The house that Doc built.

[gogoblender 3,338]

On 10/23/2024 at 2:38 PM, pevil said:

I love the mix of peaceful, artistic builder, and ruthless hunter preparing their next meal ;) That's a cool little detail though, and vastly expands your crafting materials for even more creativity.

If we want to talk about scary movies, only one has ever scared me. I love it and hate it in equal amounts. Arachnophobia. I do suffer arachnophobia, but mostly spider films don't scare me (or games, the only spiders in-game that ever freaked me out were the flat hairy ones in Sacred! I refused to go to certain areas for ages due to those things but eventually managed to get over it). Things like Eight-Legged Freaks are too over the top and silly so even the CGI spiders don't bother me. But I can genuinely see Arachnophobia happening. A particularly deadly species makes its way over here, interbreeds with a native species and they start killing off the town? Absolutely. Whenever I watch that film I am incredibly nervous about turning off lamps and getting in the shower!

Love me a good horror movie though (and a bad one). Watching plenty on Netflix while they're up, I'll have to check if they have Sinister on there.

lol arachnophbia!  good lord that was outstanding! High production values, GREAT spiders, and what a story...gong into the deepest, darkest part of an ooooolf jungle... and the monster comes back with them... and mates!    There were moments when I could not tell whether it was horror or comedy, but I loved every moment of that adventure..i was connected to a spirt of that decade, a light heartedness plus.. a fearless smirk when coming to throw a ruthless cruel image of a dead body or face painted with horror,

gogo

[DocHoff 94]

This thread's kinda turned into a cinema one, which you'll get no complaint from me, as I'm a major cinephile. Wanna know a film I can't stand? Forrest Gump.  Good lord, ya really cheese some folks off when ya say that. Jaws tighten a little; "how can you dislike that film? It's got a star-studded cast of blah blah blah..." Yup, I'm aware of the cast. "You like history stuff, it's a slice of Americana, a look at several decades of history blah blah blah..." Yup, I've seen it. I didn't criticize it, I'm saying I don't like it. And I don't think I'm gunna like the new one that's advertised in every commercial block, Here, I think it's called. So then you get a "well, what's the last thing YOU watched and liked?" Then they give an arrogant little smirk when I say that I like to watch series I've seen a thousand times before, as background noise, while I build stuff. Futurama, The League, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; that type of stuff. It's met with an arrogant smirk , like "ahh, that's why, you don't have a palette sophisticated enough to enjoy a masterpiece like Forrest Gump". Lol, people sometimes! At Camp Pendleton, I watched two Marines beat the ever-living snot out of each other just because one insulted the other's favorite beer. People make interesting case studies sometimes. 

At the moment, I'm not watching anything. You ever turn Netflix on for background noise, get really focused on a project, then snap back to Netflix and realize you're now watching something that has nothing to do with what you originally put on? I was watching Mystery science Theater 3000 while repainting a section of house, got in the zone for a bit, and snapped back to Netflix to discover that it was playing something about the Waco incident. I didn't know that much about it; I knew David Koresh had like some church or something where he was illegally manufacturing guns or something, and ATF came in and a bunch of people died; that was about it. so, I watched this thing in horror, because I'm bloody old enough to have known more about this tragedy than I did, when something caught my attention: compound. I know it's dorky, but I like the word "compound". So, I'm currently building my own Mount Carmel Center, without the religious cult aspect of it. It's taking a long freaking time, though, because I didn't notice I was building right in the middle of poor temporal stability:

So, not too impressive yet. I want to make one of those U-shaped buildings, out of brick. I want to put my housing like a mile or two behind it, but regular houses, not rows of those tiny cabins like many compounds have. 

Oh, cinema wise, I also don't like Anna Kendrick, which also really cheeses people off. Not a criticism, I just don't like her movies. Perhaps bc my wife made me watch Pitch Perfect. I think it was a punishment, because she bloody well knew that I'm not the film's target audience. But...the things ya do for love

[pevil 58]

No judgement from me; whilst I love Forrest Gump, there are many films I just plain haven't seen, or don't think much of. The one everyone stares at me like I'm an alien for is Star Wars. Never been interested. Don't dislike it, just wouldn't choose to watch it and see nothing special about it. I think they put one of the original 3 on when I was on a school trip and it bored me. Then my friend made me watch episodes 1-3 with the intent of following it up with 4-5 but we never got past those first 3. Can't remember much of them. Not a huge sci fi fan generally which doesn't help but I appreciate a good story. Just felt it was very generic. Now I can imagine why people got obsessed if they saw the original in cinemas at the time, but seeing it on a small TV in the 90s... much less impressive!

