tan, was considered fashionable, a child from a fashion conscious family would wear a stylish hat. All children would wear some kind of a head covering outside – for warmth in the cool seasons, for protection from the sun during hot weather.
However, it isn’t unlikely you will find children running barefoot and hatless in the Wild West in the summertime!

What do I DO with myself?

A child in the Wild West needs to keep busy in order to keep adults from telling them to go home or asking them annoying questions! What can you do?
Children in the real Wild West probably would have been seen more than heard, and not seen a lot! But in our town, children can do several things to engage themselves in the role play.
1. School. Much as 21st century children might not like school, school was often enjoyed by children in the 19th century. It was where you went to see other kids, do things that weren’t demanding chores, learn things that would help you with a job, borrow a fiction book (which were as exciting as video games and TV back then!) and perhaps have a meal not gotten at home (some teachers often provided breakfast and lunch).

2. Errands. A child could be sent into town to do errands – picking up some flour or eggs perhaps on credit at one of the shops, bringing a letter to be sent out or a message to someone. You get the idea (and it doesn’t hurt to have in your pocket a note explaining this from the errand sender in case you get stopped by some nosy adult!)

3. Jobs. Children could have apprentice jobs or little jobs – sweeping, mopping, sorting, learning a skill, fetching water, hanging clothes, watching a baby, grooming horses, feeding chickens..

4. Play! If there is more than one child in The Wild West and school’s out, children can certainly play. Play in the streets, play quietly outside a saloon, bar, shop where there are adults. Wade in the water (if there’s water nearby), climb the hills and explore. Explore the town and peek in windows. If you want to get in trouble, think about Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer – there’s a lot of trouble you can get into just by being a kid.

About Role-playing a Kid in Deadwood

This is from a piece written by one of our child role-players some time ago – hope you find it as useful as many others have!

-- Remember you're ignorant. Kids aren't born knowing everything. If you want your character to know something, ask yourself how you would have learned it. Was it in school? From your parents? From adults you would have been exposed to?

The longer you rp a kid in Deadwood, the more knowledge you'll accumulate... often hysterically distorted if you listen to everyone. So incorporate what you hear into what your character knows.

Also, kids often "know something" without having a clue what it means. Big abstract concepts like "America" are words kids use long before they really understand things like a nation or the world's size. So also try to ask yourself "Even if my character 'knows' this, what don't they understand about it?"

-- Practice selective listening. OOC you hear everything. IC, adults are mostly boring. Particularly dramatic incidents, indecent language, tidbits that reinforce things you already believe, or things that appeal to your unique interests - these are the sorts of things your character will be listening for. For a good example, note how Liza's a morbid child, and so whenever the topic turns deathward her interest level goes up.

Figure out what interests your character most and what doesn't. If it's boring pretend you didn't hear it or didn't pay close attention. If it's interesting perk your ears up and start asking questions.-Geoff Alderson

And I'll add some other thoughts on rping a kid in these times – children were expected to be obedient to adults. A child would not speak out to adults as equals, would not talk back and would Yes ma’am and Yes Sir most adults. Though a child might reply with a surly tone, even that might get a less than pleasant response from the adult or other adults. This is not to say your character cannot be disobedient – just don’t expect a tolerant response. However, children can think (and type out their inner thoughts) whatever they want as they respond “respectfully”.

Children might be involved when there is a bank robbery or shooting on the street and should react as their character would (see suggestions about interacting with adults).

Any shooting experiences should be realistically related to what children would have done in the times, within a well thought out storyline. For example, children might learn to shoot a rifle so they could hunt, carry a slingshot for fun, have a knife for carving purposes and might (occasionally) use these in self-defense.

Resources

Some Thoughts on Role-playing a Kid In The Wild West (more of Geoff Alderton’s suggestions)
http://www.theroadtodeadwood.com/forum/index.php?topic=1391.0

Pictures and Thoughts on 19th century kids
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2006/march1/child-030106.html

What Children would have read
http://www.merrycoz.org/kids.htm

Children’s Amusements in the 19th Century (an article)
http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/classroom/curriculum_6th/lesson13/bkgdessay1.html

Children’s Fashion (pix)
http://www.costumegallery.com/children.htm

Obituaries –children in Prairies where life was not easy
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/harvey/children.htm

Books

I survived Deadwood 1.0 - self explanatory...

2010-03-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

I survived deadwood 1.0 by RatherBeinDeadwood
See other Deadwood T-Shirts

I survived deadwood 1.0 by RatherBeinDeadwood
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i survived deadwood1.0 by RatherBeinDeadwood
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Nothing stays the sammmmmeeeeeee

2010-03-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

The original Deadwood (described by many as Deadwood 1.0) is about to end, being replaced by Deadwood 2.0.

Deadwood will be going back in time, restarting. Those who are staying have choices about what to do with their characters, as the town burns just as it did in 1879, and then reopens a week later in real time as Deadwood, 1876 - the old beginnings of the town, with mud streets, tent shops and no law!

This should be exciting, if a bit messy.

It's a bit sad, too, as over the past couple of years, history has been created -- a lot of folks have come through Deadwood. One wonders how many of the old timers will recreate themselves, how many will never appear in this second life of Deadwood and how many new characters will be born from the old.

Lola Kanto, one of my favorite characters, won't be back. She's with JF, I know that - in their place in the hills of Kentucky with their children and grandchildren. Whether JF takes a trip to Deadwood remains to be seen - but Lola's busy.

This typist has tried out different roles and I imagine I'll show up as an adult since playing only children does limit your roleplay a bit.

But the kind of role I like the best is that of a youngster -- back to the days when you held an optomistic view of a world where anything seemed possible. Right and fairness conquer wrong and evil, without compromising your sense of self. Playing this age in the context of Deadwood brings with it the experience of that transitional period of coming of age - and that isn't a sexual knowledge - but a widening realization that things aren't always fair, the good guys don't always win...

It's an enjoyable age to play - like we probably all did as we grew up, the character of a child in Deadwood can one moment try to be brave and "grown up" in his or her actions, and the next revert to the protection of adults.

I'm sure I do this because I wish I could in real life, where life has been fairly difficult, where I've been a single mother for decades and now take care of my own mother. My escape from the demands of my own real life are to revert to the relative freedom of childhood, where I had no idea what lay ahead!

So Marrant will be back - with her twin sister,Mary - played by.. me. You can call them Mar and Mar (heh heh). These are the daughters of a new couple in town. The girls look only vaguely alike, though the parents insist they are identical twins. Their personalities are different and they are 13 - that awkward age when the mind and body seem totally out of control to their owners and those around them.

Somehow fitting as my youngest goes off to college and I'm left wondering what the hell am I supposed to do now? And while my own body goes through the changes at the other end of adolescence and the typist shrieks, "Who the hell is THAT in the mirror?"

Woohoo, a coupon for you!

2010-03-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

hey, here's a coupon you can use in my Rather Be in Deadwood shop! $5.00 off your next purchase of $20.00 or more: ERYPSKYAHBXHRMMQTOYK. This code expires on 3/25/2010.

Jemima follows her feelings...March 1879

2010-03-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

It was past midnight, the first day of Spring, when Jemima loaded the wagon with food supplies, cotton diapers, blankets, sleeping bags and a few more items before tucking the empty spaces with infants and toddlers. Last one up was young Elizabeth who gave the stately Negress a strange look.

"Are you sure we need to do this Miss Jemima?" the young girl asked.

"Yes'm I sure am sure," Jemima said as she made sure her own baby, little Earl, was peacefully asleep with the rest of the babes in the back. "Glad you comin' wit' me," the woman added. "Don't know as I could be handlin' all of them alone."

"Oh, we aren't alone," Elizabeth said, half smiling as she tucked her braids under her wool coat. "Morton will be our guide and guard."

"Hmpfff," Jem tightened her bonnet and shifted her skirt as she clambered up beside the girl and took the reins from her hands. "Well don't 'spect he be ridin' up here wit' us. Molasses got 'nuff of a load ta pull." She flecked the horse lightly and the small wagon began moving away from the orphanage on Main Street.

The large black and white dog trotted by the wagon, on Elizabeth's side, as the girl looked down the dark streets.

"Nobody's even up yet," she said softly.

