Well, as much as I'm nostalgic for the old place now, at the time I had decided that I wanted to build my own. I was in Second Life to learn how it worked and I needed to learn how to build. I'd like to rez that place on a nice quiet lake shore somewhere and have a nice cabin to getaway to...

While pondering my next move, I noticed that I had a new neighbor. And a helicopter which I pretended was a giant bug...

I had to investigate this further...

July 17th 2010 was the next Fight Night. This evening I saw some of the best fighters ever to grace the arena fight it out and I confess to thinking about how I was going to have to make a career out of being a diplomat in The Wastelands. There was no way I would be able to take on any of these people...

Aposiopesis Fullstop (l) vs. Cigi Saraha

This was the first time I ever saw theblackcloud Oh fight. Unfortunately for her, she had to fight Sandusky. Sandusky Kayvon is a Dev and I knew of him from visiting The Cormac but watching him in the arena was something else...

Cloudy defeated Apo in the redemption round only to face Dassina Andel. Dass was then what Dass is now, a force to be reckoned with. She pulled a rattlesnake, a kidney burster and a nailgun on Cloudy. Hell, at the time I thought that a rattlesnake was a live snake...

Kitty met Moondoggie once again in the semi final rounds and once again Moondoggie proved to be overwhelming. I'm not sure if Kitty was ever able to take him. I believe that this is the last time Moondoggie ever fought at Fight Night...

Sandusky defeated Cigi in their semi final match. I will say that I admired Cigi's look and that any similarity, although unintentional is the sincerest form of flattery...

This left Sandusky, Moondoggie and Dass in the final. Sandusky impressed the hell out of me that evening with his swashbuckling yet businessman like style. Definite Indiana Jones vibe...

Again, I left this FN most impressed with the skill of Wastelanders. I was worried about ranged weapons now, having seen them in action. I seriously thaought about becoming a pacifist. In the image below, note that I'm standing away from the crowd in front of the old map board, still not quite comfortable...

Time to go home and ponder...

I was glad that I had my own property because someone was following me...

No, seriously, I was being stalked. A guy named Jackbond (I'll leave out his last name) was somehow tracking my location and TPing in on me. At first I thought he just happened to be in the club I was in but after three or more times...

Like most noobs I experimented with smexing early in my second life and this guy became obsessed with me. So I was glad to have a place of my own where I could freeze & evict undesirables. I've only had to do that twice in five plus years so I've been fortunate. So I kinda cowered in my place for a few days after I ARd his ass...

I never heard from him again so I guess it must have been resolved. In the meantime I had procured a crowbill from Destiny as I was becoming fascinated with the combat aspect of The Wastelands...

Other than sparring with Kitty, I still had no fighting experience and my next experience at Fight Night would have me questioning if I ever would...

Ya know, I was just pondering this picture and that place actually fit in damn well there, especially when I compare it to the official builds across the way...

I was starting off in the right direction, even if I didn't know it at the time. But I was ready to learn to build my very own stuff...

I've been told that I have a unique look. It sure didn't start that way. So, I had gone with some leathers and added some blood. The blood remains with me to this day. I've had several people ask me where I got it. Unfortunately, the maker of the skin, Bloody Hell isn't around anymore. So here you have her, Mad Maxine...

Problem was, those boots. They clicked when I walked. I was able to turn them off but they were still scripty and high heeled. Not appropriate at all and the leather jacket just looked too biker like. Leather trousers however remain a staple of my wardrobe to this day...

While searching for something more post apocalyptic to wear, I came across a roller derby outfit at a store called Virus. Not Wastlandish at all, but outlandish enough for me. I wore variations of this outfit on and off for quite a bit...

I actually wore this to the next edition of Fight Night. I still occasionally wear the red shirt with the cool biohazard emblem and the #23 on the back...

I settled on a prefab structure that was a "log cabin" on the marketplace. It had a dock built in and that seemed to work for now. I had to scale it down quite a bit to make it fit on the plot. This ensured that only petite avatars could get in - not my idea but it would prove handy later...

I actually have some fond memories of that structure. It wasn't much. It was WAY too prim heavy. It kinda stuck out in the midst of all the shabbiness. Destiny suggested we break it. I told her that I already wanted to build my own.  But it was mine and it was home for now. One nice thing was getting the group messages. In one, Neo had suggestions for improving texture rendering. My pictures dramatically improved afterward. Thanks, Wastelands...

I had a little less than a week before the next FN. I figured I'd better work on my appearence before then...

On Saturday, July 3,2010 I attended my first ever Fight Night. I confess that I was scared to death as I had never been around this many Wastelanders at one time, much less at what I believed to be a most dangerous gathering. I still hadn't swung a weapon in anger. I think that by this time I had acquired a facebreaker from Destini for better defense, but still...

I think that I learned more this evening than I had my entire time in the WLs up till this point. I got to observe first hand the spectacle that had so captivated me for so long. Destiny was there as a spectator like myself and KittyKat was there as a fighter. I thought it was so badass that I was friends with one of the fighters...

One person who stood out to me was VoidTraveller Seetan. He had this tube of glue stuck to his nose and he just looked psychotic as he slaughtered his opponents. Void managed to get himself banned from The Wastelands not long after this night. I only interacted with him a few times and it never really went very well. Never liked him and I don't miss him...

ViodTraveller Seetan

In the finals though, it wasn't enough. Even after Void came out with a slugthrower and dispatched Cigi Saraha, Moondoggie Iger managed to triumph. I will say here that Moondoggie was one of the best fighters I ever saw. I never got to meet him in the arena. He hasn't been around for years...

Moondoggie Iger

Afterward, I went back home to concentrate on getting a decently shabby home to stay in. I was still scared in The Wastelands and I wanted a roof over my head and a door I could shut...

The first thing I did was to rez a chair on the small island on my new property. I didn't know about terraforming at the time so I took the land as it was. I situated the chair so that I could stare down anybody sitting on the sofa across the lagoon by the shack that held the masheen...

Emboldened by my newfound knowledge about how to fight with my fistwraps, I took a walk through Hambone Slash while HUDded, looking for a fight. I was really frightened by Hambone Slash as in the descriptions Fight Night was always mentioned as well as other bloody combat that occured there. Fortunately, all I found was the food trader...

Back home, I tried many prefab structures that I'd seen on the marketplace. I even rezzed a rusty lighthouse that really didn't work. I think I left the top part with a searchlight up for a few days before I noticed. My neighbors must've hated me but they didn't show it. Maybe they just didn't notice me. I even considered being a ghoul after meeting Kitty, but I decided against it...

Nonetheless, I felt that as a land owning Wastelander I could be brave enough to attend my first Fight Night...