O La La: The Story of Roissy

What’s the difference between kinky and erotic?
Well, imagine a beautiful woman with soft skin and beautiful smelling perfume, and she traces an ostrich feather gently across your lips. That’s erotic. If she uses the whole ostrich, that would be kinky.

- Gervase Phinn

When it comes to fun and games, the metaverse is a broad church; choose your comfort level and leave others to find theirs, yet, one can't help noticing that much of the 'mature' entertainment on offer is, well, more sad than Sade. Not so at Roissy. A BSDM estate owned by Megan Fabre and Marian Wildcat, this is a mature area in every way: the eroticism is not (oh go on, let me get it out of my system) 'in your face'... unless you want it to be; but it is more than that, an exquisitely walkable build where tolerance and good manners are prized and ever present. Roissy is styled after the 1954 novel L'Histoire d'O (The Story of O) by Pauline Réage. The French novel won plaudits and caused outrage from the fifties onwards, becoming an international best seller in the 70's. While possibly more read about than read, its own history finds resonance today as literary taboos, questions of taste, violence and censorship continue to challenge and intrigue thoughtful people worldwide. How appropriate then that Second Life should have such a literary park, in which these ideas and more can be virtually explored.
Exploration is encouraged here. Roleplay is welcomed but not enforced, and visitors who repect the rules (avoiding things like child avatars, age play, ridicule and general griefing, obviously) are welcome. Intimate matters are kept to the private homes and the Chateau, and while some of the ladies in public places may be topless that's as osé as it gets, making it a pleasant place for those like me on a day trip. I covered up in this lovely Kouse Singh dress and TP'd into the grounds of the chateau. My first encounter was with a silent gentleman, was he sporting a tail, a whip, or just pleased to be there? I decided not to ask; what really got my attention were the lovely buildings and flowers.

In the garden I found a stairway and headed cam-first into the dungeon. While I was trying out the manacles in what I had hoped was private, I received a very courteous IM from Bruno Rehula a relatively new member of the group who asked if I'd seen the Roissy Palais yet. I hadn't, and he kindly showed me the ropes; escorting me first around the ancient chateau and then the baroque palace - it's the building most closely associated with the actual descriptions in the book: a palace of perversions on the outskirts of Paris. The interior is a slightly bizarre potpourri of luxurious sofa poses and whipping posts... ladies be warned the cushions on the floor are for submissives, so mind where you sit. Bruno wore this splendid period costume but told me, in plain polite English unbuttered by roleplay, that he loves to come here and chat with mature, like-minded people.This foto of mine does not do justice to the beautiful stage or catwalk, borrowed, Bruno told me, from the descriptions in the book - as is the broad inner gallery with rich wainscotting shown in the Italian part below. There are three sims at Roissy, one is residential, while on the other two you'll find various public buildings including the medieval chateau full of dark rooms in which ArtsParks secretary Lauretta76 Carling gamely posed on my second visit; don't miss the French style market with stalls selling clothes, kinky goods and specialty items, the dock complete with slave market (auctions take place every two weeks, volunteer slaves get a democratic 50% cut of the winning bid, TP to pick up the notecard for more details) and a fine lighthouse - climb to the top to enjoy a magnificent mouselook view and the Resolution poseball with its hilarious facial animation. Avenues full of delicate climbers and spacious lawns are peppered with punishment poses and animations. I took a stroll down to the Moulin Noir met up with Magnus Stovall a member of the team and asked him about the literary side of Roissy. He was quick to point out that he didn't make the sim... "I am just the cop here, the sim owners volunteered me," he said with a laugh, but he kindly answered my questions. I wanted to know who was behind introduction of the notorious novel into Second Life.
Magnus Stovall: It was Marian Wildcat's idea. She set the Story of O theme and did most of the building: we have about 2000 members in the group. Sim Roissy 2 and Le Chateau are by the Governess of Roissy, Duesen Marx, but the overall build is only loosely based on the story of O.
Not a ... slavish recreation, then. I noted emphasis seems to be on beautiful rental houses here, rather than the endless stream of empty shops or pointless 'meeting rooms' you see on so many sims.

Magnus Stovall: Yes, they have tried to keep the commercial side to a minimum. The houses were built by Marian Wildcat. Most of the textures were imported specifically for the build, and they're available for purchase.

