Wednesday, May 14

we need a new name

*lays his prim mustache and mechanical arm on the desk and turns on the aether transmitter, flipping the switch to OOC*

What to call this drama factory? Mason Foundation doesn't have that ring to it. And people might assume we're the ones with the secret handshakes and lambskin loincloths. But we need to call it something. Anything but...

His name is whispered in dread by many and in reverence by a few.

I have to let him go. I leave him to feed upon the few who still invite him to their dreams.

He has hurt too many people. He has driven a wedge between me and the community I did my best to support. He threatens my sanity. He has almost destroyed my family. Trust is gone. I must try to rebuild it. If things don't change Love will soon wither as well.

I'm not the only one who's felt the need to step back lately. Admitting it is the first step.

The goal was to be self-sufficient in SL. It used to be easy to keep up with one-and-a-half properties by hosting. Even when his skin switched from pale kabuki to fiery red people still told me he is the "pervect av". He's the one people pay to see. Arrogant nobility with a razorsharp wit, cut with a dash of self-deprecating humor, all steeped in burning libido.

Then those three f*cking words ruined everything. All because somebody didn't read the memo that his brother had left Steelhead behind to go fight Orks in another Grid.

I had to choose between keeping a Foundation without a Founder, or keep the CRC going. I made my choice. The other half of the Hospital could no longer contribute (get well soon, Doctor) and the deed was always in my name. Why not take the top floor for myself?

I tried ripping him out of me before. He just takes a new body. He's been banished before. He just makes a new roost. And still people want to hire him on the spot. He's lead me to places I should never have gone. Putting him in entirely among his own kind just made things worse.

It has to be different this time.

At the end of the Legion of Steel storyline, I must relegate him to NPC status, if any status at all.

I still love Steelhead. I want to be able to explore the harbors and mineshafts as the territory expands. Maybe someday I'll feel like I belong there again. I love Caledon...I even wrote a song about it. The twisting alleys of Babbage I am still getting to know. And as mean as the polluted streets are they're packed with innovations and defiantly cheerful urchins and the occasional reincarnated philanthropist. And every week it seems someone else opens a new sim to put a new twist on the theme.

This is where I belong. Not in the Underworld. Not in the streets of a dying Future.

The key to me keeping my Family and Home and Health intact while still sharing this wondrous New Victorian Age with all of you is so simple and yet so difficult. By admitting my faults, perhaps I can get closer to the vision of a Proper Victorian Gentleman.

The bartender does not drink on duty. I cannot mix work with pleasure. A smile and a wink, but no further. I beg of you...Lead me not into temptation.

~David

4 comments:

Frau A. S. Lowey said...

Just a few observations from one who has been caught in Byzantine plots before (and it was my own fault, so having my characters swear at me is nothing new).

The Foundation now needs to be named for what it does.

What is the core of the mission statement? On both sides of the coin – what does the character know of the purpose of the foundation and what do the players expect the Foundation to do or produce?

Are you interested in the Foundation as a paranormal investigation and protection unit, an adventurer’s club, a metaphysical militia, or is it a medical research facility - or something of everything?

How do you feel about the experiment in progress?

For my part, I have enjoyed working out the contributions to the current exercise, and would like to participate in other threads, if you permit.

And finally… what do you want to do today? Tomorrow? Next year?

itsdavidvc said...

The demon used it as vehicle to further his selfish ends, of course. But when he wasn't inhabiting a mortal descendant the Mason family used the resources, including their Spark, to search for a cure for the possession. In pursuit of that purpose they recast House Bloodwing as the Bloodwing Foundation, and in the course of research they developed cures for other exotic ailments and curses.

The listing for the original BF described it as "a vehicle for Victorian Steampunk/Lovecraftian RP". Which indeed it has, to the point where certain individuals have compared the Foundation Chronicles to the Heterodyne Novels (as if I could ever hope to be that entertaining!) So yes, it is a bit of all of the above.

I'm enjoying the experiment, and I hope everyone else is as well. Sort of like GM'ing without dice or character sheets (though when GURPS Girl Genius comes out it might be a good idea to write up some stats...)And like any first experiments there are bound to be some complications. We will have a Lessons Learned discussion when we reach Earth again.

As for the next adventure, I'm hoping someone else will lead the tale for a bit while I monitor the RL pressure guages.

As for the future? The Doctor will want to repair what's left of his family. Unless he fails too many Sanity Checks on New Erebus and his Spark gets the better of him (MUAHAHA!)

Emilly Orr said...

The three things I've learned, in my nearly two years on the grid.

First, everyone makes mistakes. Me, you, Steel, the Baron--even Des--everyone makes mistakes.

Second is...for all its virtuality, what happens on the grid is real, in the sense that it does, it can change us--sometimes mentally, sometimes emotionally, our likes and dislikes can shift--change does occur.

Third, though, I find is the most important--that making mistakes and changing are not bad things.

The heart and mind that can no longer change, that can no longer make mistakes, can no longer grow. And growth--on the grid or off--that's what keeps us going.

Keep going.

itsdavidvc said...
This comment has been removed by the author.