An interesting insight into where you get your inspiration from! Incredible how just one word can spark off a train of thought and send you down the design road again

[DocHoff 94]

8 hours ago, pevil said:

No judgement from me; whilst I love Forrest Gump, there are many films I just plain haven't seen, or don't think much of. The one everyone stares at me like I'm an alien for is Star Wars. Never been interested. Don't dislike it, just wouldn't choose to watch it and see nothing special about it. I think they put one of the original 3 on when I was on a school trip and it bored me. Then my friend made me watch episodes 1-3 with the intent of following it up with 4-5 but we never got past those first 3. Can't remember much of them. Not a huge sci fi fan generally which doesn't help but I appreciate a good story. Just felt it was very generic. Now I can imagine why people got obsessed if they saw the original in cinemas at the time, but seeing it on a small TV in the 90s... much less impressive!

An interesting insight into where you get your inspiration from! Incredible how just one word can spark off a train of thought and send you down the design road again

As far as Star Wars, you and I are in the same boat. I do like the Phantom Menace, though, because I like Liam Neeson and that whole underwater scene. I love water; I have seven aquariums. I would have liked Star Wars better if Darth Vader would have lived; my favorite characters are the reformed bad guys.

As far as inspiration, thank you  Inspiration can strike at any time. I really wish we could build in Sacred 2; I'm picturing just the perfect Druid cottage/herbalist's hut for the Blood Forest region.

[DocHoff 94]

Thank you for letting me blather on, especially about a game that's not Sacred. I came wanting to share something creative, but I don't have a lot of creative stuff for Sacred. I don't really do fanfiction for the game. My toons are named after people I want to honor; fallen heroes whose fall upsets me, like John Wheeler. John Wheeler III was a veteran and activist. He was a chairman instrumental in getting the Vietnam Memorial built. He was also CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in the '80s. He was a victim of homicide, and his body was discovered in a landfill. Now that right there's b.s; no one should be thrown in landfill like they're garbage. I can't fix that, but I can bloody well at least name a toon after him. 

I don't really do "builds", either. You folks have written some pretty good articles, but I craft my toons on the fly; I build them as I go. Some of them make it to the end, some of them fail and have their armaments recycled, to start anew. I don't really follow guides, either. if I follow your guide, it's not my toon, it's yours. I'm the type of stubborn cuss that's gotta do it on his own. 

I still like the idea of a compound, but I don't want a Mount Carmel Center; that place has bad juju attached to it. So, instead, I went with like a doomsday prepper's compound:

I've got a little garden there to feed my chickens and sheep, a little fish pond. But, I learned that I have to reprioritize a little bit. I don't even have windows or a second floor yet, but:

I took time to figure out how to chisel simple wainscoting, using gabbro. That could have waited until later, when my character's waiting out the doomsday. It's all good, though, I'll learn, my character has time yet.

[gogoblender 3,338]

lol, i'm a little jealous Doc that you seem to just sink-"synce" into so much creativity ...with prose as well as building pix  ... what delightful way to meditate and self-compose... and this topic is wonderfully organic... its as Pevil says... all of us are so uniquely different and can bring value to any vector or topic title by adding bits of ourselves as in natural conversation.. its a great way to relax..  Axe Chopping and gore is notoriously popular cocktail convo!

gogo

[DocHoff 94]

 Alright, I don't like this build. It was a doomsday prepper's compound. But...that's depressing. It was only a few years ago that we all were locked indoors, praying/hoping that what's *out there* doesn't get *in here*. So, I started a new build, a city in the desert I named Ryanstonfieldburgville. I want a bright city, where the gloom of yesterday's washed away and folks can laugh and heal and celebrate. I only started this an hour ago, so I only have one rough little building; a food kiosk:

That's the first thing I want people to smell when they come to my town: coffee and comfort food. I'm not sure why I have that little aqueduct there; I think I'll have it feed into a field. I don't know what I want to call it yet, so I went with a temporary tag: DocDonald's  . DocDonald's was supposed to be a quick grab n go type of kiosk, but I think I'll have an open sitting/eating area next to it.

Thank you for letting me talk about this game here. I'm starting to grow tired of the "kill everything on screen" games I have like Doom and Elden Ring; it makes me happier to create than kill. Creativity adds wrinkles to your brain, which is a good thing. I also love that I don't have to be playing it to have fun with it. In the shower: "hmm, should Ryanstonfieldburgville have a floral shop? I'm not much of a flower guy, but splashes of color here and there are great mood enhancers." At the dentist's office: "hmm, who runs DocDonald's? What's their story?" Winding down for the night: "hmm, does the town need a post office? Internet no longer exists, so a post office might come in handy. No internet, which means no streaming services; the town's gunna need an actor's guild and a theater!" 

