MCW
This month was a big month for Mega Credit set week, with lots of amazing sets to tempt you into spending money. It started on Monday the 29th until Sunday the 4th. This month, each regular set you buy also came with a bonus set designed by Lily! These sets were mermaids inspired by Mario characters. These characters were, in order: Toadette, Bowsette, Daisy, Rosalina, Peach, Boo (for the females) and Bowser, Luigi, Mario and Boo (for the males). 

First off we started off with a lovely set designed by Ouch for our 2 euro price. The next set was a clown like set designed by Mikkelrev. Our 12 euro set was a pink and black design by Lonika, followed by a very neon pink and green design by Wishbone. The 48 and 96 euro sets were both designed by Solovey, with the first being a white flowery one and the last one being a gorgeous black and gold sphinx like design. Everyone voted, and the poll decided the 48 euro set by Solovey was their favourite of the female sets.

Males were pretty spoiled this month as well, seeing the return of 4 sets instead of the usual 3. The 2 euro set was a lovely almost pastel inspired design by Freckle. The next one had some long braided locks and was designed be Masilein. The 12 euro set was a gorgeous brown and green down to earth design by Ouch. Last but not least we had a skater look designed by Mikkelrev. Based on the poll, the 2 euro set by Freckle was the winner of the favourites for males. 
Link to the MCW forum if you would like to see all the wonderful sets for yourself! https://en.virtualpopstar.com/social?category=15&topic=300848

Auction
This months auction was on Saturday July 4th. This months credit sets were designed by Solovey (female) and Freckle (male). The pd sets were designed by Lily (female) and Melk (male). The poll showed that, by a landslide, the female pd set was a fan favourite, and I don't blame them as it is gorgeous. Lily really outdid herself this time, with the pd set having a whopping 63 items in the set! Needless to say all the female sets went for some pretty high prices so be prepared to pay a bit if you are looking for the sets yourself. 

Female sets:
(credit) (pd)
Male Sets:
(credit) (pd)

This month there are a few things to update you on when it comes to the teams, so it has been especially important to pay attention to any news!

First up, let’s talk about our new moderators! After both an application round and bootcamp, the new moderators were announced on 6 July, and, all of the five bootcamp members were chosen to become moderators. Our new moderators are CheerGirl, Libertas, Luminescence, Octocat and YSL. If you want to get to know them a little better, as well as hearing what their experience during their first few weeks of having blue names have been like, check out the interviews within this magazine! 

On 20 July, DT announced that they were looking to add a few new faces to their team as official designers on the site. The difference between an official designer and a nondesigner, on top of a minimum monthly design requirement, is that you are able to upload and code your own designs, you can have a say in what your designs are used for and you are a part of the quality checking of designs sent in by nondesigners, among other tasks regarding the clothing on this site. Are you interested in applying? The deadline is 20 August 2020, and you can find all the information you need to know and ask questions here!

And lastly, we in the News Team have also been holding applications this month! As you may know if you’ve read the news post, even though we do have a potential writer spot open, this time around we are mainly prioritising layouter applications. So, if you can make layouts and have been interested in joining our close-knit team, we highly encourage you to apply. You still have a few days to send your application in if you haven’t yet done so, as the deadline is Monday 3 August at 23:59 CEST. 

We are looking forward to seeing some fresh faces in the team, and for the August magazine, perhaps your layout or writing can be found on this page!

The User of this Month has been nominated by multiple people for the title, and we in NT definitely agree. This user is always kind and spreads a lot of positivity on the site. They are especially known for their love of fashion and amazing outfits (check further below to see the gorgeous ones they made for some of the NT members). The user of this month is Leo, congratulation!

We have asked a few people on VP to give some kind words and tell everyone why they think he deserves the title.

 

Gengar

Leo is one of the best person here. He is always kind and ready to help you anytime. He is such an amazing stylist and his outfit are always on fire ! We loved each other from the first sign and I’ll always love him forever !! 

Siri

You're absolutely the most precious and beautiful person on the planet. You're so creative and kind that you would make anyone's day better! Never stop being you, because you're amazing! I'm so happy to know you ♥

Annie

He is so kind and sweet to everyone, he never gets involved in the drama here and has such a big heart. His styling threads are everything and I must say, I've considered moving to male main because of his looks. All around, he's such a kinds and genuine person here and 100% deserves this title!

