Klaus Wulfenbach/Melanippe of Themiscyra Has Died

 

The Newser has some sad news to report. The lady behind three avatars in Second Life, two of whom we've written about has passed away. Inworld, she was known as Melanippe of Themiscyra (Melanippe Karas), Tanarian Davies, and Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (Klauswulfenbach Outlander)

 

A generous friend, devoted dog parent, and role-player par excellence has departed this life. Corgi, aka Tanarian Davies, aka Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, aka Melanippe of Themiscyra, died this morning (Nov.7) after suffering extensive brain bleeds on Oct. 30. Her beloved dogs Piston and Sparkplug are safe in a new home.
 

Melanippe was the oldest of the accounts, appearing in June 2007, the other two appeared a few months later.  

 

 Baron Wulfenback was based on the character of the same name from the "Girl Genius" online comics, the ruler of the "Pax Transylvania," and the antagonist of the strip's heroine. In SL, he was a familiar sight at Steelhead and his own sim Europa Wulfenbach. The Newser would interview him in 2012. While he dropped out of sight for some months in 2023, word has it he came back soon after Jan 2024. 

 

Melanippe of Themiscyra (melanippe.karas) was a familiar sight in the ROMA community, being a part of many events and festivals. Tanarian Davies was of a lower profile than the other two, not really getting the attention of the Newser. 

 

The Aether Salon will be doing an event on  Sunday Novemeber 16 at 2PM in her/his honor, people invited to share memories of the person's personas.

 

The Newser was not previously aware of these three avatars being the same person in real life.

 

Rest in peace,

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Baron Wulfenbach Missing

 

Among the personalities in the Steamlands, one was from online comics: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (Klauswulfenbach Outlander). Baron Wulfenback, often simply known as "The Baron" based his persona on the character from the steampunk online comic/graphic novel "Girl Genius." A decade ago, he was a regular at events at the Steelhead community. He also had his own sim, of which a build of the floating fortress in the online comic flew over. He would also host Walpurgistnaucht parties every spring. In 2014, the Newser would interview him.

 

Sadly, it seems the Baron has dropped out of sight.  One of the residents of the CDS community messaged the Newser that Klaus hadn't been on for a while and his sim had closed. A look at one of the groups he was in showed he was last logged in on July 31, 2023. Messaging a couple steampunk groups on Discord, no one who responded knew why he hadn't logged on since then.

If Baron Wulfenback really has left, it would mean one of the more unique personalities from the steampunk communities is gone. Hopefully his absence is temporary.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Rock Band Tribute Concert At Steelhead

 

Steelhead made news a few years ago with it's rebirth as an example of a community that came back. Since then, things have been somewhat quiet. But recently, some things have been happening at the place. Among them was a Scorpions band tribute concert. Fuzzball Ortega, the town's mayor, took a few pictures and sent them to the Newser with a brief account.

 

Read Fuzzball's reader submission in Events. 

Jimmy Branagh of Steamlands Declared Missing

 
Seldom does the Newser report on unconfirmed stories. But in this case, there's enough evidence to say there's a solid chance a noted personality in the Steamlands is gone. 

Jimmy Branagh, while in a number of groups such as the Goonies and one Trek roleplay was usually seen around the Steamlands in his child avatar. In Steelhead, he managed to become the new sheriff. Sadly, his adventures are likely at an end. Fuzzball Ortega posted details in the Steelhead groups on Facebook and Discord.

Recently found out that the person behind Jimmy Branagh's avatar had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma last year. I sent out a group notice with a notecard from Tenk regarding it. He recently found an obituary from last month that fit with certain things Tenk was aware of. Jimmy's last log in was December 23rd. Jimmy was VERY careful in keeping his First Life and Second Life separate. It has yet to be confirmed, so New Babbage, and Steelhead, considers him "Lost At Sea".