"Nope, most jes' be settlin' down." The woman looked at the girl. "You leave the Streeters a note?"

The girl nodded. "I told them I was with you. On a.. a mission." she added.

"Hmpff," Jem said, then added another "hmpff". She nodded a bit. "Well, suppose you could say it a mission."

They rode slowly down the street, over the bridge and as they moved further away from the town, Elizabeth turned and looked back, watching until there was nothing to see.

"It's.. dark," she whispered. "Kinda .. scary. Are you sure we need to go."

Jemima nodded. "Sure as sure," she said. "I don't get these feelin's offen but when I does... " she paused. "I learnt the hard way, it best ta follow 'em. Even if everybody else think I outa mah mind.. "

After a few moments she suddenly stopped the wagon and cleared her throat.

"Dog." she said. "You kin come up here, iff'n you want. They room 'tween Lizbet' n me."

Elizabeth motioned and Morton softly landed between the two females, settling himself on the floor as Jemima flicked Molasses again.

"Git on, now," she said the horse. "An' don't you say nothin', " she said to the young girl, who closed her mouth and swallowed her giggling "i-thought-you-said" before it rolled out. "He keep us warm," Jemima added, looking straight ahead.

Dry Goods Mercantile Variety Store

2010-03-02T04:17:00.000-08:00

I've been quietly selling some shops in a box for some time, an idea prompted when noticing that newcomers to Deadwood would wander around first trying to think of a business to take up, then looking for places that actually sold things that fit our time period (mid 19th century American western or Victorian era).

The Barber Shop has seemed to be my most successful to date. I got help from customers who sent requests for additions and improvements. That was followed with a Dressmaker's shop - which I just combined with my very successful Antique sewing machine, to make a Seamstress Shop. Although most probably in the wild west there weren't a lot of ladie's Beauty Shops, I added that awhile back and it has been fairly successful too, especially after adding comfy reclining chairs.

I've had most of the makings for a complete Variety Store and with the coming demise and rebirth of Deadwood, this seemed a good time to put a whole package together. And I have to confess, this was inspired by Astolat Dufaux's Western Dry Goods offer. Both of our offers are very affordable and a smart business person would do well to buy one of each, as we each have things the other isn't offering!

A Variety Shop as a business is really appealing -- you can start out with general goods and specialize it to make it whatever you want... as a builder, it is addictive and loads of fun. It's easy to make low prim items for it, and new shopkeepers can make as many cans, bottles, barrels, baskets as they want. The dry goods mercantile shops often served as lumber stores, a post office, barber shop, and stationery supply shops.

But a basic shop only needs a bit of this and that to start out... still, I had to force myself to stop before I hurt myself! In my inventory are things which I'll package later to offer as additions to this basic starter shop... my favorite thing in it is the hanging onions. Or maybe the pickle barrel. Or the 1876 Calendar that changes months. Or the cash register I made that rings and opens to show some old money. Or... well, I hope you'll take a look even if you don't buy a thing, it's a lot of fun!

Mine is set up in my shop in Alice and I imagine I'll keep adding things to it. You can order items from my start up set separately -- they may be a little more expensive that way as you can't copy the cans and such, but still a good deal!

Variety / Dry Goods / General Store Start Up in Xstreet or MetaLife

Seamstress Shop in XStreet or MetaLife

Barber Shop in XStreet or MetaLife

Ladies Salon in XStreet or Metalife

It ain't easy being a kid

2010-02-25T20:51:00.001-08:00

It isn't easy being a kid in a town where a lot of the action happens in places where children wouldn't normally be... we have to find ways to explain why we're where we are without seeming too unrealistic.

As in real life, if you're trying to play a realistic kid, you're bound to be ignored for awhile - and you're also bound to be lucky enough to find some adults who tolerate you.

Here's a little piece of roleplay from this evening. Mind you, the adults had better things to do than pay attention to children. My friend Rachel Kungler and I were hanging around outside the bar areas after an exciting evening that involved a shooting contest -- I'd arrived at the end of that. We messed around for awhile, but like kids, we got bored. The adults had all gone off, mostly to the Bella. The winner of the contest, Badger Bagley, was supposed to be buying
drinks for everyone.

(Picture of Elizabeth and Alice in the orphanage)

Hmm...well, Rachel had been in the contest. We therefore should be included in "everyone". We were thirsty. While Rachel stood and rolled a barrel around the front of the Bella, Elizabeth took toddler Alice (a prim doll, very cute - and hey, it's no weirder for me to be babysitting a toddler from the orphanage than it is for adult avatars to be nursing prim infants!) and stood in the door of the Bella. We know we can't just walk in. The adults were inside, talking about boring adult stuff as they will do.

Anyone role playing a kid must remember to be patient! It took a few minutes to be noticed...