(Top to bottom: Atencia, BloomCissi, Cimorene, Era, Libertas, Moss, SarKastic)

Event Team
For the Event Team's first competition of the month, it was time to move on to the next space-themed competition, appropriately named “Crashdown”. For this competition, users had to draw, either by hand or digitally, a flag representing a planet inhabited by aliens. The flag had to include stars somehow, a requirement that resulted in a wide array of creative entries that can be viewed here. The winners received some fittingly space-themed prizes, a cosmic purple set for females and a black star-studded set for males, which were designed by Delcinne and IOkami.

ET's second competition of the month was part of their Greek gods-series, and required users to create outfits inspired by the goddess Pheme and her story. As a vengeful goddess whose role was to deliver messages for Zeus, Pheme's story was bound to provide inspiration for a number of creative outfits, which you can see here. The winners received one out of two divine prize sets, featuring wings and a trumpet, designed by Chalya (female set) and Lily (male set).

The last competition of the month made up part two in ET's Summertime series, and this time the theme was rollerskates. To participate, users had to use a template to design their dream rollerskates, which can be seen here. Again, the entries will be judged according to three different criteria: most aesthetic rollerskates, funniest rollerskates and “the rollerskates I would steal”. The prizes that are up for grabs, matching purple, pink and blue sets for both males and females, were designed by Lily.

Social Media Team
The Social Media Team started off the month with their classic “Who wore it best?”-competition, which this time was a “Late Rainbow Edition”. The items to be used were provided in a code, which gave users a number of Pride-flag t-shirts designed by Encrede. The resulting entries were a colourful bunch of more or less Pride-themed outfits, which you can take a look at here. Both the female and male winners, who were announced on Twitter, received a rainbow-infused hair each, also designed by Encrede.

SMT's second competition provided a chance for users to get creative with words, by creating an Instagram caption with matching hashtags to promote a VP feature of their own choice. The fifteen lucky winners, who are yet to be announced, will receive 200 credits each.

For SMT's third competition, participants were tasked with creating a new logo for VP. Users were given completely free hands to make their logo, which resulted in a wide variety of creative entries, which can be viewed here. Both male and female winners, who will be announced on Tumblr, can look forward to receiving a lovely cow, cucumber and heart-infused set made by Mikkelrev.

Earlier this month the ModSquad choose their new members, 5 new moderators which we in NT got the chance to interview. Since some us maybe don’t know that much about the new mods we got suggested to interview them which we did and now you have the chance to get to know them better! We want to thank the new moderators (Cheergirl, Libertas, Luminescence, Octocat and YSL) for letting us interview them and we wish them good luck with their new role. 

Cheergirl

- Can you tell us a bit about yourself? (Age, pets, hobbies, interests, etc...) 

Hi! My name is Chrissy, I’m 18 (but I’ll be 19 tomorrow!) and I’m from Washington, D.C. I go to university in California, where I am about to start my third year of my political science degree. I am a collegiate cheerleader, and I’ve been cheering basically my whole life (hence the username), and I also compete in Model United Nations and pageants. I have an adorable yellow lab named Cooper, I love to cook, and I think I could probably eat an infinite amount of chocolate. 

- What do you enjoy doing when you're not on VP? 

I like to sing/dance (you can catch me belting Mean Girls in the shower on the daily), drink copious amounts of caffeine, and spend literal hours on TikTok.

- Why did you apply to be a mod? 

I’ve been on VP for a while and I had experience as a resident assistant, which is kind of like being an irl mod I guess, so when applications came out I decided to give it a shot and here I am! My goal in becoming a mod was (and still is) to be accessible to the community, make sure the site rules are clearer, and ensure all decisions made are as clear as possible.

- What was your thoughts during the bootcamp? 

I loved all the people I met! Despite being on the site for a while I had never really gotten that close with anyone, so it was nice to make friends. I was also a little overwhelmed by the amount of information, but it was really cool getting to see the behind the scenes.

- What was your first reaction when you noticed all the bootcampers made it through? 

I was honestly shocked. I had secretly hoped something like this would happen, and I knew at the very least the team would have a tough time making a final decision because everyone worked really hard and had great potential, but I never genuinely thought it would happen. I am super excited to get to work with all of them!