Again, I must stress, it hasn't been confirmed. I'm going to be one of many that's hoping to see Jimmy log in, with a "Hoy, Boss" and rolling a bottle of his home brewed alcohol. For now, "Lost at sea". Edward Pearse is planning something for this weekend, I believe. Tenk has an area set up in New Babbage for people to place Messages in bottles, paper boats, and such. Tenk wants to stay away from the usual New Babbage ceremony when someone passes away. I think the candles I placed in Steelhead are enough for now. His lot will stay as is.

As Fuzzball stated, it can't be truly confirmed that Jimmy has passed on. But Tenk had little hope that he was still alive. It certainly looks like Steelhead and New Babbage have lost a good friend. 

Image credit: Fuzzball Ortega
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

A Few Events This Weekend

 

A number of events went on this past weekend. On Friday July 30, Creations for Parkinsons held the last of their events for their "Back to 1955" fundraiser. DJ Piper would play the music for the event, and there was a 1950s trivia contest.

The event took place on a recreation of the town of Hill Valley, the scene of the "Back to the Future" movie. Michael J. Fox, who stared in the movie, would later come down with Parkinsons. The Creations for Parkinsons area and group raises money for Team Fox, a charity raising money to research treatments for the disease.

On Saturday July 31, the pub crawl took place in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. From Noon to 2 PM, people at the commuity would party at three different pubs, hoping from one to another. Among those taking part was Chancellor Kyoko Furse-Barzane

Saturday was also the scene of the "Summer at the Beach" party at Steelhead Bay. The event was to help raise Lindens for the upkeep of the sim, and a number came over, the majority in their swimsuits. Andrea Jones and Cynthia Farshore were the DJs for the event. Among those there were Sunweaver chief Rita Mariner, and Fuzzball Ortega, Steelhead's leader.  

Stay tuned for more news

Bixyl Shuftan
 

New Sponsor: Steelhead Bay

Great news. The Steelhead community is once more sponsoring the Second Life Newser. What made them stop? To begin with, Steelhead for several years was one of the more notable steampunk/Victorian communities. While not the largest, it certainly enjoyed high visibility due to it's award-winning Relay for Life team and the antics and events of it's residents, such as it's yearly eruption of Mount Saint Hellens. But in September 2015, the owner of the sims at the time announced he had to leave Second Life for a while due to real-life difficulties, and the estate closed a few months later. Although it's residents were able to move to other sims, they missed their old home. Finally in March 2017, Fuzzball Ortega, the sheriff of the old community, announced he would be rebuilding Steelhead. And in a short time, the sim of Steelhead Bay was full of buildings.

We look forward to covering the Steelhead community's Relay events, plus other antics of this interesting steampunk area.

Announcement: Relay Events Today to Sunday

THURSDAY - 4/12/18
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EVENT:  Rock for Life
HOSTED BY:  Buckin' Cancer
TIME:  8:00pm-9:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Soap/140/170/27

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FRIDAY - 4/13/18
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EVENT:  Steelhead Meet And Greet
HOSTED BY:  Steelhead Salmons
TIME:  7:00pm-9:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Steelhead%20Bay/171/175/25

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SATURDAY - 4/14/18
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EVENT:  Time Traveler's Ball
HOSTED BY:  Aether Chrononauts Tiny Steps
TIME:  11:00am-1:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rosehaven%20Reverie/98/95/1225

EVENT:  Born in the USA
HOSTED BY:  Meli's Maniacs
TIME:  12:00pm-2:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amarantha/24/150/1500

EVENT:  Story Time
HOSTED BY:  The Fighting Sunflowers
TIME:  12:00pm-1:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lake%20Springs/161/26/22

EVENT:  GOT Costume Party RFL Kick Off Event
HOSTED BY:  Game of Thrones Cooperative RFL
TIME:  1:00pm-3:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bliss%20Kingdom/96/115/2502

EVENT:  Cannabissl for RFL
HOSTED BY:  Team Aonifall
TIME:  4:20pm-6:20pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Petopia/184/218/802

