We do not pretend to know what goes on inside the red curtains.
Nor the pink cube.
Kevin (“Fire”) and General Hooker (“Smoke”) lounge outside The Mermaid, waiting for Axis and Ruby to exit.
In the background: Vilania’s Safe Hub once more.
Last clients of the day (bi-weekly meetings, pheh, both think).
Afterwards: Talking about Philip Strevor’s new conditions while re-donning seasonal appearances at Holiday Flats in the midst of it all.
Suddenly, down by the bay:
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0011, 0411, The Straight
“At least he seems to have gotten rid of some of the bugs,” spoke Fairy Ruby, anxious to get this over. Those red curtains…
“Is there any other way?” Axis looked at his nails, also nervous.
“No. It has to go through him. Prearranged condition.”
—–
“Marriage!?” Cigar smoking Philip Strevor was incredulous.
“It’s just a seasonal thing. It’s either get married or be buried.” Fairy Ruby leaned foward. “Please, Philip. You’ll be rewarded later on. I promise you. Anything you like. Just don’t let me be… killed again.”
She leans back and thinks of the consequences just exposed.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0011, 0210, Iris, The Straight
“Yes, thank you Penn Mann. But we kind of already *knew* where the mound was on this sim map.” Waste of thin space he sometimes is, she thought to herself, but only huffed outwardly.
Embarrassed, Penn Mann moved away from the map and propped himself back up against the wall beside Dr. I.C. Yourinsides. After considering the next step, he thought into their heads again. “Give me your idea of how Tronesisia — Sissy — and this Rocky being I hadn’t met until yesterday’s rehearsals — fine fellow, though — tell me how they knew about Billy’s secret hideout. Any clues?”
“We don’t *need* clues, Penn Mann. Mr. Director.” Dr. I.C. blew out air again. “It *happened*. Tronesisia and Rocky noticed that there were 3 extra prims on the property the other day. They’re very meticulous about counting, since they leave full building permissions on that property for the various entertainers passing through. They used remote viewing to pretty quickly find the cube, the most solid and rounded of the 3, just under the floor of the nightclub. This led (them) to the other two objects linked to the cube — the copy of ‘I, Robot’ by another Carter person apparently [sic], and then the Jimmy Carter cutout that represents Billy’s *real* brother, or what he takes to be his real brother anyway. It’s all brainwashery, though: the alien disguise, everything. He’s really human through and through in this production. But he’s not really a he.”
“So it *is* you.”
Penn Mann considered this as well. “What about the public urination, then, the pissing with the [delete name]? And Mr. Yellow. Or Yellows, 2 of ’em. He drank the special brew, but is then discovered pissing it back out at that public landing spot for Wallytown, all out in the open and all. But it takes two Mr. Yellows, combined, to accomplish this. What does that mean?”
Dr. I.C. threw up her hands, then figuratively punted. “You take it Spocari Nemoy.”
“Captain,” admonished Nemoy. “Use the title when speaking to me in this war room. I outrank you.”
Dr. I.C. blew him a raspberry with this. “Go ahead then, *Captain*. Give our Director Mann a dose of some more truth. He wants fiction, we give him reality back.” She turned to Penn Mann again. “All this *happened* to us — get that through your thin, ink filled head.” She looked him over. “Which side is your head anyways?”
“Biker Chick,” went Penn Mann on a tangent again in their heads. He had this in common with his Urbane Blue director doppleganger: Eraserhead Man. Without eyes, without mouth, he turned his attention to the black and pink clad woman sitting beside Nemoy, who was markedly leaning in the opposite direction from her, obviously uncomfortable with her presence here. “We seem to need a fresh perspective on this,” Penn Mann thought. “Give us what you think.”
Dr. I.C. Yourinsides spoke up again. “Biker Chick doesn’t know anything; she has just arrived.”
“Nevertheless,” insisted Penn Mann inside their heads. “I am *still* the director of the production, despite what you may think, Good Doctor.”
“Oh Lord,” she exasperated. “Go ahead, then, Biker-Chick-still-not-even-with-a-name-yet. Tell us what you got.”
“Heidi,” she piped up in a thin voice after a pause. “My name is Heidi.” But Nemoy and Yourinsides both realized it was actually Penn Mann speaking *through* this person. She looks down at her hands, wiggles them around. She reaches up and touches her face, her eyes, her mouth.
