The Throne Room

  Most SL romances are little more than a spark compared to the bonfire of real world love. This is so much the case that the timeline of second life is something like dog years in that a few months in SL is often compared to a few years in the real world. Despite how real and deep the feelings are, most romances and even friendships do not go the distance in this or any other virtual world. Yet the creators of Drama Libre used that spark to ignite a fire that has burned for three years, which is an eternity in Second Life. They have done so without ever meeting in real life or even trading pictures.

  Personally, I have never understood SL romance. To me, chat room relationships were simply not real. I felt they are just as make believe as the surroundings in which they develop. Now that I have had one and am working on starting another, I do understand it and I realize the feelings are real, even if there is never any intention of bringing it into the real world. Yet relationships in this environment, both friendships and romance, are quite volatile. They dissolve just as quickly as they form, and often without any foreshadowing. There are of course exceptions, but in nearly two years in game, I personally can count on one hand the number of SL relationships I have ever heard of lasting more than a year.

  The reason for that is difficult to understand but it would seem the lack of physical interaction limits the strength of the bond, since that is the only factor that is dramatically different between RL relationships and those in SL. Yet Peachy Sassoon and Xerxes Sismondi have not found this to be a factor at all.

  "Even though I have never met him I would trust him with my life. That is how strong I feel about him," Peachy said. "And all we have to go on is our voices and how we relate to one another."

  So to what do Peachy and Xerxes attribute the longevity of their purely online relationship? Peachy’s theory makes it sound very simple and easily accomplished: trust, compassion and patience.

  “Oh it’s not simple,” Xerxes said. “We get mad at each other but we always try to talk it through.”

  “One thing is for sure, we never leave being mad or upset. We work it out,” Peachy added.

  Based on my own personal experience, I can attest that a large part of the reason why relationships don’t last is because, for some mysterious reason, tempers become explosive online. Many arguments begin with things that would be just a little annoyance in real life. Yet in the vacuum of virtual life, they turn into fights that end friendships and romances. If we all learned to calm down, and just talk about it, perhaps even wait until later when the anger has subsided, then relationships might last in this space.

  There are of course those who believe that a romance cannot last without some physical attraction. We can be attracted to avatars or not but there are people hung up on the real world. Peachy and Xerxes have never seen each other and cite the age old adage that is the mantra of legitimate love.

  “It is what is inside the person, not the outside,” Peachy remarked, quoting the moral we all know but do not always follow. “I could love him even if he was green and a big eye in the middle of his forehead.”

  If only that worked so well in the real world.

Photo by Bigdaddie Mumfuzz

Click here for more pictures of past Drama Libre events...

  Some weeks ago, as I was dancing in my patient costume with a backless hospital gown at yet another themed dancing event, on yet another dance floor, a friend of mine told me to cam out. When I zoomed all the way out, my jaw dropped at the site of what the venue actually was and I realized instantly that this was not just another dance party venue.

  This dance floor was beneath the lens of a gigantic microscope. All of us dancing were tiny specimens on a slide. Every detail had been included in the build; the prongs holding down the slide, the light beneath, test tubes, dissection tools, everything you could think of that might be on a scientist’s work bench. It was gigantic and masterfully built.

  This extraordinary build had just been built and yet would only remain in existence for one week. This is because at Drama Libre, they do a build as large and elaborate as this every week, then tear it down and build another for the next week. Each week two events are held at each build before it is reduced to a memory.

  The builds are often common everyday settings on a grand scale, such as a stove in the kitchen, a refrigerator, a cupboard in a bakery. The avatars dancing are always miniature on the surface, in the style of the popular Greenies sim. Other times they are grand locations like the White House, Moulin Rouge, the drive in from Grease. It is always something amusing and completely original.

  "We try to use SL's 3D tools to provide a more involving experience," said Xerxes Sismondi, who founded Drama Libre with his Second Life significant other of three years, Peachy Sassoon. "For instance, why slap posters of the Amazon when doing an Amazon themed event? Why not bring the Amazon to the event? We try to offer a more immersive environment."

  Peachy and Xerxes began Drama Libre three years ago. The idea arose out of simple boredom with the endless array of unoriginal and sex laden locales in Second Life.

  "Xerxes and I would always look for a place to go dancing to enjoy the music and time together," Peachy explained. "Everywhere we went all that was offered back then of course was nothing but pole dances, escorts and strippers. We hated it. We could not find a decent place to go other then the arts."

  "Nothing wrong with that, but every club was really the same," Xerxes added. "We tried to differentiate ourselves and hitched our ride to our current platform: no drama, clean fun, but keep changing up the environment to keep folks coming back for more...give folks a release for their own creativity in costumes versus just best in jeans or color, etc."

  The couple began creating these magnificent builds themselves and did so for the first year and a half. They now have a total of five builders including themselves. They spend about five days building each one, including the planning phase, working in shifts with the other builders. They have no training in 3D modeling in the real world, nor are they professional artists or designers.

  Peachy and Xerxes are a testament to the beauty of Second Life. Anyone can jump into this world and create any reality they choose. It brings out the creativity in people who might not ever use it in the real world.

  They do not do this for money or praise. They do not make a profit on the builds. They set out a tip jar and whatever is collected, they share between all the builders. They simply wanted a place where they could control the drama. I have often said that drama in Second Life is like dog piles at the park; sooner or later you're going to step in it and once you do, it's hard to get rid of it. The couple behind Drama Libre saw the effect this has on SL and decided to build a place where this would be less of an issue.

  "The no drama came about because the other club we frequented imploded because of it," Xerxes remembered. "Hey, we all get drama in RL, who wants it when you're trying to have escapist fun in SL."

  The drama at Peachy and Xerxes' ever changing venue is something like a virus on a Mac; it is technically possible but it is very rare and it is not going to destroy everything.

  "Well as you notice our rules are simple and the one thing we always say is no nudity," Peachy said.

  The rules are in fact quite simple: no drama, no nudity, no weapons, and don't interfere with the DJ and hostess. Keeping the place free of drama and greifers has been mostly successful.

  "We had folks that tried. We had a lot of griefers too. We just banned them and moved on and everyone moved on with us," said Xerxes. "The best way to counter griefers and disruptors is to deal with them quickly and move on. Designing a griefer-proof place would be hard to do, and you'll end up restricting your guests more than you meant to."

  On Saturday, November 7 at 8 pm SLT, Drama Libre will be celebrating its third anniversary with a drive in themed build.

Drama Libre events are held every week on Saturdays 8pm to midnight SL time and Wednesdays 11am to 1pm SL time. They have a group that posts the theme each week. For more information, contact Peachy Sassoon or Xerxes Sismondi.

Photo by Annie Whalen

Photo by Peachy Sassoon

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