And the fun never has to end, there's no "aww, dang it, that was the final boss?!? Things were just getting good! Well,..... at least the game has a "NG+" setting. 

[DocHoff 94]

Alright, I hate the name "DocDonald's". I asked my kids. Steve said "Stupid Johnny's Beef Bucket". Yeah, Steve's at that age, lol. Kat's suggestion was "I swear to salsa, Dad, if you don't knock again, you're gunna get a money shot. From now on, when this door's closed, I'm not wearing a stitch of clothes". Whoops, I got too excited and just barged in her room; I should know by now that an action like that's a death sentence when dealing with a girl in her late teens. But that's an idea if I have a Mexican restaurant; "I swear to salsa". Katie's suggestion was "it's a good thing that you and mom met BEFORE this game came out, otherwise I have a feeling none of us would be here". And Connor, the feistiest of the four, said "Bob's Butt Burgers". I don't think that's gunna fly. But this is kind of a kiosk, so I went with "Bob's Burger Basket. I don't have my outdoor sitting area done yet, because I was contemplating name's for my main restaurant, which is The Bubbling Crock Pot. Obviously, this isn't just a grab n go type of place; it's food cooked in a slow cooker, like this

shrimp boil, or this

BBQ chicken sandwich. The only bad part is that all recipes I know with slow cookers take no less than four hours, so ya gotta place your order when you place your reservation. Of course Instant Pots are much faster than crock pots; a pork shoulder that normally takes six hours takes an hour in an Instant one, but the owner of The Bubbling Crock Pot, Granny Becky, says Instant Pots are blasphemy. Of course Granny Becky isn't quite old enough to be set in her ways, at only 37, but the customers don't need to know Granny's age. It's kinda her gimmick; the granny with the crock pot.

So, not much is done yet, but at least my folks are eating good

Edited November 5 by DocHoff

[DocHoff 94]

Ok, I really like my town concept; I used it to write a full Halloween story for my writers guild. That's kind of what I do; I majored in English, public speaking, and creative writing bc I wanted to be an English professor and an author. Life kinda took me in a different direction, but writing's still one of my major hobbies. That's probably not too hard for you folks to swallow; I have the eccentricity of a writer  I'm not going to share the full story; it's just that while writing it, something dawned on me. As humans, I don't think we can always choose the emotional baggage we bring with us. Just because we face a brand new world/living situation doesn't mean we're automatically issued a brand new "you". That's not exactly an astute observation, it's just new to me, as I've never really thought about it before. I'll show ya what I'm talking about here.

In this story, a group of people built an underground facility, kind of like the vaults in the Fallout series. After about a decade or so, they send a small excursion team out to see what remained of the planet. Common sense dictates what we should find, as this isn't the first mass extinction event that the planet's faced. However, this isn't a normal event, like an ice age/meteor striking the planet. The base premise in Vintage Story is kind of like the Cloverfield series; science pushed the envelope too far and tore the fabric of reality/spacetime. So, who knows what one will find in that scenario, when all we have about those types of deals is fiction? What my people find is a replenished Earth; all remnants of Humanity are gone. Ozone layer replenished, oil spills gone, all damage that we've done healed. That doesn't make sense, I'd expect that the planet would look like Fallout 4; skeleton here, remnants of a building there, a vehicle over there. I mean, it's only been like ten years. But that's what my folks got; a replenished planet.

So, just because my expedition reports a renewed Earth doesn't mean everyone's gunna come spilling out of the vault. Granted, none of these folks are professional survivalists/colonists, but nor are they dumb. They built fields and animal pens, slowly chisel out a rock quarry for building materials; you get it, they don't just run around like ADHD kids: "ohh! We need a pharmacy here, a bakery over there", etc. But they don't want to live underground forever. So, they do start slowly building a town, slightly above ground level:

I don't know why, as that takes extra resources; that's just how I envision it. Anyway, my folks don't want the agricultural and industrial zones to be the first thing folks see when they enter my town, but rather commercial. So, they've set up little kiosks, like Bob's Burger Basket:

Nothing tremendously fancy yet; my folks just want the basic foundations set up for now, then the detailed stuff gets set up later. But now we get to my main point. Folks are trying to figure out what should be across the street from the burger kiosk. People aren't going to be at each other's throats right off the bat, but I had pictured a group of shiny, happy people holding hands, ready to build a society, and it dawned on me that it's not going to be that simple, life isn't as simple and happy as a Saturday morning cartoon. A woman stands up and states that a clothing store should go next to the burger basket; nothing says 'relaxed vacation tourist spot' like a t shirt shop. She's got cotton, yarn, leather; she's ready to go. Folks agree, and she puts up a simple kiosk. You can see it in the first picture there, Shelly doesn't even have windows in yet. So, what's the bfd? The deal is the name; Shelly's trying to think of something cute, so she comes up with Leather and Lace. One person stands up and says "no freaking way, I'm not having a Hot Topic in our town". Shelly states that it's not Hot Topic, she was just trying to think of a cleaver name. Person 2 asks "what's wrong with Hot Topic?" Person 3 asks "you ever been to Hot Topic?" Person 4 looks to person 3 and says "No, because I'm not a 16 year old girl, and it's not 2007". Shelly tears her sign down, picks up a piece of charcoal, and writes "Insert your oh-so-witty name for a friggin clothes store here" on the wall. 