And then she touches something else. “How do you like *these* apples?”
Spocari Nemoy started to feel red-blooded again. This is what he didn’t like about biker chicks, among many other things. But this above all else. What would Marlon Brando do? he thinks for not the first nor last time.
He makes a mental note to schedule another regeneration session with Lt. Gunnhead asap.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0010, 0408, Wallytown/Fishers Island
“Ground Zero, my friend,” spoke Philip over the music. “Ground Zero.”
Staring at the Jack Daniels whiskey bottle in front of him, Marion nodded.
“Over the Rainbow” and “On the Run” combined.
—–
That last track was simply beautiful, Tronesisia. It’s as if Judy Garland came back from the dead and took the mic again.”
“Thank you. My friends call me Sissy. Please. Call me Sissy.” She winked her robotic blue eye seductively at Philip Strevor. Then she did the same to Marion Harding seated beside him, except with the other eye. Two blue eyes.
“And your Pink Floyd rendition, Rocky. What can I say but wowzers. Wowzers! You both are so great.”
“We appreciate it,” chipped in bass voiced Rocky Rocco, who hasn’t been seen since way back in Collagesity novel 6. “I had an excellent teacher for that one.”
Tronesisa nodded in agreement. “Excellent indeed.”
Rocky leans over and pats Tronesisia’s silver knee. “And you too, dear.”
Tronesisia suddenly gets a sad, faraway look in her eyes. “It is so, it is so.”
“Sooo… let’s get down to business.” Unglueing his gaze from the bottle still in front of him, Marion Harding opens the briefcase full of money.
“L$50,000,” said Philip without looking. “It’s all we have right now.”
“That will do,” returned Tronesisia.
“Yeah, that’ll do,” agreed Rocky quickly. Tronesisia and Rocky steal a winning glance at each other.
—–
“He’s in here.”
“God I hate spiders, Marion. You go first.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0010, 0407, Wallytown/Fishers Island
“I’d like to hire you for a job Detective Strevor. I’m looking for my brother. Billy.”
What a peculiar thing, thinks Philip Strevor before answering. *I’m* looking for a Billy.
“I’ll take the case.”
—–
“Got a job today, Marion. Looking for *Billy*.”
Marion Harding stared at the tv screen a bit. Then: “*Our* Billy?”
“Dunno.” Philip Strevor shifted his weight on the couch. “Go ahead and hit unpause. Just wanted to tell you that before we got into the whole atomic bomb thing.”
“Have to think about that one.”
“Yep. Sure will. Find out soon enough, I suppose. If I can find him.”
“Her,” Marion Harding corrected. He picked up the remote.
“Yup.”
The explosion continued.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0010, 0405, New Mexico, Twin Peaks, Wallytown/Fishers Island
“These pills are pretty good, Axis. Tasty. Say the Silver King machine just appeared over there tonight? Right before I arrived?”
“Right, Big Red. It’s an honor to have you here, by the way. The abduction process wasn’t too painful, I hope. Sometimes it is to those with the wrong energies.”
“Not atall. Time doesn’t exist here, eh?”
“Nor Beach,” completes Axis. “Only, um, Middle.”
Yes, he realizes. This is Middle. A new sandwich with something else inside; something beyond the spinning 78.
A sandwich appeared in Big Red’s mouth, loaded with innards.
“Interesting,” chirps Axis.
—–
In a control experiment, the next abductee was asked to read a specific chapter from a red book and found it fascinating and loaded down with meaning.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0608, New Eden-, New Island
The couch here is unusable, with no sitting scripts. Tired of standing, Bill (Wheeler) rezzes a wearable chair in Philip Strevor’s so-called “waiting room” and tries to be patient. 1 1/2 hours Mrs. Hazelhurst has been in there, she complains inwardly, but does not dare to say aloud. This place has been bugged for as long as she can remember.
—-
The Boss was admiring his mermaid cabinet when Bill walked in. She had not seen Mrs. Hazelhurst in the hallway but had heard the shutting door. Bill figured she exited through the lounge.
“Red, green, blue,” he began, describing the string of shiny, netted balls immediately before him. “The mermaids and mermen called them marbles for some reason.” He turned to face Bill. “How can I help you today?”