[20:30] Morrigu Berry: Rod, you've been most like a brother here for me; I'm going to miss you plenty.
[20:30] Carlton Strathearn: - Nods -
[20:30] Rod Eun: Yes Ma'am.. I'll miss ya too Morri.. I wish ya the best of luck
[20:30] Elizabeth Vita: stands in the doorway looking in
[20:31] Morrigu Berry: I expect you'll keep in touch - you hear?
[20:31] Rod Eun gives her a nice hug.. "you be safe now"
[20:31] Salissa Wilder: take good care of that baby
[20:31] Elizabeth Vita: stares
[20:31] Rod Eun: I'll do my best.. though letter writin' is not my strong suit.. *chuckles
[20:31] Rachel OHare tips a barrel over and shoves it with her foot
[20:32] Rod Eun: But do send word when ya arrive
[20:32] Morrigu Berry: My boys are my biggest priority now... and I talked to Clay about Jo's custody Rod...
[20:32] Rod Eun: Jo's custody?
[20:32] Elizabeth Vita: shuffles her feet while holding Alice's hand
[20:32] Morrigu Berry: if Francine approaches you about legally adopting her -
[20:32] Morrigu Berry: I'm good with that. She deserves happyness.
[20:32] Rod Eun: I coulda swore I heard her call Miss Fran mom..
[20:32] Rachel OHare: Oooooooh Ohhhhh *balances carefully*
[20:32] Morrigu Berry: She did
[20:32] Morrigu Berry: it was a bit of a surprise to me
[20:32] Rod Eun: Alright.. that'll be no problem
[20:33] Elizabeth Vita: clears her throat and wipes her nose on her sleeve
[20:33] Morrigu Berry: but her happiness and well being has always been a priority
[20:33] Rod Eun: Well, she's had to go through a lot
[20:33] Morrigu Berry: anyhow - I need to get home.
[20:33] Morrigu Berry: Be well all - Mr Strathearn, you too.
[20:33] Rachel OHare clutches the log rail and inches forward
[20:33] Rod Eun: You take care then Morri and have a good trip... *nods again
[20:33] Carlton Strathearn: - Nods and sips his bourbon wishing it had more ice -
[20:33] Elizabeth Vita: shifts from one foot to the other
[20:33] Carlton Strathearn: - Shakes his glass towards the bar lady -
[20:34] Morrigu Berry smiles at Elizabeth
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita: moves out of the Doc's way
[20:34] Salissa Wilder: smiles... travel well morri
[20:34] Rod Eun watches the Doc leave, and see's Liz in the door way
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita: moves back into the doorway
[20:34] Elizabeth Vita: stands there staring quietly
[20:35] Rod Eun: hmm.. well ain't that something..
[20:35] Salissa Wilder: hello Elizabeth...what are you up to honey?
[20:35] Elizabeth Vita: blinks: Mister Bagley was buying drinks
[20:35] Rod Eun turns and looks again
[20:35] Rachel OHare pitches face first off the barrel
[20:35] Salissa Wilder: oh?
[20:35] Rachel OHare: Dang it
[20:35] Elizabeth Vita: me and Alice and Rachel is thirsty
[20:35] Rod Eun chuckles
[20:35] Elizabeth Vita: is Mister Bagley here?
[20:36] Rod Eun: Well, if they is allowed.. I can cover their drinks Sal... since Badger has run off somewheres
[20:36] Salissa Wilder: looks out the door...well I think he splintered off, but Ive some lemonade if you dont tell anyone
[20:36] Salissa Wilder: waves them in
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: curtsies without smiling much: Thank you ma'm
[20:37] Salissa Wilder: don't tell your Mrs. Streeter though, she'll shoot me between the eyes
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: Come on Alice, Rachel! Lemonade!
[20:37] Carlton Strathearn: Least they aren't armed like the mayors daughter
[20:37] Rachel OHare watches Elizabeth and Alice
[20:37] Carlton Strathearn: thats one dangerous kid
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: motions Rachel
[20:37] Elizabeth Vita: stares at the man
[20:37] Rod Eun: She was in a shoot out before.. during Wild Bill days i think
[20:38] Elizabeth Vita: whispers to Rachel: do you know him?
[20:38] Carlton Strathearn: Oh she still lives..... - He trails off sipping his drink -
[20:38] Elizabeth Vita: whispers: he says you was armed
[20:38] Rachel OHare: Not anymore *frowns*
[20:38] Rachel OHare: They was short one in the contest
[20:38] Salissa Wilder: chuckles at the little girls and puts out two glasses of lemonade
[20:38] Elizabeth Vita: stares at the man some more, then shrugs and takes Alice by the hand and moves toward the bar
[20:39] Elizabeth Vita: can Alice just have a small one?
[20:39] Salissa Wilder: don't tell your ma's and pas I let you in here, alright?
[20:39] Elizabeth Vita: points at a shot glass
[20:39] Salissa Wilder: sure why not...grins filling a shot glass with lemonade
[20:39] Elizabeth Vita: if she drinks too much she pees all over
[20:39] Rachel OHare stares at the red curtains and fancy furniture in the adjacent room
[20:40] Rod Eun: Well.. then give her just a little then...
[20:40] Carlton Strathearn: -Tries to smile at the kids -
[20:40] Elizabeth Vita: takes the small lemonade and carefully hands it to Alice, who stares at it before taking itand spills half of it on her shoes
[20:40] Rachel OHare takes the glass and keeps looking at the other room as she sips
[20:40] Elizabeth Vita: sighs and mops up the mess on Alice's shoes with her slip
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita stands up: it's all pretty in here
[20:41] Salissa Wilder: chuckles
[20:41] Salissa Wilder: well thank you
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita: It doesn't look like a gateway to hell at all
[20:41] Rod Eun at the little spill.. "well, could have been worse.. "
[20:41] Salissa Wilder: maybe one day if you work hard enough, you'll have a place like this... grins at the men
[20:41] Salissa Wilder: hands the girl a cloth
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita: takes the cloth
[20:41] Rod Eun nods to Sal and smiles.. "indeed"
[20:41] Elizabeth Vita: thank you ma'am
[20:41] Rachel OHare: The curtains loook like flames
[20:42] Rod Eun: Though I reckon Rachel will be running the Gem..
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita: hmm...
[20:42] Carlton Strathearn: God kills a kitten every time you spill milk you know..
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita: Teacher said this was a den of in.. in...quity
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita: well that was lemonade...
[20:42] Rod Eun: a den of inequity?
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita: pats Alice who looks about to cry at the man's words
[20:42] Elizabeth Vita: nods at Rod
[20:43] Elizabeth Vita: yes that's what she said!
[20:43] Rod Eun: Yes.. lemonade spills.. give an angel their wings.. *chuckles
[20:43] Rod Eun: If it is not on purpose
[20:43] Rod Eun: that is
[20:43] Carlton Strathearn: - Smiles -
[20:43] Elizabeth Vita: Oh, see Alice, don't cry
[20:43] Elizabeth Vita: you gave an angel wings cause that was an accident...
[20:43] Rod Eun: Yes, it's alright little one.. this man's just sore.. cause he fared poorly in the shoot outs..
[20:44] Salissa Wilder: nods
[20:44] Elizabeth Vita: pats Alice on the head as the toddler blinks at Rod and then happily sips what's left of the lemonade
[20:44] Carlton Strathearn: - Shoots a hard look at the judge - Hmmphhh I did fine!
[20:44] Rod Eun smiles to Alice again
[20:44] Elizabeth Vita: sips her lemonade: She's shy
[20:44] Rod Eun: Aye, ya did well there Carlton.. *winks to the girls
[20:44] Rachel OHare finishes her glass and sets it on the bar, 'Thank you Miss Sal, Mr Eun."
[20:45] Salissa Wilder: smiles at the girl, your very welcome...nice manners
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: takes Alice's empty glass and sets it on the counter
[20:45] Carlton Strathearn: - Tries to stand up straighter and prouder -
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: "say thank you Alice". Alice blinks and sucks her thumb
[20:45] Rachel OHare: I have to get home. See ya'll later.
[20:45] Rod Eun: Indeed.. ya must always be on your best behavior, when visiting
[20:45] Elizabeth Vita: bye Rachel.. I should go too
[20:45] Rod Eun: Evening Miss Rachel
[20:46] Elizabeth Vita: places her glass on the counter
[20:46] Salissa Wilder: evening
[20:46] Elizabeth Vita: thank you ma'am
[20:46] Elizabeth Vita: Good evenin'
[20:46] Elizabeth Vita: curtsies and takes Alice by the hand
[20:46] Rod Eun: Night Miss Liz.. and Miss Alice.. *nods again and smiles
[20:46] Salissa Wilder: chuckles, nice little girls, that Rachel may have a saloon of her own if she inherits
[20:46] Elizabeth Vita: waves good bye and drags Alice out
[20:46] Salissa Wilder: well night there you too

Thank you Sal and Rod! The lemonade we got was delicious... we didn't stay long...

I keep going on about this because it's clear to me that I can't stay away from being a kid in the Wild West.... my plans for Deadwood v2 involve my being 13 year old twins (more on their history later).

Meanwhile, that Peter Pan song rings in my ears....

I won't grow up!
(I won't grow up)
I will never grow a day
(I will never grow a day)
And if someone tries to make it
(And if someone tries to make it)
We will simply run away
(We will simply run away)

I won't grow up!
(I won't grow up)
No, I promise that I won't
(No, I promise that I won't)
I will stay a child forever
(I will stay a child forever)
And be banished if I don't!
(And be banished if I don't)

Is it still winter?

2010-02-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

I think my excuse for not being inworld is going to be..... I've been hibernating. Yeah, that's the ticket... hibernating. There has been the matter of the Blizzard(s) of 2010 ... paying someone to shovel, paying again and then just giving up and shoveling....

Actually, if the truth be known, (is it ever?) at first it was real life getting in the way -- as stated wayyy back in January ... but then what keeps me now is some kind of inertia / embarassment /guilt /shyness about coming back. Plus I've gotten into the habit of doing Other Stuff (painting and reading and sleeping )

My bestest friends... Addison, Neil, Badger, Black have been patient as I've abandoned them, though I know they've done just swell without me. My other friends (and you know who you are!) have most likely shrugged and moved on . I'm so far behind in storylines, there's no way to catch up.. there's people I have never met deeply into tales I cannot imagine. Further, I imagine by now I either owe tons of rent or my stuff has been justifiably thrown back by outraged landlords...

How and where to begin? It's almost March... perhaps I can wait a bit longer and rise fresh from the ashes.

Off to read Road to Deadwood and drop some notes to folks ... I haven't even been on the forum... oh my...

What is this Madness called Real Life?

2010-01-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

....and why is it keeping me from Second Life?

At first it was merely the holidays -- understandable. There are decorations to do, presents to wrap and buy, places to go, people to see. And a house full of.... well, just one teen-ager home for the holidays, but sometimes that's enough to keep you very busy.

Surely, I thought, after the holidays I would be back in SL, back in Deadwood. I'd managed to sneak in for a moment or two, enough to pay rents (though I know I owe for at least one). And a short rp that was fun.

But now there is the tree to be take down (artificial- it may stay there for a month, I don't even have time to take off the decorations!)

Driveways to shovel, inventory to do, fafsa forms, tax preparation, website updating, after the holiday orders and new products to design for Valentines Day (which is upon us as shopkeepers faster than you can believe!) are having me 'working' 18 hour days.

What is this madness? I need an escape, if only I could find the time.....and I miss my friends.... :( maybe just another day.....a week.....?

To be.. or not to be.. and who to be.... that is the question...

