Walking through the arch once more, Opp traveled far from Braynard’s Place to a 4 sim land some call Eden itself.
Whilst sitting against a log beside a grove of nice, pink trees, he is inspired to write a song about New Island’s Pipewold and being X-ed out.
But he was not alone. For the Alices were there.
And the Rabbits.
And some others.
All in all, a Grand Old Time was had of it.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0601, Mexico, New Eden-, New Island
“In my opinion, sire: it’s a trap. The blue house is both rented and not rented. He shouldn’t enter.”
“He can’t stay on that beach forever, though. He’ll have to move back through the arch again sometime. And all the other houses around it have actually and legitimately been rented, including, now, the Mockingbird next door we originally had such high hopes for.”
“Alice, then,” replies Sidechick Corea to his boss Ellen, knowing he had the right answer. “Coming and going, past and future, etc. Alice’s restaurant,” he then adds, but with less confidence.
“Yes, you are correct Sidechick.” The Magus flashes an approving smile. “She’s already taken his place in the Bluebird Cuddle Van, lights set to blinding. We’ll simply have to begin again.” Ellen gets up from his meditation mat, sensing it is time to leave. “So let’s go, you and I my friend, back to Iris and see if we can set all this up. Bill’s opening move, Pawn to Queen 04, should be revisited, especially in light of that altered ‘Curse Purse’ painting Axis used next door in the yellow house.”
“The train being used by Lewis Carroll in ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ as a metaphor for a pawn’s ‘fast’ opening move crossing two spaces, as opposed to the usual one.”
“Right, Sidechick. You’ve done your homework. You have come far. You will take my place some day. I know it to be true.” Ellen pats him on the back, then waves him up as well.
Sidechick tries to take all this in, then asks after rising from his own meditation mat: “Is it there? With that, er, Alice in the van? Blue Girl I suppose?”
Ellen could feel its power even remotely. “Yes.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0516, Braynard's Place-, Nascera
“Ooo, heartburn.” Rabbit 01 pauses for a small burp. “It’s always waiting, for us. Past and future and waiting.”
“And not waiting,” adds Rabbit 02. “Like something’s already happened that we — or one of us — has forgotten already happened.”
“Mainly *you*”
Rabbit 02 stews underneath his rabbit suit. “I’m not a good bunny. I play too much golf. I pull too many flag pins for holes in one.”
“You made that airplane engine not fall and then fall again. That was pretty good.”
“Just in that one movie. Just with that one dude. A bridge opens, a bridge closes. Coming and going.”
Rabbit 01 taps her fingers against her other hand. “Why are we here? Do you remember *this*?”
“Start of a new religion,” states Rabbit 02. “Blending of sacred and sacrificial. Should be fun.”
“Clown to be sacrificed how many times a month?”
“Four,” Rabbit 02 guesses. “Five, maybe. I suppose it depends on the moon.”
“Which you know all about.” Rabbit 01 peers around at the congregation, sees their disinterested looks.”I don’t think it’s going to happen today.”
“It’s happened 3 times already. 3 which is 1. ‘Nother one. Be patient. Have fun and be patient.”
“Hiberian-hispanic clowns. Mind you he *deserves* to die over and over…”
“He does,” quickly agrees Rabbit 02 with Rabbit 01. He removes a dead fly from his arm fur. “It’s a way for this place to remain clean and pure. 6 pieces and the truth.”
“You talking about Heterocera? Or just Collagesity?”
“That will be up to the queen.”
A jump happened.
“Oh. There she is. It’s me!”
“No it’s not,” Rabbit 02 hastily modifies. “It’s her. The queen.”
“And the sacrificee. Me as well!”
“Pipe down,” orders Rabbit 02. “People may actually hear us if we yell loud enough.”
“Happened that one time, yes. Olde Lapara Towne. They heard us from the future. It was in front of the Razielian synagogue.”
“I *know* where it happened. I was inside. Performing the sacrifice. Knife slip. Wasn’t pretty.”
“And here we are again.”
“Blink your eyes,” commands Rabbit 02, who was somewhat the older and wiser of the two. “Things should come into focus. I see the true queen. And the true sacrifice. It’s her all right. The Bill is back in town.”
“Oh yeah. I see now.” Rabbit 01 looks down. “And look what appeared in my lap.”
“Don’t do that.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0513, Rubi
Axis stares vainly into the mirror and thinks what a beautiful man he’s become after being such an adorable little girl.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0512, Braynard's Place-
Sire, these 3 smaller houses appeared shortly after we transitioned over here from the center of Nascera, blocking our direct access to the beach park.”
“Beach access is important,” states Ellen. “And the time to spend on them.”
“I should clarify to be totally open: a renter *can* walk the sand in front of the houses to get to the park still. But it becomes more… inconvenient. A sign, I would ask you?”
“Seems to be,” agrees Ellen, licking his ice cream all the time. “I don’t want to stay too long but let’s take a look at the parallel houses in Gaston.”
“Thank you for agreeing to accompany me back over there. I know you have a rendezvous tonight with Wheeler.”
“Let’s not call her Wheeler in the blog. We’re being recorded, Sidechick.”
“Oh, right.” He looks down at his white tuxedo shoes, then up again. “I don’t want to invade privacy too much, sire, but notice if you will that the yellow house has already been rented, remembering that Earie rented the yellow house in Gaston. And someone has positioned 3 chairs — red, yellow, blue again — right in the center of that house.
“I see them.” Neither mentions the picture of the red clad woman hanging on the wall. “But we needn’t linger here any longer. Opp should confine himself to the Mockingbird House over there still if he desires to come to Braynard’s Place and use the, er, facilities.” Ellen indicates the larger house just down the beach to their south.