What's the point of all that crap? You ever watch a video of someone's town in Minecraft, where everyone looks at the camera and waves? That's how I picture my towns, and I realized how unrealistic that is. I try to interject a little reality into my stories, and the reality is there's always a persnickety butt or two in every crowd. Most folks might be waving, but there's got to be one or two folks giving the finger, too. Folks that were persnickety before the apocalypse are gunna be persnickety after the apocalypse. I absolutely believe that folks can change, but I don't think most of us can just do a 180 overnight; that stuff takes work. So, that's why I say emotional baggage isn't like physical luggage; we can't just pick and choose what we bring with us. I didn't want crap from the old world spilling into my new one, but if I want my town to have any semblance of reality, I have to face the music: my happy, shiny town very well might need some type of police precinct. And a courthouse. And maybe some type of psychologist's office. I want shiny and happy, but it just doesn't feel real if there's not an area or two that's a little less shiny, maybe a scuff and smudge or two, as well. I don't want those buildings right in the front and center of my town, as that sets low morale, but I need them somewhere, because it's foolish not to plan for those types of situations. We can't just leave all our crap behind; some of it comes with us whether we like it or not. 

[DocHoff 94]

I think I've reached a natural stopping point for this thread. Thank you for letting me blather on about a game that's not only not Sacred, but also not an arpg in general. I love that I've found a game where I can pour this much creativity into. It makes me chuckle to think that when this genre first came out, I hated it.

[gogoblender 3,338]

2 minutes ago, DocHoff said:

I think I've reached a natural stopping point for this thread. Thank you for letting me blather on about a game that's not only not Sacred, but also not an arpg in general. I love that I've found a game where I can pour this much creativity into. It makes me chuckle to think that when this genre first came out, I hated it.

Why stop? Your posts have been a marvelous read.  Remember, posters here are only the tip of the ice berg. We have many thousands who just love to peek, read and revel in the adventures of writers here. Your journey is valid and a kind exploration of your imagination, and helps kindle and motivate others to indulge and dream as well

gogo

[pevil 58]

Agreed with Gogo. I read your little story and meant to reply but totally forgot. It was interesting! We need the other stories from this town!

[DocHoff 94]

I've just started a new world. I've discovered that the easiest way for me to build towns is to build a crossroads; some know them better as a four-way intersection. The upper left quadrant is usually my commercial district, while the upper right is my residential. I generally work on them last, so right now, they look like this:

Not a lot there right now. Gotta eat before you can think of shops and fancy homes, ya know?

My pictures are big, so I have to limit them to one picture per post. I'm having a little hiccup with my photo gallery atm.

 

[DocHoff 94]

 

Here's my garden and pasture. Nothing too exotic yet, but you gotta start from the ground up w this game. So, I'm hunting while my crops come in, then I can start breeding whatever's in my area. I think I might go with boars. 

[DocHoff 94]

And then my industrial zone:

That little gray shed's where I make charcoal. You light a bunch of wood on fire, seal the entrance, and bam: charcoal in a day or so. 

The red brick building's my multi-purpose factory. Right now, I do everything from tan leather to smelting metal in there. Not wildly impressive atm; it doesn't even have windows. But this isn't like Cities: Skylines where ya just plop a building down; ya build stuff brick by brick.

The story I made is about as simple as my current structures. A guy, just your everyday type of fella, climbs down an old abandoned wishing well. This guy's not going to scrape up all of the money he finds down there; those are folks' wishes, it's not right to take those. He goes down there just to see what folks threw in the well; he read an article that some folks use things besides coins to put in wishing wells. So, why not have a quick look? He finds a portal to a whole other realm; a whole world. A world where Covid and pronouns and bigotry and all of the ugliness that our world has, is absent. So, he's contemplating what to do. He could build himself a nice little getaway for days when life is kind of heavy, when the wife and kids are away. Or, maybe he tells his family, and together they have a nice little getaway spot. Or, perhaps he could tell some of his dudes, too. The problem, though, is folks have loose lips. Pretty soon, the wolrd could be just as much of a pain in the butt as the one he's escaping from. But is this really his world to keep secret?