2009-12-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

I'm agonizing, probably unnecessarily, over the rebirth of a character. What to do, who to be, oh me, oh my?

Well, yes, one might think this would be unnecessarily as I did "kill off" the same character, the adult Marrant Vita, in Deadwood last October.

However, this isn't a case of bringing a character back to life as the same avatar a few months later due to a case of mistaken identity (i.e., the body found in the fire wasn't really Ms. Vita) or the identical twin sister nobody knew she had appears suddenly in Deadwood.

In the case of Deadwood, in March 2010, the town of Deadwood 1879 is being burned down, as it was in real life in the fall of 1879 -- and after a short wait, we'll be re-opened as Deadwood, 1876, the same (but improved our founder says!) beginnings of a mining town with tents and mud and lawlessness our characters walked into two years ago.

Most of us are very excited to be re-living this once again! And many of our regulars who found the town after it had become more tame and established are thrilled to be at the re-opening, too! There's discussion on the Deadwood forum board, as folks decide how to end their character's 1879 stories as most of the town burns down -- will they live or will they die? Will their characters stay in Deadwood or move on? And then after that..... who will those characters be in 1876?

You would think that would be simple -- you'd just be your same character, 3 years earlier. But many are using this opportunity to consider adding to or completely changing the histories, and sometimes the appearances of - their avatars.

And this is where I'm finding myself, with Marrant/Elizabeth. I have other avatars in Deadwood - the legal limit I assure the Lindens who are no doubt scouring my blog - and it's not been a problem to think about changing one from an upstanding citizen to the owner of a brothel, aging another from 7 to 18, and leaving another the same, just bringing him into Deadwood earlier in time than he originally arrived.

But Marrant / Elizabeth, oh my. I'm finding all the difficulties in this that I used to have when I'd think about (before I gave up doing this as a useless exercise) "what-if-I-could-go-back-in-life-and-undo-the-mistake-I-made-when-I-made-that-first-big-mistake-which-I-will-not-go-into-detail-explaining-here-as-you-do-not-need-to-know".

When I would try to do that little "what-if", in retracing my steps there would be people I'd met or decisions made, all kinds of interconnections that led to happy things that would have not happened if I'd made that first fix.

It isn't quite the same with re-doing Marrant and Elizabeth, but almost. Although Marrant was not my first avatar... nor my second... just an alt I built to have a little fun with, she's now my main avatar.

And not only do I like... okay, love... her name, she's my prime builder, and shopkeeper and has a lot of no transfer stuff in her inventory. Sure, sure... she could be the main me, and never role-play in Deadwood at all, that would make sense, though it would break her heart. Okay, so perhaps I'm somewhat emotionally attached to her.

I could get rid of Elizabeth then. She was "born" when I became bored with Marrant's character in Deadwood, but did not want to entirely do away with her. Now I've become attached to Elizabeth as well, so much so that I killed off Marrant's character in Deadwood, but kept Elizabeth.

But I am finding that it's a bit difficult using the same avatar to play two different characters. There's the switch and change, plus the annoying green emoter. And folks who would call Elizabeth "Marrant" as well as prims that do the same ("Marrant Vita sips her delicious cup of tea".. when as we all know, Marrant is long dead"). And you can't be in the same room together, ever, except in a photograph.

The positives, of course, are that you can run into another room to fetch your aunt and emerge a few seconds later to discuss Elizabeth's misbehavior - and you save a ton of linden dollars because you can share everything!

This dual avatar idea was copied from my friend Addison Leigh, who is a brilliant and creative role-player (and I would say this even if she were not a friend). Her adult character had a niece, little Addie, who I met when I first came to Deadwood back in 2007. I was new to Deadwood and new to role-play, and fairly new to Second Life. It took me a bit of time to realize that Addison and Addie were played not only by the same typist, but inside the same avatar.

I've never said I was the brightest light on the street corner.

But I slightly digress.

For 1879, Marrant is taken care of - she's buried in the cemetery, a huge marble monument selected by Elizabeth and paid for from monies inherited by her, stands over her grave. Elizabeth won't die in the fire, nor will any more orphans because Elizabeth insisted brick walls for the inside of the orphanage, buckets of water are in every room and ladders are all around.

For now, what to do with Marrant and Elizabeth in 1876 is my main concern.

One person or two?

If two, mother and child, aunt and niece, friends or foes?

If one, adult or child? Named Marrant (good-bye Elizabeth?)

If adult, wholesome or harlot? Married, widowed, divorced, unwed? (and what about all those Victorian/western children's clothes and toys?)

If child, attached to who and why and how?

And as I agonize and reflect on the possibilities, I'm mildly amused at the worry and effort I'm putting into this.

In any case, this is one hell of a time to be in Deadwood! If you were thinking about visiting, the next few months should be a fun time to make a character and a little life knowing it's short lived.

And being there when it turns back to the beginnings of Deadwood should also be a lot of fun! Check out some of the writings Dio has done on her blog -- she also has some books to offer that give an idea of what fun could be ahead! Read up on old newspapers (Deadwood Free Press) actually role-player's news. And get your long johns from Mlle DuFaux -- she's also going to have some muddy clothing for the rebuild!

Act like a child

2009-12-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

I'd wanted to write another bit about child role-playing, this one explaining a bit about how it can be difficult to rp a child in Deadwood, where people are trying to be historically correct. How realistic would it be for a child, especially a girl child, to be wandering the streets alone? Add to that the oddity of timezones in RL and SL -- what if the only time you can sign on to play is 9 p.m. where you are, but that makes it 8 a.m. or 1 a.m. or 9 p.m. in Deadwood?

Other players also have their own understanding of how children should be role-played and role-played with -- we children can get bossed around, sent home, sent to school, lectured to -- even if we are NOT the snotty nosed little kids that drive other players mad. What newer players may not realize as they try to send us somewhere realistic and safe, but where there is no role-play going on (i.e., home, school) is - if we obey (and many adults really expect us to) then we cannot role-play, or not for long. We try to find as realistic ways as possible ways to role-play our way into places and events where children might not be.

But I thought instead of trying to write a long-winded lecture, it might be more fun to put together a long-winded vignette based on actual experiences I've had over the past two years while role-playing children in Deadwood. This only deals with child-to-adult experiences -- others no doubt have their own adult-to-child and child-to-child incidents.

Hopefully this can give folks an idea on how to work with child role-players so they don't end up being isolated either alone or in groups of children only.
_______________

Elizabeth carried Faith with her as Alice tagged behind, the two older girls holding small baskets soon to be filled with goods from the Deadwood General Store. Elizabeth marched on down the crowded sidewalk, chin high, nodding politely without stopping. “Excuse me, pardon me, good day, excuse me,” she said in as adult a manner as she could.

“Stay with me, Alice,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Do not lag behind and do not talk to strangers.” Alice said nothing, but grasped Elizabeth’s apron tighter as she scurried to keep up.

Saturdays and Sundays were so much better than week-days, Elizabeth thought. On Saturdays, she could go about her errands largely undisturbed by annoying little queries, interrogations, or condescending commentaries; Sundays were quiet times, in church and then following the Streeters about as social calls were made.

Both days she managed to maintain her feeling of her self as who she knew she was, without the constant irritating interruptions thrust upon her during the week.

Elizabeth could not wait until she turned 16, or even 15, for she noted that girls of that age were treated by adults as young ladies and not helpless children. She was chagrined to note that little boys as young as seven had more freedom than a girl of eleven, left alone to amble the streets, climb trees, run and jump the alleys with little comment from adults other than “boys will be boys.”

As she strode toward the General Store, the two orphans in tow, she reflected on the irritations of the previous week.

While standing on the orphanage porch, a complete stranger had approached and demanded to know where her parents were and why she was out so late.

Elizabeth had struggled with her desire to reply to the adult with some pointed questions of her own such as “Who are you to ask?” and “None of your business” or “Since when is 5 o’clock late.” She refrained from those replies.

She had then wanted to reply by retreating into the orphanage, slamming the door behind her. She also decided this would not be proper in the eyes of Miss Jemima, head of the orphanage, or Mrs. Streeter, her current guardian.

