Where I am…

Where am I? That’s a good question you didn’t ask there and therefore you deserve an answer. Aren’t you glad you came? Don’t bother about trying to leave, I’ve locked the door. And the windows. And that chimney has been blocked off for years. Now sit down and let your Uncle HB tell you all about it. It all started with a couple of dickheads…

 

~~~~ wavey fade dissolve ~~~~

 

… And that’s how it went down. What do you mean you nodded off? Look, I’m not going through it again, I’ll recap the end part but that’s your lot, jeez!

• HBA is staying in Steelhead St Helens but selling three of his five plots (contact me if you’d like one – mate’s rates of course).
• HBA is also keeping his place in Cowell – it would take Sal burning the village to ground to get me out of there!
• Ryne is staying in Steelhead Shanghai renting from Krystine.
• Ya Yiwama I have yet to decide about – he’s either going to rent from Gia in Shanghai or move to Bay City and rent from Marianne McCann.
• Alt No 4… Whilst there *is* no fourth alt yet, I *may* just create one to RP in Bay City instead of Ya Yiwama (who was only ever created to be a monster after all, hence the name).

What this means for my writing is that once “Gang Wars” has finished (it’ll be over very soon, at least my part in it will be) I’ll not be doing another one in Steelhead for a bit. I’ve done more than 18 months of writing there and whilst I’ve got more ideas, I don’t have the same drive. I refer you back to the starting point of this wee fireside chat. Let the babies have their milk and all that.

No, I’m going to be writing some stuff set in and around Bay City. Noir stuff. Horror noir. Think “Steal Head” mixed with “Goodunnit” but with Primouth motors instead of airships.

 

Gang Wars: The Sentinel Reports on Chang’s Death

Grab yourself a copy of the latest issue of the Steelhead Sentinel and read Miss Warbaum’s coverage of the murder of Tong member Chang: http://steelheadsentinel.blogspot.com/2011/02/felled-foe-found-latest-casualty-in.html

 

Cycling with Eliza

A long, long, looooooong time ago I met a rather lovely person in Oak Grove, Eliza Janus. She was sweet, funny and friendly at a time when life in Murray, my home next to Oak Grove, was anything but. Over the years we’ve stayed in touch and lately she’s been very busy gathering her friends about her, setting up groups in-world as well in twitter & flickr. A few weeks back I received a message from her asking if I could spare five minutes for a photo and as one who often drops such requests on my friends how could I say no? I TPed over and was met with an idylic scene in which Eliza was sat on a bike – I hoped on, set my emote to charming smile No. 8 and snapped away!

Take a look at Eliza’s version, as well as her other friends joining her on her bike, on her flickr stream here.

 

Me, but BlipVerted!

Thanks to Kumi for pointing this out to me – Pummelvision will squash your flickr, tumblr (what the bugger happened to all the ‘e’s? on the web?) or facebook photos and give you a super-fast film thingie like this…

Here are my friends’ vids:
Kumi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IjrtXPCA0s&feature=player_embedded
Osprey: http://www.atomic-raygun.com/2010/12/profoundly-boring-everyone-was-doing-it.html
Enjah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnEFAM_qCB8&feature=player_embedded

 

Steal Head: What happened next…

If any you are wondering what happened to the brave rescuers led by Qlippothic Projects aboard the airship “Bloodwing’s Revenge” well wonder no more as in the murky waters of Steelhead’s Shanghai port, the legacy of evil battles on…

• Jeremiah contemplates the recent battle.
• Xaveal finds himself in very mortal danger!
• The Bloodwing’s Revenge is attacked by an old enemy.

 

Ilia’s old place…

Way back in June I visited my mate Ilia’s place in Kishijoten – at the time she and a friend were tending to some rather charming ruins they had found of the old Forest of Lochraven (as well as to some equally charming sheep). At the time I meant to post the following pictures with a SLURL so you could pop over and see, but one thing lead to another and I didn’t get around to it, but hey! that would be OK I reasoned, after all Ilia was older than me (in SL – in RL she’s a mere babe-in-arms) and the ruins would be there for ages – the post could wait until after Steelhead.

Then she flippin’ went and deleted it as she left SL! Well I felt a right plonker then didn’t I! Anyhoo, never let it be said I’ll let a good post go to waste (and as Ilia is thankfully back in the warm embrace of her virtual mates I feel justified in reminding her of the gorgeousness she created! Hey Ilia – head over to Steelhead Nevermoor and take a look – you’ll love it!) I present you with the three pictures I took in my all to brief visit…

Baaaaaaa!