So, those are the things he's contemplating as he builds roads and watches in crops and animals grow. That's all I got so far. 

[DocHoff 94]

41 minutes ago, pevil said:

Agreed with Gogo. I read your little story and meant to reply but totally forgot. It was interesting! We need the other stories from this town!

Thank you. I liked that world, but it was built in Homo sapien, which means there was no lore, ruins, or monsters. Sometimes, it's nice to have something to do besides forage, farm, and build. I really like the temporal storms aspect, where ya gotta drop everything and run for cover. So, this new world has monsters at night, badder monsters underground, and even badder monsters during temporal storms. Of course, my guy doesn't know that yet. I probably gotta name my main character something besides "The Guy". I like.... Rick. Yeah, Rick sounds fun. Person #1: "This party blows, man!" Person #2: "Relax, Rick's not here yet". Rick sounds dependable. Your daughter went out drinking last night. You would be upset, because she's kind of in a fragile mindset right now, but it's all good, because Rick's with her. Rick's not the type of guy to take advantage of a gal like that. Yeah, my main character's Rick.

[DocHoff 94]

So, the story of Rick. He found this whole other world, he's built a garden, a little pasture, and a workshop. So, if Rick built all this stuff, you know a good chunk of time's gone by. To all of us who are married, ya know Rick's in trouble for not telling his wife sooner. On the one hand, he's hogged this whole world to himself; maybe his wife (let's call her....Victoria) and his daughter (..Joy) would have liked to go and unwind. On the other hand, when the last time you've found a portal to another world on the bottom of a well? Was he just supposed to go running to wife like a child goes running to his mommy; "mommy, mommy, I found a thing in the backyard!"? Naw, man, Rick found this world, is it really that selfish to just sit and enjoy it himself for a tiny bit? Besides, who knows the perils that this world could hold?

With that thought in mind, it dawned on Rick that he's never really explored the world beyond his immediate surroundings. When he climbs the hill past the red brick building (there indeed is one, you just didn't see it because I have my view distance set to very low because this is an old computer), he finds some ruins:

This is really exciting to Rick. There's no telling how old these ruins are, but being that they're cobblestone, it's fairly safe to assume that these were built before his time. Rick lives in Detroit, Michigan; ya don't just stumble upon ruins in Detroit (I'd imagine, never been there myself). And that's when Rick hatched this whole plan.

Several years ago, Rick got hooked to those ghost-hunting shows, so he made himself one of those spirit box things. What better place to use a spirit box than an old ruins? So, he brought the box and a camcorder to the world. I'd imagine that the spirit box wouldn't work there; don't those things just surf radio stations and you're supposed to hear voices in the white noise or something? So, in a world without radio stations, a spirit box would be useless. However, Rick's works, he swears he hears the word "underneath" on the box. How? I don't know. Rick doesn't know; he doesn't have some type of William Shatner/ Rod Sterling type of narrator explaining the ins and outs of the world. All Rick knows is that he hears "underneath" on the spirit box. What he finds, I'll save for after Thanksgiving. 

I did indeed find a whole bunch of stuff under the ruins: I generally play the game as I write their stories, makes it more fun. But this was quite a serendipitous moment; one doesn't always find stuff underneath ruins. Well, at least not in the 1.19.8 version that I'm playing on. But that's gunna wait til after Thanksgiving. Have a safe and joyous holiday, for those of us who celebrate it

Edited November 28 by DocHoff

[pevil 58]

Yay more stories! Thank you Doc I absolutely love the detail you go into and seeing the thought processes. Rick is already a full character in my mind. Combined with that picture of the ruins as well I can just hear how peaceful that world is (for now at least). Some birds singing in the distance, the soft rustle of the wind in the trees, the sun warming your skin... beautiful

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Edited November 28 by pevil

[DocHoff 94]

 Good, I'm glad Rick's come alive for you. One thing you'll notice is that I never go into character descriptions. Some say it's lazy, I say too much description is an insult to readers. If I don't describe Rick, you're free to make him however you want. Inspiring creativity is the whole reason why I started my writers' guild. I found that some of my former sailors and Marines were spending their weekends just sitting in a dark little corner of the VFW, drinking and watching football and boxing. While there's nothing wrong with that, I've found that now is the age where we start to gather dust and cobwebs in the corners of our minds a little. 

And, I'll admit, it's a little selfish. My group of men and women are all in our early to mid 40s; I'm not ready for us to start turning into an old crotchety group in the corner of the VFW. Vintage Story's what we're working on right now. Some just kind of listen, but I've really got some to come out of their shell. That's another big thing with me. When I was young, my grandfather (a big, burly Marine) taught me that it's ok for adults to still be silly and young at heart. So, that's kind of a big thing w me. I'm a little big and burly myself, but that sure as heck isn't going to stop me from being silly with my younger ones. My older ones are girls. With them, I'm trying to teach a little more modesty. I don't expect them to go out looking like nuns, but when their outfits make even me uncomfortable, that's not enough clothes. Katie was going to go out a few days ago....in something I don't even know how to describe. It wasn't clothes, it was like something you wear under your clothes. Heaven help me, Katie's got too much of me and her mom in her. 

