Hi, I’m Filipa Thespian. Pip, to my friends.

I landed in Second Life in 2005 and never really left. I started out clubbing, then fell hard for roleplay, then started running my own sims. Eventually I wanted places nobody else was building, so I learned to build them myself, and I’ve been running sims and building ever since. Somewhere along the way I started writing about all of it, too.

Gods of Valor began as a world. In 2012, my Second Life brother and best friend, Crito Galtier, and I founded Gods of Valor as an ancient Roman roleplay sim in the city of Casilinum. We built it together, gathered a wonderful group of roleplayers, and I played the Lanista, running the ludus and its gladiators. The sim eventually closed, but I kept the forums, the stories and the name.

Then a customer gave it back to me. I was selling my roleplay builds under the name {Where It Begins} when a customer reached out. She’d roleplayed at Gods of Valor years before and was building her own Roman sim, inspired by it. Somewhere in that conversation, she told me I should rename the store Gods of Valor, because I so obviously loved that name. She was right. Gods of Valor was reborn as my build brand in 2016.

I build for the people who’ll use the space. Every build starts with one question: what characters use this space, and how? The Ludus Gigantus began in my own sim, where plenty of players wanted to join gladiator scenes but didn’t have gladiator characters. So I gave them a reason to be there: commoner seating, a kitchen, ticket sales, viewing cages, private rooms and an auction block. I research every setting before I build, and I design with real land in mind, so many of my builds fit tight homestead prim limits. Club Depot is home to my modern builds, and a clothing line is resting for now, waiting for its comeback.

I teach roleplay, too. I’ve taught roleplay classes and created Roleplay Guide Magazine in 2011 to help people roleplay well. Roleplay is live-action storytelling, and everyone deserves a good scene partner.

I explore. I’ve had a store on Kitely for years, and I believe in the open metaverse: creators deserve more than one place to call home.

I make things in the real world too. Theater, graphic design, audio and video. The name “Thespian” wasn’t an accident.

This blog is where all of it comes together. Builds, roleplay, the grids, and the occasional rabbit hole. Welcome in.

Find me: IM Filipa Thespian in SL or on Kitely, or find me as Filipa Thespian on Facebook, Flickr, X and Instagram. On Discord, I’m iampip.