EVENT:  Immortal Hordes Never Forget Event
HOSTED BY:  Immortal Horde
TIME:  5:00pm-8:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vaoetere/19/197/16

EVENT:  Story Time
HOSTED BY:  The Fighting Sunflowers
TIME:  6:00pm-7:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lake%20Springs/161/26/22

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SUNDAY - 4/15/18
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EVENT:  Open Mic Night
HOSTED BY:  The Fighting Sunflowers
TIME:  2:00pm-4:00pm
LOCATION:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lake%20Springs/161/26/22

My Alt and I: The Story of Rezzdammit Resident

Alts have a number of uses in Second Life. Griefers are well known to use them to hide their identities. Some use them to explore around undisturbed. Some roleplayers use one with a name close to that of their character. For yours truly, I hadn't bothered to create one for years. Then when it came time to write about a new place only newcomers could see, I had to start one in order to do the story. But once the purpose he was created for was finished, I'd still bring him on, and more then five years later he still drops in inworld time to time. So who is this alt and why is he still around?

Read the story in Extra.

Zan's at Steelhead Bay

If you're looking for some Victorian/Steampunk wear, one place you should check out is Zan's in Steelhead Bay. Owned by Zantyago Mannonen, I went to check the store out. He has many good clothes both from the Victorian era and from other times that take the fashion as a frame of reference.  I would recommend this store to anyone who is interested in Victorian wear.

I had a few words with Zantyago. "Steelhead was looking for tenants, and I was looking for a place to set up a big shop," he told me about the store. He previously had a location in the old Steelhead Estates. He couldn't remember where he started, but Zan's really took off after he released his first male suit.  Zantyago was amazed by the response and that particular suit is still a strong seller. Zantyago then shaped and combined dresses he had already created to make new stuff.  The Blazer Belle is a great example.  That one is popular.

"I began doing this more seriously because I lost my real-life job and  I had the realization that I'm not cut up for office nonsense," said Zantyago, ."I am still studying chemistry which is my career and I had some great people that helped me and encouraged me." He then brought up the group, "Iron Sharpens Iron, which is a group of skilled people."  When asked about the Iron Sharpens Iron, he said, "Surrounding yourself with skilled people and show your works, and most important, listen to what they have to say." Zantyago explained that the group mostly disbanded, but those aviation people were great help, and good crazy fun.

Zantyago makes Victorian and occasionally clothing from other eras that take the Victorian era as a frame of reference. There are outfits for both men and women, coming in both mesh and prim. He sells to both owners of furry and human avatars, and has a line of shoes made for furs. He has a cute set with color changing abilities. Zantyago went on to say that there are clothes in pastel colors coming soon. Another excellent outfit is a collaborative effort with Amy Parker Tapkoinu Resident, "Zan's Little Lady Dress."

I would recommend this store to anyone who is interested in Victorian clothes.

Steelhead Bay (108,196, 23) / Marketplace link (here).

Deaflegacy

RFL Steelhead Camp Sneak Peek

On the Relay for Life Weekend Track, Team Steelhead, longtime friends of the Sunbeamer team, are once again their neighbors on RFL Celebrate. We can't reveal the whole thing yet, but were given the okay to reveal one little hint.

The Relay Weekend starts at 10AM SL time on Saturday July 15.

Steelhead Update

By Bixyl Shuftan

For the past few weeks for the Steelhead community. their new home of Steelhead Bay has continued to develop, with homes, shops, and other buildings such as a church, observatory, and greenhouse tea garden, and of course the theater earlier mentioned. Beside the theater is the side of a small mountain. Residents have continued to move in. But there are still empty spaces, and at least one house was marked "For Rent," so there is still room for people to move in.

 In their town hall meeting on May 9, Fuzzball brought up a few things, saying Totallunar Eclipse and  Tensai Hilra, the owners of the old Steelhead sims, "are still part of Steelhead, but requested not to be doing any managerial type duties. So, they're just (ir)regular Steelheaders. Since we only have the one sim, I think Jimmy (Branagh) and I can handle the duties." Fuzzball also told those present that he and Willow Leafstorm were talking about possibly getting a water homestead sim between Steelhead Bay and Ravenwood Forest (formerly Steelhead Nevermoor).