Many thanks to ArtsParks photographer Aloisio Congrejo whose beautiful shots you see here, and to see more of his Roissy session in Windlight, IM him for details. Take a trip to Roissy soon, you'll be O so glad you did. There, that's enough punishing puns for one day.

Qual'è la differenza tra un atto 'kinky' e un atto erotico?
Bene, se una bellissima donna divinamente profumata e con la pelle morbida passa una piuma di struzzo sulle tue labbra, quello sarebbe un atto erotico. Se invece passa sulle tue labbra tutto lo struzzo, quello sarebbe ... 'kinky'.

Gervase Phinn

Nel metaverso, in teoria, tutto è possibile, grazie alla creatività e la fantasia. Luoghi bizarri con filo conduttore oscuro - cercando luoghi letterari in Second Life, ho avuto occasione di vederne tanti. Con tutto il dovuto rispetto per i gusti altrui, devo ammettere che il cosidetto divertimento 'maturo' spesso si rivela triste e noioso, da evitare. I tre sim Roissy invece offrono qualcosa in più.

Si tratta della land di Megan Fabre e Marian Wildcat, e il loro gruppo Bsdm. Hanno scelto come base estetica per i tre sim di Roissy un romanzo erotico francese l'Histoire d'O [1954] di Pauline Réage libro criticato premiato e tuttora discusso in particolare per i tabù letterari rotti con la sua pubblicazione. La land, come vedi, è molto bella, ed è gestita con serietà e tolleranza. Naturalmente pretendono dai visitatori la cortesia e rispetto per le regole, e questo approcio permette una perfetta armonia tra quelli che voglio partecipare ai giochi di ruolo e coloro che vogliono semplicemente visitare un bel posto, e fare due risate, o anche pensare ai valori e le questioni che il libro e tanti altri dello stesso genere tirano in ballo. Sono arrivata al chateau de Roissy, il vecchio castello, circondato da un giardino incantevole. Ho notato subito un accoppiamento tra bellissimi viali fioriti e pose di punizione nei luoghi più inaspettate. Persino le targhette sulle vie sono fornite da manette per schiavi, nel caso che servissero...

Mentre ispezionavo la prigione sotterranea, Bruno Rehula mi ha mandato un IM invitandomi di fare il giro dei palazzi principali. Qui ci troviamo sul splendido balcone nel palazzo barocco, la foto non rende l'idea di questa stanza imponente. Sotto una specie di teatro, o passarella, anche questo tratto dal romanzo, pare. Non è necessario portare vestiti d'epoca, ma il luogo invita una certa eleganza, e io non ho saputo resistere poi questo vestito di Kouse Singh. Bruno mi disse che frequenta Roissy da poco, ma si diverte perché trova sempre delle persone interessanti con cui parlare. Nel salone ci sono tanti divani comodissimi e posti per terra per le schiave... pensaci bene prima di cliccare su una poseball...

Parlando con Magnus Stovall (foto in alto) addetto alla sicurezza di Roissy, ho saputo che tutti gli edifici sono stati costruiti da Marian Wildcat e Deusen Marx, la Governatrice di Roissy. Sono davvero belle le case in affitto, e a differenza di molti altri sim, qui non troverai tanti negozi il lato commerciale è limitato e questo rende molto piacevole camminare per le vie tranquille di questo straordinario pezzettino di letteratura francese.

Sono tornata quella sera con due amici la bella Lauretta76 Carling segretaria di Artsparks e Aloisio Congrego artista e abilissimo fotografo. Per vedere altre foto del sim scattate in Windlight potete mandargli un IM. Abbiamo visto il mercatino alla francese dove si trovano in vendita articoli specializzati e vestiti adatti al posto. Vicino al mercato c'è il molo qui due volte al mese c'è l'asta delle schiave. Abbastanza democratica, l'asta - alla schiava vanno il 50% dei Lind pagati. Da non mancare la salita sul faro, per godere la splendida panorama e un'animation molto carino. Poi, come ha fatto Lauretta per ridere un po' forse vorrai provare le celle nel severissimo castello. Bella misteriosa, affascinante con un lato oscuro tutto da scoprire, sim Roissy merita la tua attenzione.