“Are you deaf? Or just rude?” the stranger had snapped as Elizabeth struggled to find a suitable response. The second set of questions found a new series of possible replies spinning their way through Elizabeth’s head, sharp little words dancing pointedly on her lips, struggling to spew out. She was saved from getting herself in sure trouble when the door to the orphanage opened and Miss Jemima’s appeared.

That was Monday.

On Tuesday, heading home for lunch from school, she had been stopped by yet another stranger.

“You! Why aren’t you in school?”

Elizabeth blinked. “I.. I’m going home for lunch,” she said, a bit uneasy.

“Oh? Is your mother waiting? And where is home?”

Elizabeth looked uneasily past the stranger’s shoulder toward the Inn. Mrs. Westland would be inside, alone in the kitchen as the Inn tended to be empty during the day. The stranger looked clean cut enough, but the girl was not sure if she should be informing him of anything. She’d heard many a story of women alone being held up by gun point by strangers.

“I… um…the hotel, downtown,” she said and ran off.

“Hey, you, wait!”

She could hear the sounds of the man’s heavy boots as he pursued her; she ran faster and faster stopping only when she slid through the doors of the hotel, to the safety within. It had not gone smoothly – the man and Miss Cookie had had some harsh words, and Miss Cookie had pulled out a gun. Little Addie had followed her from the schoolhouse and had bitten the man. It had not ended well for either of the girls, or for the man.

On Wednesday evening, she’d been sent on an errand by Mrs. Streeter to pick up a set of new gloves at a local shop. Again, two strangers – two ladies this time – had stopped her in the street.

“Oh, aren’t you the cutest little thing?” one had gurgled at her. “Are you an orphan?”

Elizabeth had blinked, not quite certain what it was about her that had led the woman to ask this – she was certain it was not the usual question one placed when first meeting someone. The girl had looked around, desperate for a familiar face but had seen no one.

“Um, yes ma’am,” she’d replied politely.

“Ohhh,” the lady’s friend had replied, smiling at her friend.

Elizabeth started edging away. “I have to go now,” she’d said.

“You poor little thing!” the first lady had said. “All alone in the world! I bet you want a mommy.” The lady smiled at her sweetly.

“Um,” Elizabeth said. “I’m supposed to get Mrs. Streeter’s gloves. From there,” she pointed toward the clothing shop, and backed away. “Um, but thank you. I am not alone, Mrs. Streeter takes care of me. And Mr. Streeter. Um, I mean she takes care of him. And he takes care of us. And, I have to go. ”

“Wait, wait, don’t go, I can adopt you!” the first lady called, but Elizabeth ran off as fast as she could.

On Thursday, she’d been sitting on the bridge near the cemetery, waiting for Carrie Anne. Her chores were done, school was out and it was a really nice day. She dangled her legs and looked down – the water was so clear, you could see fish swimming in circles. She was in the midst of thinking about the time she and Carrie had pushed that boy in the river, when the sound of a deep voice startled her so much she almost fell in herself.

“Hey, get away from there! It isn’t safe!” Elizabeth turned and saw a man and a woman approaching the bridge. “What are you doing out here by yourself?”

“Um. I’m waiting for my friend.”

“Well, you should wait somewhere else. It isn’t safe here.”

The lady smiled gently at her. “That’s right dear. Why, there are Indians. And people shooting. This just isn’t a safe place for a little girl to be,” the lady giggled. “Unless she’s with a big strong man.”

Elizabeth stared as the couple eyed each other for a moment before turning back to her.

“Someone might kidnap you if they find you out here,” the man said gruffly. The woman nudged him.

“Henry, don’t startle the child,” the woman said. “What’s your name, little girl?”

“Elizabeth. “

“Hello Elizabeth. I’m Cynthia and this is Henry. Come with us and we will walk you safely back to town.”

“Um. I’m supposed to meet Carrie here."

“She can meet you in town, come along now.”

Elizabeth had followed the couple reluctantly back into town where they dropped her off at the empty Inn and told her to stay put. She’d sat patiently waiting for Carrie but somehow they hadn’t met up that afternoon.

On Friday she’d arranged to meet Carrie and a few other children over by the Gem. The whole town was over there watching the fights. Although they weren’t usually allowed in, the children usually gathered in the alley and took turns standing on empty kegs under the window. Most often the adults were too excited or happy to notice the children.

When Elizabeth got there, none of the other children had arrived yet. That was alright with her – she knew they’d show up eventually. She’d gone quietly to the side of the building and crawled up on the keg. She supported herself and leaned against the building, watching the fight inside.

She was so fascinated watching the adults moving around, the men seeming to dance around each other, their fists up in the air as they jabbed at each other while the crowd cheered and jeered, that she hadn’t noticed the woman inside staring at her. She was so busy watching as one man fell down and the other raised his arms over his head while people applauded, that she didn’t notice the lady stalk out the door of the Gem. Elizabeth’s head was plastered against the window, watching the winner helping the loser to his feet when the shrill voice of the woman almost knocked her off the keg.

“What are you doing up there?”

Elizabeth got her balance back just in time, and she turned to see who was being shouted at only to find a red faced woman glaring at her.

“You mean me?” she asked, seeing nobody else around.

“Of course you,” the woman sputtered, her words seeming a bit slurred to Elizabeth. “This isn’t a place for a little girl.”

“I’m not little,” Elizabeth offered. “I’m eleven.”

“Eleven or seven,” the woman barked. “You’re a child. Now get out of here. Go home. If you have one.”

“Er.” Elizabeth paused. “I do, but I’m allowed to be here, long as I don’t get in trouble.”

“You’re in trouble now. This is a dangerous place. Children don’t belong here. They aren’t allowed.”

Elizabeth paused, then slipped down from the keg.

“Um, Mister Clay, he lets us be here. As long as we don’t go in.” She tried to smile appealingly at the lady. “Ma’am.” She added, hoping that would be a nice additional touch.

“Don’t ma’am me. There could be a shooting. This is violent. Children shouldn’t see this!” The woman seemed to be waving her arms as she yelled.

“Um, yes ma’am. Only, they aren’t fighting, you know. It’s just.. a contest,” Elizabeth smiled a little and then added, “ma’am" again for good luck.

She decided not to go into how many deaths she herself had seen, how many shootings or drunks lying on the streets, and how she and her friends would always run for safety when a shooting started. She had the feeling the woman might not be using her best listening ears at the moment.

“Go home, or I’ll call the law on you,” the woman said, crossing her arms and glaring at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth sighed and thought how home would be boring. From home she could look out the window and see everyone over at the Gem, but she wouldn’t be able to see what was really going on or hear the excitement. If she had to go home, she may as well go to bed, she thought. She signed again and nodded. But just then, one of the adults stuck a head around the corner.

“What’s going on?” a familiar face said.

“Just sending this brat home,” the woman said.

“Brat?” the person said. “Oh, hell, that ain’t no brat. That’s Lizzie. She and the other kids are usually here on a Friday night – they ain’t no trouble, are you Lizzie?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No ‘m, we aren’t, really!”

“Come back on in and watch the fight and let the kids be,” the regular said, motioning toward the angry woman, who scowled, stomped her foot and then shrugged.

“Fine. But if anything happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the woman said and sashayed around the corner, slamming the door as she re-entered the Gem.

“You be good now,” the regular said to Elizabeth, who smiled broadly and nodded.

“I will be.. thank you!” She climbed back on the keg and continued watching as she waited for her friends.

Thousand White Women

2009-12-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

When I viewed the Pope Joan book , up popped another book I'd almost forgotten -
...One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

Talk about books perfect for Deadwood! This is a book people are going to love or hate... It is great for history buffs - but only if they don't get hung up on little things like reality.

Set in 1875, the storyline is based on an agreement between Ulysses S. Grant and Little Wolf, chief of the Cheyenne nation.

Little Wolf brings his men to Washington to make peace, and suggests to President Grant the way to bring peace would be if there could be a bonding between the white man and Native American. His suggestion? 1,000 white women be traded for 1,000 horses. The white women will marry into the tribes, children will be born, peace will be made.

(Evidently there was such a suggestion made, but it was not well received in reality)

In this fictionalized story, Grant thinks this is a keen idea, though he's wise enough to think this should be done in secret. The women to be traded are recruited from prisons, mental institutions, debtors prisons, houses of ill repute in exchange for pardons and promises of freedom after two years of indentured service (after bearing a child or two).