“Shame about the access,” Ellen reinforces.
“Shame,” Sidechick Corea echoes.
—–
“Ooo, so sluggish here,” Ellen complains. “Let’s not stay long.”
“But notice that the houses are on the sea again. West edge of the island sim instead of the east.”
“I get the gist. Let’s go back.”
—–
Back on the beach, a transfigured Campbell O’Pine (Opp) manifests in the Bluebird Cuddle Van there, eliminating the need for Karl to do so. Now Annie can paint properly, or at least that’s the hope.
Eventually he heads southward through the arch again.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0506, Braynard's Place-, Gaston+
Axis certainly gets around. Here’s he’s on an island in the northeast part of Heterocera (Eggar sim). It’s hot down here at the beach, and he pulls off his duster coat and carefully lays it by the shoreline. He must get back to the art store soon. Too bad he can’t wear those paint splattered paints they sell for free within…. merely a mesh figure he is. But perhaps they’ll fit burgeoning artist Annie to the T.
Or Bill.
Or Mabel.
One way to find out…
—–
“Aren’t they just the dreamiest, Turch?! Now when Baker Bloch reopens the Red Umbrella we’ll be back in business. Buurb should be here soon.”
“Sure,” reassures Turch, because he knows Mabel can’t take another loss like her brother Little. But probably she won’t have to. Most likely, yes.
—–
“I can’t do this Precious; put your wings back on. I have to find Mabel.”
“I… understand.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0502, Heartsdale+, Heterocera, Rubi
Axis found a black and white girl slumped against a Rodentia dumpster but did not know who she was. She didn’t open her eyes.
Tealie woke Jiff up in a bad mood, who did not wish to play right this minute.
So she instead goes to visit the grave of her old friend Matthew Lodenwald. What a blow to the community when he died!
Bob Richards continues to reads scrapbooks of the war and laments how he will never see his beloved Alpha again. Oh dear, looks like Li’l Bob’s jumped out of his crib.
Uncle Doomed drinks Jack Daniels in front of the neighbor’s Blob until passing out.
Lucas Smart tries to figure out how his life went so wrong.
Chris Caveman lumbers out of the Rodentia Underground, worse off from the experience.
In the local arcade, punk band Story Room prepares to play Cruise Control with newbie Grassy Noll, snickering about whether he’ll even make it out of the first turn.
Also in the arcade, Bill (Wheeler) confers with Rocky Racco about her most recent name change and move to Iris. “Heterocera is still at the fore of my research,” she reassures the learned writer. “I haven’t forgotten about Olde Lapara Towne, Collagesity, VHC City, or any of the rest.”
“Good, Wheeler.” He scratches his nose with his free paw. “Did you know that my cousin Tealie now lives in this area?”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0414, Bogota, collages 2d, Heterocera, Pond District, Silverton
“We’d like to negotiate a price for Gus, Eraserhead Man.”
“Alright.”
“We have a spare 4 handed Librarian to give to you, but my guess is that won’t be enough.”
“I don’t need another librarian,” replies the pencil being in his somewhat tinny voice. “We have enough of those back in the closet now.”
“Then how about another movie deal?” asks Axis, smooth like a serpent. “‘Billy the Mountain’ meets ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. ‘Frank’s Moving Mountain’, in summary.”
“What would I do with such a thing as that you are describing? Invite Annie and Karl over for a party?”
“Do what you wish with it. Play it for entertainment and amusement during posh Hollywood parties.”
“Like I said…”
“I know, I know.” Axis removes his hand from his chin. “No Hollywood parties. I get it.”
“I just sit at home mainly and meditate or cook. You’re invited over for 3 cheese lasagna any time.”
“Thank you.”
“I mean it. The new guys (Annie and Karl) can come over too. *That* can be our party. Robot too, of course.”
“Well… how ’bout it, then?” Axis stared steadily at him.
Eraserhead Man lit up a cigarette without asking permission. “I have some questions,” he responded while puffing away.
—–
“He asked about the Mission, ma’am. What do I tell him?”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0413, Braynard's Place-, New Island
Yes, this will do nicely, Ellen thinks. I’ll send Sidechick Corea and his Boy Blue over to explore more.
—–
“So you see Campbell O’Pine — I mean, *Opp*, Magus Ellen states this is as close as we can get to center in Nascera right now. What do you see?”
“I see… blues.”
“Are you ready, then? Remember to change over.”
“I will.”
—–
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0412, Braynard's Place-, Nascera
“We haven’t seen Big Red since that day, Karl.”
“Yeah, last week.” Karl kept rocking and drinking. He could tell Annie was depressed. “Aww, baby doll, it’ll come around. This whole art thing.” Annie was weeping a little bit now. Karl sets down his 24 Oz Pabst Blue Ribbon on the porch railing and stands up. “Here, here, why don’t you try *me* again. Looky here, I’m already out of this shirt, hehe. The pants are next.”
“Just stop it Karl.” He knew Annie meant it. Silently, he slips his beer stained tank top back on. He understood when Annie was like this, jokes weren’t the way to go. Nor sex. Only this *art* could fill the void somehow. And it wasn’t happening yet.
A slow, rumbling noise starts in the distance. Thudding: giant, mechanical chicken legs crashing into the sand, but Annie and Karl didn’t know this part.
—–
Inside:
“As soon as we collect Gus, we’ll be ready to begin. But one of you 4 handed Librarians has to go.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0404, New Island
Sunklands 