I have to go. Thanksgiving's today, and I've sat here vaping too much. It's too easy to vape when Juice Head's Peach Pear tastes like it was handed down from the heavens. But before I go, I have one little disclaimer. Because of some of my stories, a few of my guys bought Vintage Story, which landed me in hot water a little "you said several times 't shirt kiosk', I bought the game to have my own t shirt kiosk, and there's no bloody kiosk! You can't even make t shirts!" I thought that was kind of implied that one needs to use their imagination a bit. The setting in Vintage Story's kind of early Victorian era. Being 45, I wasn't exactly around for that era, but I've seen pictures. As far as I'm aware of, folks weren't running around in cowboy boots and Skynyrd t shirts. So, the game doesn't always have everything that I describe

[gogoblender 3,338]

8 hours ago, DocHoff said:

 Good, I'm glad Rick's come alive for you. One thing you'll notice is that I never go into character descriptions. Some say it's lazy, I say too much description is an insult to readers. If I don't describe Rick, you're free to make him however you want. Inspiring creativity is the whole reason why I started my writers' guild. I found that some of my former sailors and Marines were spending their weekends just sitting in a dark little corner of the VFW, drinking and watching football and boxing. While there's nothing wrong with that, I've found that now is the age where we start to gather dust and cobwebs in the corners of our minds a little. 

And, I'll admit, it's a little selfish. My group of men and women are all in our early to mid 40s; I'm not ready for us to start turning into an old crotchety group in the corner of the VFW. Vintage Story's what we're working on right now. Some just kind of listen, but I've really got some to come out of their shell. That's another big thing with me. When I was young, my grandfather (a big, burly Marine) taught me that it's ok for adults to still be silly and young at heart. So, that's kind of a big thing w me. I'm a little big and burly myself, but that sure as heck isn't going to stop me from being silly with my younger ones. My older ones are girls. With them, I'm trying to teach a little more modesty. I don't expect them to go out looking like nuns, but when their outfits make even me uncomfortable, that's not enough clothes. Katie was going to go out a few days ago....in something I don't even know how to describe. It wasn't clothes, it was like something you wear under your clothes. Heaven help me, Katie's got too much of me and her mom in her. 

I have to go. Thanksgiving's today, and I've sat here vaping too much. It's too easy to vape when Juice Head's Peach Pear tastes like it was handed down from the heavens. But before I go, I have one little disclaimer. Because of some of my stories, a few of my guys bought Vintage Story, which landed me in hot water a little "you said several times 't shirt kiosk', I bought the game to have my own t shirt kiosk, and there's no bloody kiosk! You can't even make t shirts!" I thought that was kind of implied that one needs to use their imagination a bit. The setting in Vintage Story's kind of early Victorian era. Being 45, I wasn't exactly around for that era, but I've seen pictures. As far as I'm aware of, folks weren't running around in cowboy boots and Skynyrd t shirts. So, the game doesn't always have everything that I describe

oooh, happy Thanky! You just reminded me to thank my Mom as well  she must be digging into the turkey as we speak!

gogo

[DocHoff 94]

6 hours ago, gogoblender said:

oooh, happy Thanky! You just reminded me to thank my Mom as well  she must be digging into the turkey as we speak!

gogo

Thank you. Thanksgiving is a holiday of mixed emotions for me, but that's a whole different topic. 

I often talk directly to my audience. I know, "breaking the fourth wall" blah blah, but I like engaging people in hypothetical thought games. It causes brain wrinkles, which are good. So, what Rick found:

Hominid bones; proof that people once existed in the world. There's also a journal; a journal discussing the forbidden friendship between a commoner boy and a boy of nobility. Under the bones, as you can see, is bony soil. Rick could sift through that soil for other artifacts and clues. Would you? You'd have to move the bones out of the way, which some might consider disrespectful. Different cultures have different thought methods and ceremonies concerning the dead. These two aren't in coffins, but perhaps this is how their culture shows respect: the deceased are buried under their homes. Rick asked if anyone was around, which got the "underneath" response on the spirit box. So, perhaps he could get more clues with the spirit box. He asked what he should do, but got no response. If he leaves them exposed to the elements, animals could run off with the bones, but perhaps it's considered disrespectful to even touch the bones or rebury them. So, what should one do in a situation such as this? Rick decided that, when in doubt, the best course of action is often to do nothing. So, he left them exactly as they were.