Fuzzball also announced he would volunteer to put his dignity on the line to help raise funds for the Steelhead Salmons Relay for Life team, "For every 3000 lindens that kiosk raises, I walk a lap on the RFL track in a Luminous Design dress. So far, it's one lap." His audience chuckled, one saying, "I could probably scrape up another 3k but it would nearly break me. Totally worth it." Fuzzball told them, "The Fuzz In A Dress Kiosk is inside Gearz, with a pic of me in said outfit." As of the writing of this article, the Steelhead Salmons have raised a little over 99,500 Lindens, almost a hundred thousand.

On another note, our last report stated there were sightings of a "sea monster" in the waters of Steelhead Bay. Checking things out for myself, I didn't see anything resembling the supposed denizen of Loch Ness. But there was one unusual sight: a narwhal. What this creature was doing so far away from it's home waters, one can only guess. But given it's unusual appearance, perhaps this was the cause of the sea monster stories.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead Update

Work on the Steelhead Community's home of Steelhead Bay continues. Besides Club Gearz, they now have a new place to dance, their new theater. On Friday April 21, it had it's first event in the form of a "Mad Scientists' Ball," with Fuzzball Ortega playing the music.

Shortly afterwards, Fuzzball gave a brief announcement for the community, saying that Loki Eliot was helping him with building and touching up the streets, "Bear with us as we get that situated." They were also adding street lamps to help light up the place at night. But there was one other issue at hand.

"Something may or may not be living in the bay," Fuzzball stated, "Apparently, folks have been seeing something surface every three minutes or so." He would later post the picture to the left on Facebook, "I think it's some old log floating in the bay......"

So is it "Swamp Gas" as someone suggested. Or does Steelhead have it's own sea monster? Perhaps time will tell. Or perhaps the "old log" will float away to other shores.

Bixyl Shuftan 

Announcement: Memorial Service For Riven Homewood

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that our friend, neighbor, and colleague Riven Homewood's RL avatar, Jean Hewlett, died on Monday April 3rd. Her son asked me to tell you all that it was quick and painless, and that she sent us all her love.

We're holding an informal memorial for her this weekend, a chance for us to tell each other our Riven Stories and comfort each other for our loss.

April 8th, 10:30am-12pm  slt
Caledon SouthEnd
in the vicinity of
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20SouthEnd/12/127/23

Guests are requested to wear low-prim, low-impact outfits.

There will be a grand celebration of Riven’s life later this month. Please save your memorial pictures, portraits, roses, and so on for that occasion, when we will be able to provide a setting for them

your servant

JJ Drinkwater.

Riven Homewood, Foxkin Impfondo Have Passed Away

The Newser was recently informed of the passing of two residents. Last night in Steelhead and Relay chat, it was revealed that Riven Homewood, Jean Hewlett in real life, had died on Monday afternoon. Besides Steelhead, she was a member of several library groups, and a member of the Relay for Life Team ACTS (Aether Chrononauts Tiny Steps). Oldesoul Eldemar spoke of her, "Real life and Second Life and many other places will be poorer without Riven's wit, humour, originality, commitment to good thinking and good talking, and the indefinable, wacky vivaciousness which she pursued her life. ... She was very involved with Relay, Fantasy Faire, and breedables with her ABC horses."

Plans for an inworld memorial are being arranged by JJ Drinkwater. Details will be posted when available. Nothing is known of the cause of death yet aside it happened suddenly.