Heroine May Dodd is the child of a wealthy Chicago family who ended up in a mental institution, not because she was insane, but because she fell in love with a poor man, ran off with him and bore his children out of wedlock. Her own father snatched her back and threw her into the insane asylum.

May marries chief Little Wolf (of course) and lives in a tipi with two of his other wives and their children. She writes about life among the Cheyenne, where some of the new women show up the braves in some of their sports (i.e. arm-wrestling, foot-racing, bow and arrow shooting, etc.)

There are savage experiences with alcohol, with other tribes, the winter, the calvary attacking by mistake.

It isn't a story filled with happiness and there's not a happy ending for all. But it is an enjoyable read, one that might offer some good role-playing ideas, even in a sim where Native Americans aren't, as of this writing, allowed unless they are "civilized".

I swear I've heard of similar backgrounds from some of our women folk as they've stepped off the stagecoach into Deadwood!

Pope Joan? A role-play character possibility....

2009-12-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

I had a lengthy e-mail conversation with a customer, helping her to place a rush order for something non-SL. Turns out the woman I was e-mailing with is the author of an intriguing book -- one that looks like it could lead to an interesting role-play....

I'm pretty sure I remember reading a line or two somewhere in a college history book about this historical figure.

The copy on the website says, "For 1,200 years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die--the woman who disguised herself as a man and sat for two years on the papal throne."

Now, there's an intriguing female character to play. Of course, someone would have to either build a sim around it.. or I'd have to find one where it existed. And a bit of research would be needed too.. on my reading list now.... (in my spare time)

More about the book, which is coming out as movie: here

Thoughts and reflections on the "weaker sex"

2009-12-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

On one of the pages of fellow role-player and blogger, Merry, I found some musings about women in Second Life role-play that gave me pause to think, for it raised in my mind some of my own thoughts and reflections about the selection of roles in historical rp sites, especially for women!

She comments:

"Recently I was reading reviews of the PBS show "Frontier House. In that show, three families from various economic and social backgrounds were forced to live for months just as the settlers did....

"Their inability to submit to authority, constant determination to be top dog of the community, and stubborn refusal to compromise resulted in making the experiment even more difficult. In the case of the Colonial House, such behavior endangered the entire community.

"What is fascinating about the failure of the participants is that they were most often adult female cast members. This compares similarly to my experiences in the historic role play of Second Life. Females seem unable to accept and enact the truth of the era.

Modern women see only the limitations of the role, viewing their foremothers with disdain. Her historical counterpart is put down as weak, ineffective and helpless. Nothing could be further from the truth. For women to have accomplished as much as they did given the restrictions in their lives is heroic."

How true that last sentence is! However, I would have to respectfully disagree on the generalizations about "females being unable to accept and enact the truth of the era" and "Modern women see only the limitations of the role, viewing their foremothers with disdain." This may be true of a few lost souls, but I am very thankful I stumbled into role-play in Deadwood, a historical sim where I do not see among the women I regularly role-play with any disdain of the women whose lives are used to recreate the times!

What I have seen sometimes among newcomers to historical role-play is a difficulty to find or create an appropriate role for a female character, balancing the reality of the times with expectations of fellow players while making a role that is still interesting to play.

Those who role-play historical women may be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Those who choose the “historically correct” path have the challenge of creating and developing interesting characters from a reality that was not glamorous or earth shatteringly noticeable.

Those who decide to play more exceptional women of the times may be criticized for playing women who seem more like a modern woman set back in the 19th century.

In Deadwood during those times (1876-79), women (respectable ones anyway) were in the minority. Many of those who were there were a tough bunch, or led short lives. Most could not be independent and had little access to their own finances. Bound by family expectations, legalities and the need for marriage to secure their place in the world, the position of the majority of women were more to be pitied than envied. Those who worked in their homes, in the fields or on their backs 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year were incredible women.

That women made any "accomplishments" as defined by today's terms would have been amazing! High falootin' big payin' careers, Masters degrees let alone PhD’s, ownership of large businesses, political lives, world travel, a carefree single life -- dream on!

The average woman’s measure of success back then might have more to do with who her father was, how powerful and wealthy her husband was, how many children she had born him, how well she managed her home, or – in some cases – how she managed to keep herself out of prostitution in Deadwood – rather than her own personal academic or business accomplishments.

If they want to be “historically correct”, role playing women in Deadwood, as with their real life counterparts, often have few roles to choose from that are also enjoyable to play.

Men, as always, have more choices. We’ve had a flood of men who wish to play powerful bad guys or wholesome heroes. But we also have a lot of men stepping up to be Mayors and Sheriffs, Union leaders, thieves, robbers, entertainers, Homestead manager, Saloon owner, drunken doctor, mortician, hotel or store owners, farriers, miners, bankers.

Realistically, women would not have had most of those roles except as supporters - entertainers, nurses, bank teller - saloon owner perhaps. Add teachers, parlor girls, shopkeepers, cooks, midwives, mothers, wives.

These are all interesting role-play opportunities, offering a chance to really go back in time and live a woman’s life. These women would have been second class citizens, many living lives of quiet desperation, perhaps exhausted, depressed, using laudanum or alcohol to numb themselves. If single or widowed, they may have been quietly or frantically seeking a husband, not as a love match but as a pratical solution to what could turn into a frightening situation.

A rich possibility for role-play – Jeni Trefusis comes to mind as someone who got deep into her abused prostitute role, then killed her character off in a fairly historically correct style murder. Dio Kuhr’s character is another whose history is convincing, having lived a rough life then pulled herself up by her @#$%&* bootstraps (ah, that I could curse like Dio does!) Widow Hannah Shinn, left in debt to raise two children found herself in deep despair, indentured to shady businessman (aka killer) Blackjack Lander.

Along with these, we’ve had our hotel manager/owner and her cook (Cookie and Coodnank), newspaper writers, successful shopkeepers and small business owners, teachers and (ahem) “entertainers”, some resourceful women who moved themselves out of the “business”, becoming wives or madams (Miss Wilder, owner of the Bella Union; Lola McGinnis Kanto, who married out) and a handful of women who were wives of successful businessmen. In reality, the women these characters are based on may have led lives that were fulfilling but undocumented, details and stories forgotten after the last of the grandchildren died.

In Deadwood roleplay, there have been many more of these characters, most gone, not all forgotten.

Many players of females seem to prefer to start from templates of modern day success for women for their Deadwood characters. Since I’ve been there, we’ve had female Mayors/Town leaders, lawmen (including a great Sheriff), bank robbers, murderers, physicians, lawyers. We’ve had an endless supply of females claiming degrees from Ivy League colleges, widows with vast wealth, heiresses of royal blood and fortune.

These roles are somewhat based on realities of the times, albeit a tad stretched, and the popularity (perhaps due to the familiarity) has resulted in a heavy flood of strong females, ironically making the historical accuracy of the sim doubtable. No doubt, there were successful female outlaws back then. There were a few female doctors and the first woman mayor in the country,Susanna Salter, was elected in 1887 (a stretch but close enough for most of us). In fact, there were a lot of real women for players to base their characters on – though many were successful for work that in our times (and then) was illegal.

Of course, we are merely human, and when we come to role-play we may not want to play an average woman, we may want to be exceptional, someone different than the person we might have been had we been born back then. (Or maybe we think though we are ordinary today, back then we would have been born with all of our 21st century liberated woman thinking set firmly in stone and would have been extraordinary!)

That is all well and good except if you multiply that times 10 or 100, you can end up with an overload of powerful or successful women in a time period where it is not historically correct or realistic to have more than a handful (if that) of important women.

We cannot seem to drop entirely our modern selves as we enter into role-play, no matter how good a player we might be. We try, but it may be virtually and realistically impossible for a role-playing woman (or man) to fully grasp the second class citizen position a nineteenth century American woman (or foreign woman in America) would have encountered, regardless of her marital, economic, and social status, no matter her education, intellect, beauty or psychological superiority to the males with whom she interacted. It would be the rare and exceptional woman who would have had any noticeable power or access to her finances.