However, the course of action he did follow was to take the camcorder and the journal, go home, plug the camcorder in to the tv, hand the gals the journal, and give Victoria and Joy the finger. Not an angry finger, but a cheeky finger. Those two mocked him from the first day he started using the spirit box in the cemetery by their house. "You know that all of those paranormal investigator shows are bs, right", blah blah. Ha! What's bs now? 

Plus, let's be real, Rick's gunna cause a playful little stink about being right, in the hopes that Victoria and Joy overlook the fact that Rick's gone this long without telling them about this other realm. Victoria and Joy know it, Rick knows that they know it, so why, gentlemen? Why do we do what we do, when our gals know why we're doing what we're doing? The conclusion I've come up with; it's all part of the dance, the cosmic play, that both genders are engaged in. Neurochemicals, social influences, cognitive factors; pair bonding is quite a complex, multifaceted dance that we do as men and women. No, excuse me, not as man and woman, but as male and female, because the rituals of pair bonding extend far beyond just humans. The dance is elaborate and complex even with critters such as my cherry shrimp and corydora. 

So, Victoria and Joy are strong and independent women, not subdued and mousy, so you know Rick caught a little heat for keeping the other world a secret for as long as he did. Of course the gals understand and can appreciate that Rick wasn't just going to trot his women onto a brand new world without knowing the perils, but they still have to give him a little guff for not telling him sooner; it's all part of the dance. 

I'm going to finish this particular post with....hmm, I'm not sure what to call it...disclaimer? Apology? I said "it's all part of the dance, the cosmic play, that both genders are engaged in", I hope I haven't offended anyone. There are far more dances being danced than just the man and woman pair bonding one. However, it's the only one I've ever danced, so I feel uncomfortable talking about the nuances of a style of dance that I've never performed. So, I hope no one is offended; I don't mean to exclude anyone, I just can't talk about things that are beyond my realm of experience.

Edited November 29 by DocHoff

[DocHoff 94]

As far as Thanksgiving, it was a little strange, and hard. My grandmother died a few days ago, and there's just...this void today. I've never had a family member die right before the holidays; it's something I hope none of you have to experience. 

[DocHoff 94]

So, we'll recap. Rick (husband of Victoria, father of Joy) finds a portal to another realm on the bottom of a wishing well. This place appears to be untouched by humans. There are rabbits, fox, sheep, butterflies, fish, snakes, crabs, and boars running around. All of these creatures look exactly like they do where he's from, so he has no clue what's going on. Is this place another world, or maybe an alternate reality? Rick doesn't have any type of historian or tour guide, so all he can do at this point is speculate. Where ever and whatever this place is, Rick loves it. No one's screaming about social, political, economical, and religious issues at him; no one's offended if he has a different view or even hasn't formulated a view yet on issues. Rick builds a simple type of crossroads, just as a type of point of reference. In the northeast sector, mountains loom over him. In the northwest, there's a thick forest. The southeast sector is where he built a type of workshop. He eats, smelts, tans leather, and cooks there. In addition to that, he's got a garden and pasture in the southwest sector, so he's contemplating building some type of sleeping hut. As most of us know, farming is sometimes an odiferous process. What some of us don't know is that tanning leather often smell horrendously. And then there's health issues. However, if you noticed the types of culverts that line my roads, I'm using those to represent a type of filtration system. I'm not sure how it would work, all I know is that rick spent a small fortune to ensure that he doesn't contaminate the area. Still, he doesn't want to sleep in the area where he's smelting and raising animals. 

So, Rick travels a little further south and discovers ruins right beyond his workshop, underneath the ruins are bones and a journal. So, that's where we are now. Victoria is excited to see the new realm, and Joy has the typical "yeah, whatever, can't suck much more than here" attitude that teenagers often have. Rick gives them a little tour of his factory. The animals are nowhere near tame, but he hopes that by watching them, Joy will keep her negative comments at bay. Cuz you just know a "I was wrong, this place does suck worse than home" is coming sooner or later. While watching the animals, they spot:

a big ole black bear. Rick stands motionless while the gals slowly back away. When the girls slip through the portal, Rick sadly dispatches the bear, firing a volley of arrows at it. This saddens Rick, as he's kind of a "live and let live" type of guy. However, he's got a pasture of animals to protect, and knows nothing about the black nears in this realm. He knows a little bit of the ones back home, but this wasn't back home. It dawned on him that calling this place "the place" was kind of clunky. A few weeks ago, he was researching a place in Ireland called Rock of Cashel, so he named this place New Cashel, at least for now. 