The Newser was also made known of the death of Foxkin Impfondo, Known as David Von Foxkin outside Second Life, inworld he was the owner of Foxkin Rentals, which consisted of well over a dozen private sims. Although a few were sold off, many have closed following his demise. Sonicblu Darkfold stated on his puppet show's page on Facebook that Foxkin had passed away on February 25 of complications from a heart attack at the age of 58. His health had been in decline for a few years. "He will severely be missed by his friends and colleagues that have had the pleasure of knowing him." Sonicblu stated. Chistos Shatner would write on the Foxkin Rental Group page, "Foxkin, you were someone who shared in our joy and someone who guided us through dark times. You were friend and mentor to so many of us. We will never forget you."

Rest in Peace

Bixyl Shuftan

Club Gearz Moves to Steelhead Bay

When the Steelhead community held their first town meeting in their new home of Steelhead Bay last Tuesday, March 21, one matter brought up was the relocation of Club Gearz from Caledon. The theme was agreed upon as "New Beginnings." And on Friday night March 24 at 7PM, the club held it's first event in the sim.

A number of people showed up. Most were Steelheaders, but some were friends, notably from the Relay for Life. Fuzzball Ortega, acting as the DJ, whipped out "The Hair," and played a number of tunes, including what's become the unofficial song of Steelhead: "This is Home."

I've got my memories
Always inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was
I believe you now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was

Created for a place I've never known

This is home
Now I'm finally back to where I belong
Where I Belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
This is home 

For the Steelheaders, it was a reminder that at last, they had found their home in the virtual world.

Bixyl Shuftan

The New Steelhead's First Town Meeting

Steelhead is back. For over a year, the members of the community had to live in other places after the estate faded away from the grid. But with the founding of Steelhead Bay, they now have a home once more. Tuesday night, March 21, was both the opening of the sim to community members and the first town hall meeting since the closing of the old estate.

Read the story in People.

Steelhead Updates: Steelhead Bay Under Construction, Team Steelhead "Rising Star" Status

Fuzzball Ortega posted a couple entries on Facebook showing his progress in setting up the Steelhead community's new home. The first showed he had finally gotten the sim, which was a private one just north of Nevermoor, "And when we say Steelhead Bay rose from the depths. Yes, it literally rose from the depths. I accidentally ordered the water sim, and had to terraform it up."

His next update showed a picture, emphasizing the images were "NOT the builds. Those are so 2007. This was the layout of the original Steelhead City sim. I'm using this layout for Steelhead Bay SL (FYI, there's a Steelhead Bay in InWorldz that Thad and Lumi built that I had forgotten about). This layout is flipped from the original layout. Lighthouse Island is to the west this time, originally, the lighthouse was on the eastern part of the sim, town hall will be North, my house is to the Southeast. I'm limiting the common builds at the moment. Lighthouse Island will be the welcome area. Town hall will include the meeting room, marshal's office, and a couple of offices upstairs along with a classroom. Club Gearz will move to Steelhead Bay. There will be a Steelhead Ballroom. And my house. That leaves plenty of places for folks to rent."

And while Steelhead is taking shape, the comunity's Relay for Life team, Team Steelhead, is back in business. After having been in hibernation for a season, they've made a roaring start, already making it to "Rising Star" status, 25,000 Lindens.

Steelhead is making progress in it's comeback. We'll have more updates as they come in.

Image credit: Fuzzball Ortega

Bixyl Shuftan

Fuzzball Ortega Planning to Reopen Steelhead

In November 2015, the Steelhead Community's sims closed down, a result of the real life financial and personal difficulties of the landowner TotalLunar Eclipse (as well as Linden Lab locking our the account in a dispute). Since then, the community has existed in a kind of diaspora, many finding new homes in the Caledon and New Babbage areas. But they never quite forgot their old home. Especially not it's appointed sheriff Fuzzball Ortega. As time went on, he eventually would reopen the community's steampunk club Club Gearz, and hold a Steelhead reunion. But it wasn't quite the same.

But on Monday, Fuzzball made an announcement in the Steelhead Facebook group.

So, here's the deal. Since Steelhead closed. I had been researching on sim ownership and Mainland ownership. Caledon is nice, but it was not quite home.