There is some stretching and accepting that has to be done. It would be something if more people would be willing to be ordinary people and grow their characters from there. Perhaps that’s why I prefer being a child – children would be backdrop to the adults around them, with few expectations. Most adults if they cared for my character would only want her to grow up to find a good husband and would have fit her education to do the same. She wants to be a mortician (don’t ask) but I don’t have to play that or realize, as a child, how unrealistic a future that is for a little girl in 1878. We are there to have fun and we do!

Like those PBS shows, role-play in Deadwood is not reality – it is a sampling of life in a times that looks appealing from afar. We get to play around with some of the realities that would make us want to tp home if we found ourselves really in Deadwood in 1876 -79, having to live as the folks did back then.

I cannot resist adding I watched both of the PBS shows when they first came out. Frontier was fascinating to me, psychologically and historically. Of the 13 participants, only one, who did happen to be a woman, was credited with nearly ruining the operation and possibly her marriage through her behavior -- the other 12 which included 2 other women, 3 men and several children -- did their best. Karen Karen Karen… I wonder where she is today?

Colonial life was memorable to me not for women being unable to work with others or desiring to be in charge, but for a whole group of people, male and female, who found it difficult to impossible to play by the rules of the times -- refusing to go to church on Sundays, a young man coming out to pilgrim fellows and receiving no time appropriate response, leaving the set to walk into town (men), etc. These were harsh times, and as I recall there were servants, pilgrims and Native Americans (uncast real ones) adding to the mix. The difficulties were shared pretty equally by men and women, one couple in particular being quite the “pill”.

Of course, nobody was forced – this was a choice the people made to participate – it must have seemed a good idea at the time. I can relate to their inability to live in the reality of the era they were set in – we have a lot of comforts we take for granted, not just those we remember when the power is out for more than a day or two.

In Colonial life, one of the men quit when faced with the emotions of life as a black indentured servant. I have a hard enough time as a liberated woman in 2009 submitting to the authority of the IRS, doctor’s orders, and those who determine who can get the swine flu vaccine. I’d be a miserable failure trying to follow the rules for a woman prior to the 1960’s.

And I’m not sure I’d want to do my historical role-playing on a reality TV show, exposed to the world on DVD forever!

What makes a good roleplayer?

2009-12-02T06:06:00.000-08:00

When I stumbled into Second Life in the summer of 2007, I had no idea what was ahead. As noted in my profile, I was looking for a way to get closer to my sister who lives half a country away and isn't fond of talking on the tele. Facebook was for teens back then.

She'd mentioned Second Life. I'd tried it once and left after a few hours, not seeing the point. Everyplace I'd visited on my first trip was either bereft of life or stuffed with strange beings who approached me in a way any introvert would find frighteningly familiar, with offers of help or sex or both.

This time I was determined to spend more time and effort. My first avatar (not Marrant) spent a lot of time inworld doing the things that newbies do. Visiting places that specialized in handing out freebies, changing appearance, shopping, visiting all kinds of adult places and making friends with strangers, coloring cubes and even buying a small bit of mainland from my sister, who knew the ropes.

My sister was the one who first introduced me to roleplaying. At least I thought it was roleplaying. The avatar who captured me and typed out something about ripping my clothes off and a few more things evidently did not think it was roleplaying and got really pissed off when my avatar happened to have undergarments that could not be ripped off and a throat that could not be cut.

As unpleasant as that near death experience was, I decided that a new character and new kinds of roleplay were needed. And so Marrant was born. It took another month of experimenting with roleplay places in Second Life before I stumbled into Deadwood one afternoon.

Either I wish I had the chat log from those early days or I am thankful the computer they are stored on has passed on ~ I'm not sure which. I had no idea what OOC meant, or how to leave a scene without telling everyone something like ((have to go, toodles)).

I still don't know a lot about roleplaying, but I know more than I did. And I've learned it from fellow roleplayers, the good, the bad, the incredible and the horrific.

I've gone to roleplaying classes in Deadwood and other places. They are helpful and fine, with tips and examples, like not knowing somebody's name until they are introduced, how not to suggest rather than force a slap onto someone, how not to god mode, using emotes, etc.

But for me, they seem to leave out some basic points I've seen in good and great roleplayers I've known and have gotten to play with -- most of whom I am so fortunate as to call my good friends outside of roleplay.

I offer these thoughts here, just from my observations:

The best roleplayers - (this being my opinion only, and with the notation that I am not an experienced role-player and only have role-playing experience in one sim) are those who do several things.

1) They are good writers and editors.

Not necessarily good spellers, they seem to be able to write a short but descriptive dialog that sounds like someone would really say it, not like it was being read from a novel.

Some might add a little more to it than the basic "Howdy, ma'am" *tips his hat - but the best roleplayers don't need an epic paragraph to introduce their characters and storylines.

2. They are aware of the human condition.

They view life (sl and rl) as a tragi-comedy, not solely tragedy or solely comedy and they bring this to their roleplay.

Most of the good roleplayers have watched a lot of plays and movies and/or read a lot of good novels -- they can play a tragedy, they can do light comedy or every day roleplay, and they can blend them in together.

This piece perhaps explains it better than I can.

3) They are improv players --

Though they may have started a scene with specific players and a large or small plot in mind, they are flexible and responsive as the presence of new players or twists and turns moves the whole story away from where they wanted it to go.

4) They are not prima donas, and are inclusive rather than exclusive in their role-play.

They will work with anyone who appears. If OOC issues appear, they can leave them aside or work them into their storyline.

5) They are most often ensemble players rather than stars.

Which makes them stars in my eyes.
****
Addition: Some excellent thoughts on this topic, can be found on Dio Kuhr's blog - Is There Such a Thing as Good Roleplaying? . Her much more detailed and kind-hearted view of this topic cast a light for me on my own rather judgmental attitude toward other players. Hopefully I will learn to be more accepting of fellow role-players of all kinds.

Deadwood South Dakota 1876 or 77 or 78 or 79 by RatherBeinDeadwood

On Killing Your Avatar Self

2009-12-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

There have been some who thought it brave that this typist killed off her character in a roleplay in Deadwood in October, and some who thought it sad. There were others who kept their thoughts and feelings to themselves. I can only assume some thought it was an improvement, some just shrugged it off, and most of course barely knew Mrs. Marrant Vita.

I never bothered to explain a good deal about the sudden death by fire of the orphanage director, who expired holding an orphan infant in her arms. Fellow roleplayers determined that four more infants also died before the fire was put out.

Our town funeral director was excited about the opportunity to manage a funeral, complete with a day long viewing followed by a service at the funeral home and then a few graveside songs and words. The whole event offered a chance for regulars and newcomers to participate in an ensemble event, and it was well played by many
It was very odd to be present at one's own funeral, odder still to be reacting to it as another player because I was there, as the same avatar who plays Marrant also plays her 11 year old niece, Elizabeth.

Nobody has asked Why, probably because I explained it to friends though typically of me, it was not a well thought out rational plan, but rather following some kind of ethereal leading. Things in Deadwood had been .. well, dead for a while. Behind the scenes there'd been some upheavals brought about by major dramas among some of our players. I'd been roleplaying infrequently, having taken a long break from my admin duties. The character of Marrant had been absent due to long migraines; when I roleplayed, it was as Elizabeth, a depressed child avatar with a dark history of losing family members and taking the guilt on herself.

The fire in the orphanage came about while Elizabeth and other regulars were up on the hills, celebrating a great Halloween event co-sponsored by Miss Salissa Wilder, owner of the Bella Union Saloon and (ironically) the orphanage.

This typist came back down into town and saw a few players about and wondered how long it would take for someone to notice the orphanage was on fire. People came and went and walked by, the doors of the orphanage were wide open, flames were flickering. Nothing happened. Another fire was added. Still nothing. The flames were moved up so they peeked out of the top of the orphanage. It took about an hour, but eventually the fire was noticed, and I have to say, the roleplay was incredibly good... I was going to say fun, but that's not quite right, given the deaths and reactions. There was definitely humor in there.. dark tragi-humor... but also some tragi-drama.