Why not head over and ask whoever you find if they’ve seen the old ruins of Lochraven – confuse the buggers, go on!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kishijoten/40/190/33

 

Come visit Steal Head’s Lair (before I delete it!)

Hi all – I don’t know how many of you managed to see the Lair I set up in Gia’s fallen rail car, but as I’ll be deleting the content in a week or so I thought you might like to visit – maybe even post your pictures over on the Ning in my “I’ve Seen Steal Head’s Lair!” thread?

Anyhoo, here’s the SLURL (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Steelhead%20Shanghai/163/86/28) so get your Sunday best on, polish off your box brownie and head on over to Shangahi – watch out for all the gory heads when you swim through the submerged entrance!

p.s. A HUGE thanks to Gia for allowing it to stay this long and for her kind help ‘destroying’ her gorgeous rail car just for the storyline.

p.p.s. You can read the whole Stead Head Tale here, Mutations here & Gang Wars here.

 

I’m free! Free I tell you!

Thanks to all of you who called with helpful suggestions and observations – after some help from a wee friend with big connections I’m now free!

EDIT (24th Nov 10): One great thing about being ghosted is I met a new friend – the very lovely Shigeko Tachikawa happened across me and kindly took this picture to go with my other from when I was ghosted in Phobos (that one taken by Salazar Jack).

 

A Trip Back To The Future!

An old CNN contact of mine, Latok Neumann, has been a busy busy bee for the last few months. As an avid fan of the amazing Back To The Future films she (and a group of her friends) have been recreating the iconic town square of Hill Valley in 2015, complete with Jaws 19 at the movie theatre…

The Cafe 80′s…

The ultra cool Texaco garage!

Goldie Wilson posters…

And even the antique shop next to the cafe… that book looks familiar…

The crowning glory of this really amazing fan-built site is the town hall, complete with lightning damaged clock!

The whole place smacks of fun and a real joy in the films – get along and take a look yourself

TP over to this SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/bakabots/200/100/30/

 

Steal Head: Chapter 17 – Slipping Back…

Curled in a foetal ball, Beck was lowered from the Revenge to the ground below where a circle of nuns held back the crowd gathering to witness the battle in the rail car. The sounds emanating from the partially submerged caboose hinted at the fierce fight raging, but no one could have imagined the true horror of what was happening inside.

Someone began to lay a blanket over the prone doctor but a large, fawn paw gently stopped them, “No,” a voice purred, “let me help him first.”

**{}**

Beck was alone in the night, the darkness complete and total… except… except for a small point somewhere above him. He watched, unsure how to react as the small point grew, becoming a hole in the jet black that surrounded him. The hole began to crack, ripping at the edges, tearing through the thick fabric of his prison. Another appeared, and another. Soon dozens of small pinpricks began to grow and spread, their jagged paths connecting and joining as they went, weaving a criss-crossing web of light around him, splitting and ripping the darkness away until, with a sudden rush of pure white light, the walls of his confinement shattered and exploded into dissolving shards of nothingness.

He blinked his eyes open, squinting against the harsh daylight until he could see, and he found himself looking into the the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. “Welcome back, Doctor Beck,” Softpaw purred with a kind smile.

Beck struggled to find his voice, “Wh… where…?”

“You are safe now, that’s all that matters. You were lost to us, but I found you in the darkness.”

**{}**

Behind him there was a sudden shout from the crowd. He turned and found he was on the quay side of the Sampan lagoon where Xao had blown up the stilted rail car. (How had he come to be here? The last thing he remembered as finding Xan’s body… or was it the ball in Manchester… or the endless ice…?) As he tried to order his thoughts and memories, a spout of water leapt from the lagoon as, with a grinding of metal on rock and a cracking of wood, the rail car began to slide over the edge of the lagoon’s basin and into the deep, cold waters of Shanghai’s docks.

“Everyone back!” a nun shouted “It’s going down!”

****{}****

To be continued…

Links to other blogs and stories:
1) All Dr Beck’s Journal Entries can be read here.
2) All my “Steal Head” posts can be read on my blog here and on the Steelhead Ning here.
3) The latest “Steal Head” Story So Far recap can be found here.
4) All my “Mutations” posts can be read here.