At the job that pays the bills, I got a promotion, with a nice pay raise. Also, did my taxes and, despite paying a penalty for a brief period of time of not having insurance last year, I'm getting a good chunk of change back. I'm not in debt, I don't have rent or any huge bills to pay, so I decided to purchase my own sim, soon as the refund comes in. And I would still have plenty of money from my refund check left over to hold on to.

I also wanted to use it as a tie in of sorts for a future project that I'm working on for Krypton Radio. The name of the sim will be Steelhead Bay.

Steelhead chat had at least one lively discussion, "Steelhead will rise from ashes!" "Promoted from marshall to mayor - dat's not too shabby." Jimmy Branagh mused, "Does that mean I'm promoted to Marshal?" "Only if you rent a parcel." He was told by someone. Jimmy responded, "Ah, buying high office is still an art in Steelhead." Fuzzball finally broke in, "Calm down, everyone. It ain't gonna happen right away. Still have to procure the funds. But it will happen, I promise." "Well, you seem to have a bunch of willing renters Mr. Fuzzy." he was told. "I'll explain everything in due time."

So it would seem Steelhead is finally coming back. Most likely this time there will be no Mount Saint Hellens eruptions. But perhaps we'll see more of characters such as the Sasquatch, and Jobias Barthelmess, and events as only Steelhead could do them like "Hot Cocoa."

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Memorial Service for Nichus Berman

All friends of Nichus Berman are invited to attend a memorial service in Chadbury at 1PM SLT on Sunday September 25. 

We will share our memories of Nichus, speaking about how much he added to our virtual lives and how much we will miss him. There will also be space to leave a small memorial object, and of course there will be cake.

Chaubury (180, 150, 31)

From the Steelhead Group

Steelhead Reunion at Club Gearz

On the night of Tuesday August 2, Fuzzball Ortega, the former sheriff of the noted Steelhead Steampunk community, hosted a reunion meeting with about a dozen members of the group. It was close to a year ago in which the owner of the community's land, TotalLunar Eclipse, reluctantly made his decision to close the estates due to real-life problems and Linden Lab locking out his account in a dispute. While one sim, Nevermoor, was eventually saved, the rest could not be, and closed sometime in November. While the members of the community have scattered, mostly across elsewhere in the Steamlands of Second Life, many if not most have remained in the group. Last weekend, Fuzzball called for another meeting in the second story of Club Gearz, which had been relocated to Port Caledon, if nothing else to discuss possible themes for it and Willow Leafstorm's Green Fairy club still in Ravenwood Forest (former Nevermoor). But he imagined there were many who missed the crazy town hall gatherings, "And besides, when was the last time you said 'Floppy Dong' at a meeting?"

Fuzzball had added a number of pictures of various Steelheaders, from Lunar and Tensai Hilra behind him. Among those attending were Baron and Zantabraxus Wulfenbach, Softpaw Sommers, Willow Leafstorm, Rezzdammit (who sent me the pictures and the minutes), Jimmy Branagh, and others. Sadly Invertigo Caldwell, the "bad blue wolf" whom had caused no shortage of chaos for a time, has been absent from Steelhead activity for over a year.

They discussed the "Almost Lag Free Relay Weekend," which a number took part in other teams as the "Stealhead Salmons" were inactive, "but we'll give it another go, next year, if folks are interested." People were, "It felt...off , to not have a Steelhead campsight." Fuzzball stated he had run 21 laps around the track, but had no comment when Rezzdammit asked if it was all in his wolf form and he was being chased be a girl in a little red riding hood.

Themes were selected for their Friday Night dances, which alternate between the Green Fairy and Club Gearz, the Olympics being the theme for August 12. Fuzzball is still looking for pictures for the second story walls, "there's more photos to be added." Steelhead's school may start again soon, "AthenaeumArchivist is interested in teaching the fresh young minds."

After about an hour, the meeting was adjourned with a number of "Hoooooooo!"s. "Thank you for coming out. I do miss seeing you guys on a regular basis."

Bixyl Shuftan