So, New Cashel wasn't as safe as just some happy stroll through Disneyland. He's not just going to seal the portal up; Tennessee has bears, and that area wasn't sealed up. However, this made Rick slow down. Before he could really start to explore, he was going to have to learn to make good weapons and armor. He could buy an assault rifle and some type of riot gear from the web, but Rick wanted kind of a medieval theme for New Cashel; seemed fitting. Rick knew how to smelt iron and steel, but knew nothing about forging armor. One doesn't just pick up a hammer and forge a whole suit of armor by the end of the day; this was real life, not Skyrim. 

So, Rick searched the net, and did find a blacksmith that made armor; a man named Trent Snyder. However, Trent's website had this little blurb about weapons and armor being more decorative than functional. Rick asked Trent if he could forge functional armor, Trent stated that he wasn't going to arm some dink just so he could LARP Skyrim in his backyard, which is when Rick took Trent to New Cashel. This is when Trent's mind was agog; "Do you know how many people wish, pray, and dream of living in a setup like this? I'll work for free, and even tend your animals, if you build me a house here."

dang, Rick already saw how this was going to snowball. His little crossroads would bloom into a full-blown city, and soon New Cashel would encompass everything that he was trying to escape from. Naw, no way, he wasn't going to let New Cashel turn into New Sucksville. Ain't friggin happening. If he did this, there'd be rules, regulations, policies to ensure that his town wasn't going to be the same turd in a new bowl. Right off the bat, one of his rules would be that folks weren't going to speak with fake accents and use fake fantasy Olde English. In college, Rick had this whole class that taught about how the language used in fantasy movies and games was nothing like what was actually spoken in medieval England. 

But that was getting a little ahead of himself. Before any of that could happen, Trent wanted a house. Slapping the red brick workshed together was one thing, but a whole house was a totally different ballgame. Son of a ... now he'd need an architect. He found one of those, which he found. Of course that guy said he wasn't living in a medieval England town. "Ya know, they threw waste right in the street, right? I only build contemporary modern and brutalistic homes". Rick was pretty sure some of what we picture life back then was like was exaggerated. However, when he went to research it online, he was distracted by SNL commercial parodies on Youtube. So, whatever. He was going to have a modern contemporary village with folks running around in armor and shields and stuff. That might be kind of fun. So, he needed homes for the blacksmith, architect, plumber, and carpenter. He was NOT having a landscaping crew; he could do it himself. So, that's where we leave Rick; drawing plans for this little village. He hoped, PRAYED, that this wasn't going to turn into a giant city full of toxic waste and fumes.

[DocHoff 94]

This is how my projects end up spiraling out of control sometimes. Perhaps it's my world view, but I don't see folks just lining up to live in this new world; a world without electricity, where

portals spring up. Too much time around these portals causes physical harm, in addition to the fact that monsters spring out of them when you get too close. But Rick hasn't discovered that. Rick's currently clearing the land, Trent's planning his home with the architect, Victoria's wondering if her husband's bit off more than he can chew, and Joy's making some ASMR blog. Rick can't stand that stuff. He heard that Billie Eyelash or whatever her name is; to him, her music sounds like a scared little girl singing into a floor fan. But whatever, Rick's not gunna be his dad. He remembers bringing home a cd back in '98, and his father saying "Coal Chamber, never heard of them, put em on." Which he did, and his father said "Ricky, I don't know who or what sings this, but it's not existing in my house." He threw the cd in the trash, his mom said "Easy, Tom, you remember what it's like at his age...", his dad said "No freaking way, Bonnie. Coal Chamber? More like Chamber Pot. And that's exactly where this belongs, in the toilet." Nope, as much as ASMR makes his skin crawl, he's not going to be a music Nazi like his father. 

So, that's where I leave you for now, while I clear out the land and look for a picture online that I think Trent would like. 

[DocHoff 94]

I did find a house that I think Trent would like:

but as Trent and the architect were breaking ground, one of the portals did indeed appear. Trent was stoked; not only is he going to get to craft medieval armor and weaponry, but also actually get a chance to use them against actual monsters. However, the architect totally flipped out; "no effing way am I building in Land of the Lost: Monster World". This is the stuff that slows me down, but once I start a story, the game kind of dictates my pace. Rick's best bet is probably to take online architecture courses. Of course you don't take a four week course and then suddenly gain the ability to build the Sistine Chapel and then paint in it, but Rick doesn't have a ton of options. If you were in Rick's shoes, could you imagine what you'd have to tell contractors? New Cashel's gunna take longer. Rick's gunna have to take courses and then find a team willing to work with him. However, he knows that anything worth doing takes time. 

And, that freaking architect! Dude only saw one little weak surface Drifter; he probably would have soiled himself had he seen one of the big, ugly, two-headed beasties. But that's ok, Rick and Trent can get it done.