- How have the first weeks of being a mod been for you? 

It’s definitely been a little hectic! The first week, I was competing at an international pageant so I was juggling like a million things at once, and I feel like a lot of things have happened in general the past few weeks, but it’s certainly never boring!

- Anything else you want to tell us?

I know the blue highlight can seem kinda scary/intimidating but please feel free to reach out to me anytime. Whether it be with a problem, question, or even if you just want to be friends, I want to be accessible! I also love meeting new people, so feel free to send a friend request (:

Libertas

- Can you tell us a bit about yourself? (Age, pets, hobbies, interests, etc...) 

I’m Libertas and I’m a 20 years old guy from Sweden. I enjoy playing video games (mostly Overwatch), singing, baking and writing. I’m also very interested in politic and debating is something I enjoy a lot. I still live at home with my family and my five cats when I’m not on VP I’m most likely studying.

- What do you enjoy doing when you're not on VP? 

When I’m not online on VP I’m most likely singing, baking, cuddling with my cats or talking to my friends. I would consider myself pretty creative but since I can’t draw I’m trying to express my creativity through music. 

- Why did you apply to be a mod? 

I wanted to be a mod on gSm but the site closed the same year I turned the right age to apply for that. Now when the ModSquad hosted applications I thought that I should give it a try, I’ve been on VP for 5 years and I know the site pretty good and I’ve always wanted to help people. 

- What was your thoughts during the bootcamp? 

I had a bunch of mix feelings throughout the bootcamp, it was a lot of fun and interesting but also overwhelming sometimes. It was so well-organized which made the experience a lot better and every day was exciting! I had a great time getting to know the rest of the bootcampers and as well as the mods and Jess. From time to time I was unsure if I would get through because everyone in the bootcamp was so good.

- What was your first reaction when you noticed all the bootcampers made it through? 

I was shocked, to say the least haha. I was so happy for all of us because we all worked so hard during the bootcamp and I think it was well-deserved that everyone made it. I really enjoy working with them and I’m looking forward to get to do it in the future, hopefully for years!

- How have the first weeks of being a mod been for you? 

It’s been a bumpy ride, I have felt stressed out or confused or sad a few times but that’s a part of this role sadly. I think people tend to forget that we are human beings and have emotions and lives outside of VP

- Anything else you want to tell us?

We are here to help so feel free to message any of us if you need any help. You can also always message me if you just want to talk with anyone about almost anything. 

Luminescence

- Can you tell us a bit about yourself? (Age, pets, hobbies, interests, etc...) 

I’m Luminescence (but people call me ”Lumi” for short) 20, and from Finland. Currently I work part-time while trying to figure out what I want to study in the future. I love science (maths included) literature, doing sudoku, petting others’ animals (sadly I don’t have any pets), spending hours on binge-watching shows… 

- What do you enjoy doing when you're not on VP? 

Often I’m either reading (books or science magazines) or watching Netflix. I like knitting as well but I haven’t done it in a while. 

- Why did you apply to be a mod?

It's been my dream since I joined gSm. I was too young to apply then so I couldn't even try, but now I finally got the chance here in VP! I have high morals and doing the right thing keeps me going. I wanted to help to keep the community clean and friendly. I spend most of my free time in VP so I might as well do something helpful than just stare at the front page. 

- What was your thoughts during the bootcamp?

There was so much to learn every day, so at times I felt exhausted. However, most of the time I was super excited and I genuinely enjoyed working with the others! 

- What was your first reaction when you noticed all the bootcampers made it through?

”Is this for real???” I thought that only 2 or 3 of us would make it (and I wasn’t too confident about myself) so it was a positive surprise to see all of us got in! 

- How have the first weeks of being a mod been for you?

It’s been great! I’m still learning new things every day. Sadly I’ve missed some incidents because of timezones, but that’s something I can’t control. 

- Anything else you want to tell us?

I hope that you will feel comfortable around the new mods - we’re here for you <3

Octocat

- Can you tell us a bit about yourself? (Age, pets, hobbies, interests, etc...) 