Bill crossed her arms. “You called *me* here. Remember?”
“Oh yes. Of course.” He waved for Bill to be seated. He took his place in The Boss’ chair. “I’m sorry there’s no chair available. The maid took it off for cleaning.”
“That’s all right,” Bill said matter of factly. “I came prepared this time.” She rezzes her wearable attachment again and automatically has a seat in it. She then positions herself so she can face Philip squarely.
“Rat lost his property in the Pond District,” he then said, appearing to scan the photos on the bulletin board beside him. “Owner came back and returned his vanity, his ratmobile. Now why would someone squander a perfectly good piece of property beside that beautiful Linden right of way, not rezzing a house, a farm, nothing?”
“They don’t appreciate what they have,” offered Bill. “They don’t understand the beauty, the loveliness, of Our Second Lyfe.”
“Perhaps.” He leans forward, looking down to consider and then up again. “We made your chess move while you were away playing that role. “Pawn to King 3. I hope you don’t mind. We figured we couldn’t keep Ellen waiting any longer.”
Bill felt the anger rising within but bit her tongue again. “I see,” she managed after a weighted pause. “And has Ellen had time to respond? Or is he still stuck on the beach?” She tried to smile but found she couldn’t.
“The New Island beach, yes,” Philip Strevor said nonchalantly. “The Hook I think they call it in that Moth Man’s book. He removed his web site because of us, you know. Didn’t like the idea of another New Island besides his own. The one *he* owns the trademark for. A public/private domain affair again. I have a whole drawer full of those kind of documents.
“I know,” replied Bill. “She then glances at the money and Philip follows her eyes. “Still haven’t put away that wad of cash, eh? Gloating at the clientele, are you? Like me.”
“No,” Philip said. “That a new stack. Mrs. Hazelhurst graciously gave it to us in return for her safe passage to Zindra. Lots of people leaving this place, Wheeler, er Bill. The axemen and swordsmen and their ilk can’t keep them here forever. Soon enough, people cave in on paying the price. Your friend Roger Pine Ridge is next, if you ask me.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree there, I think. Roger doesn’t have any money. Cyberpaperdoll got out of the village with that cash they made from the (ruby) slippers heist. Roger thought Iris would be safe — away from prying eyes over at Collagesity. He was wrong.”
Philip settled back into his seat, getting comfortable. “I know all about that. We don’t want his money, we want his *time*. Though brain damage could come later.”
“Hmm.” Bill paused, then: “How much time does he have?”
“Two, three, four weeks on this?” Philip answered as a question.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0417, Iris, New Island
Bill (Wheeler) always dreaded going to see The Boss. It was a scary walk through the Red Curtain Hallway, for one. And at the end: The Venus Door. What could Philip want from me today?
—-
Both look at the pile of money stacked up on the marble table. “As you can see, life’s been good lately, Bill. But you’ve been neglecting me.”
“Now tell me all about this chess game you’ve been playing.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0311, Iris
“Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” ends at the exact same location as “Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter”, which is in the exact center of the Purden sim in Snowlands, Sansara.
Part 3 of “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” starts with a post called “HHI Again”, partial reference to the first post of Part 3 of “Collagesity 2017 Middle” called “HHI.” I only uncovered this resonance after already composing “HHI Again,” though, and was pondering over a title for the thing.
“Private”, the 4th post of part 4 of “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter”, was created exactly one year after “Scissors?”, the 5th post of Part 2 of “Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter” (1/15/18 to 1/15/17). They also share several of the same objects or props (unique to those posts as I recall), and both end with “fires.” Like with the “HHI”/”HHI Again” parallel, I only noticed this after the creation of “private”.
In “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter”, characters first speak a foreign language (German; several posts), although one small exchange between Wheeler Wilson and Baker Bloch in “Collagesity 2016 Later” (“B-4”) is in the pretend language of Perch.
Almost exactly half of the 7th Collagesity novel (“Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter”; 47 posts of a total of 97) is at least partially set on the 7th created mainland continent: Gaeta V.
2 used locations of Gaeta V, Clemscott and Comfrey, also have about the same number of posts dedicated to them in the novel (15 and 14 respectively), and are linked in other ways. I see them as a balance for each other.