There were three parts at least to it

Why why why? Well, I was a bit depressed about the goings on in the sim. The orphanage really needed to be burned down so it could be rebuilt. Marrant is fun to play == in the worst case, I could dig up (so to speak) a twin sister and drag her back in. But Marrant really is my builder and shopkeeper, so when she's in Deadwood, I prefer that she is the dark 11 year old Elizabeth. Also, I wanted to be an admin again and Elizabeth's role is minor which makes admining much easier. Finally, someday Deadwood will be burning down (as it did in 1879) and going back to 1876, when Marrant can be reborn.

I miss playing her sometimes -- in roleplay, she's been the part of me who still believes in Happily Ever After and positive endings, in fairy tales and Santa Claus, a comical innocent I've loved playing. And strangely, it's my child avatar, Elizabeth, who doubts all of that and is more concerned with gloom and doom and darkness that I-the-typist see as more like real life. She reveals a lot about me - I look forward to the day when I can bring Marrant (French for oddly amusing) back to life in Deadwood.

Being dead is not so bad, at least in these circumstances.

Whoo hooo something new

2009-11-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

I don't really know exactly what I'm doing but... one of my bestselling items is a low cost animated clip board and pen I made (for some reason, I enjoy making animations!).

But people have IM'd me or come to my store, expecting to see it working. I don't quite know how to present the clipboard and pen as a test someone can try on, though I've had them floating around..somehow it's just not the same.

Today I made my first (hopefully not my last) little video -- this one shows Marrant using the clipboard. A bit of work and a little too long for an item that is selling for 50L, but it was fun!

The feather duster --

And the oh so necessary hair brush and primping mirror - I will be putting this in a box with grooming supplies...

Groups

2009-11-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

Another group, just what is needed -- but if you want, come and join Former Xchange Shopkeepers.

It's intended to be used as a way to share information on what others are doing, or just a griping place.

My latest post to members:
******
Hey, how are you -- and what are you doing to market your stuff?

I've started a blog, though it's mostly about how I'm marketing now to work around these changes and explaining a little why I am still on xchange while looking around.

Note that blogspot.com is FREE -- it is a way you can market your goods and let off steam if you want to.

On the commerce forum, there are some who are offering places to park your boxes, and discussion of free shops inworld.

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/commerce

Where you find out that SL exchange is going to be down for new software installation on Wed. Dec 2 starting at 8 a.m. for they say 5 hours (yeah, right).

I've been trying out MetaLife, finding it a dream to use. Sales sluggish everywhere! I think ppl are recovering from Thanksgiving in the US, but the economy is still dinging everyone in SL and RL.

Prokofy Neva is putting together a Welcome Kit offer - using freebies and ads from his renters - he'll carry the 99L fee for posting, and no cost to the renters using this.

Read more here.

What are you people doing, if anything?

Have you tried out alternatives? What is working, what isn't? Send me a notecard or post on my blog (address below signature)

Alternatives to xchange (as long as allowed by LL):

http://meta-life.net/
http://metaverseexchange.com/
http://slapt.me/
http://apez.biz/

Marrant Vita
Former Xchange Shopkeepers
http://www.marrantvitas.blogspot.com

On being a child in SL

2009-11-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

90% of the time in Second Life, I'm in one of my child avatars. I have a couple, children from Victorian times ranging in age from 7 to 11.

And 80% of the time I'm one of them (most often Elizabeth, under Marrant Vita's avatar) I'm someplace safe for people playing children avatars -- Deadwood (Phoenix Pass) or my tiny bit of mainland, my residence at my friends' place in Caledon.

But the rest of the time I'm out and about, visiting my own shops or shopping. I'm very comfortable being a child in SL -- I didn't start out that way, mind you. I tried out the adult life, the wild life. My oats have been sown here and there, I've fallen in love, I've done adult things as an adult with adults.

Being a child, though, has somehow felt right to me, more and more. And in my limited travels, I've been lucky enough to only have interactions with fellow Second Lifers who are pleasant in their dealings with a child avatar. Of course, mine are always dressed in charming Victorian costume, so that may make a difference.

It always comes as a big surprise when I read posts wherein someone declares that anyone playing a child in Second Life is a pervert of some kind, looking for age play sex and the defense from others often is, not all are perverts, some are just messed up in the head.

Hmmm. This comes from a place where people using adult or furry avatars often are going around looking for on-line sex with strangers who may or may not be anything like the person they claim to be.

In any case, I hope I'll be able to continue with my 7 to 11 year old child avatar roleplaying. I love this age -- I used to be it once and now I have offspring in that range. These are people, by the way. We label them as "children" for many reasons, good ones. They are children, innocent, optomistic, full of hope and promise and possibilities for tomorrow. This is the age when for the normal child, friendship and love have nothing to do with sexual encounters. But what I think many forget both in RL and in SL is, children are people - often intelligent, observing adults and drawing conclusions that can be close to the mark and very amusing.

My characters are not in need of parents, either -- they are loners or orphans, but they have caretakers who are somewhere offstage (that would be me, HELLOOO, I'm an adult, the typist, and the caretaker of my avatars). They are at the age when children are learning that they are separate entities, stepping out a bit to see what they can do independently, then rushing back to the comfort of home when things get shaky.

For those who find my avatar upsetting or attractive as a child, I would just ask that you walk on the other side of the street and leave me be. My child avatars are interested in things like wondering if fairies are real, how hummingbirds stay up in the air so long, talking about how stupid boys and grown ups are with her best friends. Most often they don't notice the grumpy, paranoid, name-calling adults around them -- life is too magical to be bothered with all of that.

Where to Begin?

2009-11-28T14:03:00.001-08:00

Blogs are everywhere -- not sure we need another blog about Second Life, but here mine is anyway!

I'm starting this one primarily because of the changes going on in Second Life's marketplace, popularly known as the Xchange. Most merchants there or shopkeepers inworld are aware of those, some shoppers may be. It's a long drawn out story having to do with new charges to the merchants causing some reactions among us

Some are outraged and panicked - the cost of doing business has risen from the considerable time we put in to designing and uploading pictures and writing descriptions to a Linden dollar amount.

Freebies are no longer free for the merchants but are now 99L a pop and as of this writing, it is unclear whether demos will be charged likewise.

Whatever we sell now will be charged 10L a month whether or not it sells, plus 3L commission for items 1 - 3 Lindens to customer, 5% of price to those above that.

Many have removed everything from the market -- that was my first reaction though this does not go into effect until January or February 2010.

Others are dancing with joy because lower end items will be removed, taking a lot of competition off the table.

While it is good to freshen up the marketplace, there seems to be much more that's negative about the changes than is positive. There are many things that need improvement in the marketplace before prices get raised .

If you REALLY want to know more about it, you can see it on the SL Commerce forums

But you need a lot of time and energy to slog through that!

After I calmed myself down, I decided I had a lot of dead products on Xchange. I went through the (now) inactive inventory and deleted those.

Next I decided to reactive the bestselling items that would be worthy of the 10L a month charge and to combine some of the inexpensive items into one box items that would cost more.

Not the popular "Fat Packs" -- as a shopper, I really don't "get" those. Not a big fan of four or five of the same item in different colors or - in one case I saw, 4 different widow outfits (was that for the Black Widow who kept murdering her husbands and didn't want to wear the same outfit twice?)

Me, I'd really rather get a collection of 4 or 5 different items - so, for example, I made one that would allow you to completely outfit your child avatar, from undergarments to winter coat and a couple of everyday dresses, a fancy dress and a toy thrown in.

Winter is up now, I'll be adding the other seasons real soon.

Also, I took my best toys and threw them in a toy chest.

Not that I expect your average shopper to buy these collections -- shopping on Xchange for me has always been kind of catalog shopping. I go there first to see what is around, and then go inworld most of the time to shop. Though I do like the convenience of shopping from my computer while my avatars are not inworld, or giving things as gifts, I like to see stuff, too.

So, my more expensive collections (well, cheaper if you add up the items, it's really a bargain to buy them all together) are really an advertisement. And that 10L a month becomes an advertising cost -- if I'm paying 900L a month it compares to renting a shop inworld, though the added commission on top of that is kind of a kick in the pocket book.

I also went exploring and found MetaLife -- nice vendor displays that are so easy to set up and change -- though I'm a bit worried that nothing seems to be selling out of them. Going to send an alt in to make a purchase, just to make sure they are coded right.