My real name is Beatrice (even tho I'm mostly known as Barb on VP lol), I'm soon to be 22 years old and I live in a small one room apartment together with my two cats! Anyone who knows me know that I am well on my way to becoming a crazy cat lady haha, they truly are like my children. When I'm not at home you'll most likely find me at work, I work in a café and have done so for the past 3,5 years. 

- What do you enjoy doing when you're not on VP?

To be honest, I don't have that much of a social life haha. If I'm not at VP I spend my work free days with my boyfriend or my sister, we love going to the cinema together (before covid) or I watch documentaries and movies at home. Photography has also been a big interest of mine during the years, as well as discovering new music. So I guess I'm your typical "aesthetic" kid hahah.

- Why did you apply to be a mod?

At first, I just filled in the application as a joke, I was bored one evening and thought "why not". Then I figured I might as well send it in even though "they're obviously not going to pic me". I became a member only in February, so the chances of them choosing such a newbie were bascially non existent, or so I thought. The other "real" reason that actually made me want to apply as well was that I'd heard a lot about the teams being biased etc. So I thought that if anything, I could be a neutral part of a team bc I was so new and didn't really have a lot of friends on the site. 

- What was your thoughts during the bootcamp? 

I was surprised at how well organised it all was, I don't know what I expected but it definitely exceeded any sort of expectation that I had. For me personally it was fun to get to work together with other people and to actually use my brain and write "important" stuff. Just get to work in a different way than I do at my actual job. And of course there was a lot of fun to get some "inside information" about how the functions work etc!

- What was your first reaction when you noticed all the bootcampers made it through?

Believe me when I say I was SHOOK. I was together with my boyfriend, sister, my parents and my boyfriends mother when I got the news and oh my lord. There was no way of me containing myself so I honestly just screamed and hyped together with my sister (shoutout to Teabag lol). Then of course, we had to explain the situation and what the hell was going on hahah.... So it was quite a sit

How have the first weeks of being a mod been for you? 

It's been interesting to work with real life situations rather than made up ones, and it has definitely been more challenging than bootcamp was. As we all know we started off our mod weeks with a bunch of drama. And I gotta say, I definitely prefer the calmer days haha!

YSL

- Can you tell us a bit about yourself? (Age, pets, hobbies, interests, etc...)

My name is Isabel, and I’m a 21 year old Norwegian. I currently work part time in a clothing store. My plan for the future is to attend law school, but right now I’m working to save up for travelling (which will not happen in the nearest future because… you know, Covid-19 happened.) 

 

 - What do you enjoy doing when you're not on VP?

I enjoy being social with friends, play with makeup and watch tv shows. As mentioned, I love to travel, and one of my goals in life is to visit as many countries as possible. Visiting new places and learning about new cultures is so giving to me. In other words, I have a pretty normal (or boring) life. 

 

- Why did you apply to be a mod?

I always wanted to become a mod on goSupermodel, but it sadly didn’t happen, so I guess the dream started there. The reason is simply that I want to be a part of changing Virtual Popstar to the better. Having responsibility and defining rules is interesting to me and gives me some sort of meaning. 

 

 - What was your thoughts during the bootcamp? 

Reading my username as one of the five bootcampers really came as a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting it at all! When I sent my application, I thought to myself that I certainly won’t make it to the team, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. Bootcamp itself was so much fun, and I learned a lot! I also got to know some amazing people who I now call my team members (and Sarah/SarKastic ofc, let’s not forget about her.)

 

- What was your first reaction when you noticed all the bootcampers made it through? 

 “What??? Am I really becoming a mod?” was my initial thought after seeing the announcement. I thought to myself during bootcamp that whoever makes it to the team will become a great mod, because I saw everyone’s potential. I honestly didn’t think that I had a chance against them, but here I am!  I got super excited, not only because I made it to the team, but also because I get to experience this journey with my fellow bootcampers who deserves it so much. I feel very grateful for this opportunity!

 

- How have the first weeks of being a mod been for you? 

It has been exciting and I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve also seen how much negativity comes along with the blue badge. Some people don’t realize how much of the mod work really is done “behind the scenes.” We also frequently get told that we don’t do enough, or that we do too much. People are never satisfied, but I guess that’s just how it is! I just want people to know that we’re trying our best to make this a better place for everyone.

 

- Anything else you want to tell us?

Don’t be afraid to message me if you need help with anything, or if you just want to chat! I’m here for you. <3