Almost all other posts (20) concerning Gaeta V in “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” are set in a place I call Capitol City, which is a fictional burg located near the center of the continent.
“Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” contains 25 posts located in eponymous Collagesity, second least in the series to “Collagesity 2017 Middle” and its paltry 7.
In the 1st post of “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” (“Return”), Tronesisia returns to Middletown piloting a small pink airplane down its main street. In Part 6 of “Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter” (“Huskers”), she returns to Collagesity driving a small pink car down its main street.
Probably the most common drink referenced in “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” is a bucket of blood, served with or without nails.
One independent collage was created during the composition of “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter”: “SpicA”. It may also be the first collage of a new series called Hunt, but we’ll see.
There are many “Twin Peaks” references scattered throughout “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter.” The names of a number of minor characters (see, for example: “Shirtless in Comfrey”) are “inversions” of those connected with the show, including Jeffrie Phillips (Phillip Jeffries in “Twin Peaks”, played by David Bowie).
Similarly, Philip Strevor, a key character in “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter”, is an inversion of Trevor Philips, one of 3 lead characters of “Grand Theft Auto V”. They also share a similar appearance.
There are a number of parallels between the consecutive posts “Revealing” and “can’t wait” of Part 2 of “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” and the post ending the first half of “Collagesity 2015-2016 Winter” (“Spire”). This is another of those “after the fact” discoveries.
In a similar vein, frozen character Tin S. Man is seen showering in a bathtub in both that earliest Collagesity novel (“Fourth”) and the most recent (“congelato”).
The Spookmobile of “Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter” returns at the beginning of Part 5 of the most recent Collagesity novel (“Well, we have a giant *beaver*. How’s that?”), and connected with baker b’s audiovisual synchronicity “Pumpkintwisters” again. The Spookmobile was also seen in the first post of part 5 of “Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter” (“Martins”).
Like all the other Collagesity novels, “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” has its share of Beatles references. See, for instance, “silver hammer” of Part 04.
The “Grand Theft Auto 5” storyline starts with character Trevor Philips robbing a bank in North Yankton as an adult. In “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter,” derivative and, name-wise, inverted character Philip Strevor is claimed to have robbed a bank in South Yankton as a child. Yankton is also the location of the prison Bad Coop is briefly incarcerated in toward the beginning of “Twin Peaks: The Return”.
There are a considerable number of references to the comedy group Firesign Theatre in “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” (“plans”, etc.). In 1970, this group was dubbed by the Library of Congress as “The Beatles of Comedy.”
“12 Oz Mouse” references are littered throughout “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” and other novels in the series: perpetually stoned Peanut Cop in “up and down”, for example; his pal Golden Joe too. A good obscure reference example would be the queer tune that Pitch Darkly miraculously finds that he can play on a piano in Spider Cave from the final post of part 4 (“breakthrough 02”), derived from this scene in the “12 Oz Mouse” episode called “Booger Haze”.
And I think that’s enough for tonight! More “Collagesity 2017-2018 Winter” trivia could be coming up.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0100, GTA
“The more I look at Greenup 03, Broken Heart, the more I think it is about Spica just above the celestial equator turning into Vega and igniting brighter in the process, like, um, an ant being burned by a magnifying glass. Tonya Two Egg — the close Spica binary star — is stuck like unto a frying pan in the Horizons-Spica sim which is actually the Horizons-Vega sim, unable to remove herself from intense scrutiny. The ice fishing shack is a time and space portal. Can she reach all the way back to VHC City and heal the wound?”
But Broken Heart is instead staring toward Greenup 02 on the opposite wall, thinking: This is you, Jacob I. my friend, my comrade. Prince Martin. Will you be able to heal *yourself*?
—–
“All the dreams reaffirm the same location and the same needed action, Mary,” Pitch speaks from the viewing platform after parking the freshly stolen orange beetle at the appropriate spot down below.
“It all makes sense now: apple, orange, yellow fruit — banana…
… and then the giant lime on Merlin’s Mound — thank you Wheeler Wilson!”
“You’re welcome!”
“This is clearly ‘Floydada’, the start of ‘Pumpkintwisters’ analysis.”
“Nifty,” Mary replies while beginning to eat a peach.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0007, 0603, Clemscott-, Gaeta V
Sunklands 