The house that Doc built.

[DocHoff 130]

So, we have Rick off taking architecture classes while Trent is spends most of his time at his forge. Rick had "architect" and "contractor" confused. Architects aren't often involved in the physically build structures; architects are more on the design side of things. Rick sadly discovered this after the first couple classes. Trent thought that Rick already knew that, so while Rick was off, Trent called some folks he knew, and had assembled a team of contractors, foremen, laborers, etc. So, by the time Rick had decided to confess to Trent that he had confused his terminology, Trent was sitting in the shade of his patio:

Trent also had news. While the construction crew was busy, Trent had done some exploring. New Cashel didn't have any existing cities, but there were a few merchants wheeling around in covered wagons. The merchants he found couldn't give very good accounts for what happened in this world, they did give rough details. Once upon a time, this world (the merchants had no clue what it used to be called) developed a plague that they called "the black rot". Scientists tried to fuse science with magic, and eventually cured the plague. However, it fractured the space-time continuum, which caused these rifts, temporal storms; all that crap. It also left parts of the land with poor temporal stability; some parts far worse than others. He handed Rick this little box with a green gear spinning slowly to the left. "When the gear starts moving to the left, there's a temporal disruption. When the gear starts spinning fast and the color drains, you're effed, Too much time spent in temporal instability causes physical and mental damage. My land isn't bad, but you couldn't just have a lazy day on the couch here. But here's where I need your advice: translocators. There are these machines (one's right under our feet, in fact) that will take you back to a time before people made this whole mess. No black rot, no monsters, no temporal disruption. It would just be us and nature. The bad part is that if these translocators are broken, you're stuck in that land forever. No getting back to New Cashel, no going home again. What do we do?"

So, that's where I leave them for tonight; weighing viable options. Right now, they could 1) stay in New Cashel and practice building until temporal stability and monsters drive them off, 2) go to the new world and find someone reliable to watch the translocator while they hop back and forth, 3) Grab a handful of folks and consider the new world a permanent vacation, or 4) go back to their own world and stay there, because all of this with stability and monsters was getting a little bizarre and confusing. So, Rick, Victoria, and Trent are discussing this on the patio you saw, with some lemonade, and Joy's floating in the pool (because there's a lot of old on that patio right now).

[DocHoff 130]

So, there's a lot of things to consider, and the gravity of the situation is finally starting to sink in with Rick. The last time I checked, portals to other worlds/alternate realities aren't exactly a commonplace thing. Regardless of whether we built a portal to New Cashel or vice versa, Rick has no idea the level of stability of the portal. So, every time that they use that portal could be their last. On top of that, Trent finds a machine that takes him to yet another world, which he calls New Currumbin. Trent has no clue how that machine works, so it easily could malfunction, thus stranding people in New Currumbin. It appears that the folks of of New Cashel built this machine to New Currumbin; that's kind of a desperate measure, so one can only guess as to the stability of New Cashel. The space-time continuum is torn, and the men have no clue if it can be repaired, or if it can heal itself, or even if it can get worse. A merchant told Trent that there's an underground facility which houses "The Great Library"; answers might be found there. However, the facility is in wild disrepair. I've found that zone in a few other worlds I played, and...I just don't enjoy it. I don't like like puzzle games where you have to hunt for a keys to doors, and level one has stuff that looks like junk but is actually needed on level four, so you have to backtrack and....I just don't like it. Anyway, Rick and Trent don't know if it's worth risking their lives in a place that potentially holds no answers anyway. 

They do come to one conclusion; it was unsafe to discuss and deliberate in New Cashel, as it was the weak link in the chain, but which end should one travel to; Earth (where they might possibly never get back to either of the new realms) or New Currumbin (which they're wildly unprepared for)? Everyone returns to Earth, which is where I leave them for now.

[DocHoff 130]

I told my little writing group something, and they looked at me like I was smoking crack, so I wanted to come here and see if anyone could relate. Sometimes, it's hard writing stories, especially when it feels like your characters take on lives of their own. Like this one. This isn't a very good story, as I have very little character development. I don't like giving character descriptions because I like readers to come up with those on their own. But when I'm writing a story, I like to flesh my characters out more; hobbies, occupations, etc. And that's what this was supposed to be. But when I made Rick, Joy, and Victoria, they kind of hit the ground running. In that first scene, Joy and Victoria left the house, and Rick said "Time to make my underwear my only wear". I'd imagine that Joy went to school, but I can't be certain. She was wearing a Joy Division t shirt. the one with the angel that says "love will tear us apart", and jeans. Victoria was wearing a black dress, I think they're called wraps, with sensible dress shoes. She had to be going to work, but I can't tell ya that, because my mind's eye didn't follow her. My mind stuck with Rick, on the couch, in his underwear, watching Saturday Night Live. 

So, when my stories take on a life of their own, they don't stop when I stop. It's like watching a movie at a theater. If you get up for some nachos, no one's gunna pause for you. And if you go alone, no one's there to fill you in on what you missed. Lol, I hope those nachos were worth it! Like now; I left  Rick, Victoria, and Trent sitting in Rick and Victoria's kitchen, with coffee, discussing their next move. That's what I should see now, but I don't. I could force them back into the kitchen, but it doesn't always sound good; it often sounds forced and awkward. What I do see is a kid in his late teens. His hair's black, like jet black, the left side of his head is buzzed while the right is super long. He has guy liner on, black lipstick, and a white dress shirt with French cuffs, like an Alex Vando shirt. He's got black pants....idk what they are. They're kind of shiny, but their not jeans nor leather. And his boots aren't biker boots, they have a bunch of buckles; they look like something Edward Scissorhands would wear. He's in the living room,  looking at a shelf full of rocks and arrowheads. The rocks are in clusters; I see quartz, amethyst, something that looks like quartz but is yellow, and a big magnetite cluster. It amazes me how crystals can be in such geometric shapes:

Ah! Here we go, I can hear Victoria and Rick:

Victoria: "...no got-dang way. He wears more make-up than I do!"

Rick : "sweetie, you're just looking at the book's dust cover."

Victoria: "He freaking looks like The Cure!"

Rick: "You remember when we saw them play? Robert Smith was in a suit."

Victoria: "Son of a..... we're having two separate arguments here!"

Rick: "what we have here is a role reversal. I'm supposed to be the one who says 'that weirdo's not dating my daughter' and you're supposed to be the                 one calming me down".

Victoria: "my mom's right; I do wear the pants in this relationship, because I'm the one with the balls. I swear.....should get you a skirt? Maybe some                           nylons? Oh, we gotta have lipstick for you. What's your type? Like a liquid high gloss? Dusty blush? Would you like a matte finish?"

I'm not listening to that any more. That was weird and felt creepy, like eavesdropping. Yes, I realize that all of that came from me, but it doesn't feel that way, do you know what I mean? It feels more like watching a movie rather than a story my own mind's creating. Especially with little arguments like the one I just heard; I've never had that particular one. Nor was I ever in the position of Robert Smith Jr on the couch there. I do know a tiny bit about lipstick because I worked next to the beauty counter in a department store. When ya hear that stuff all day, sometimes a tiny bit sticks with you whether you want it or not. I'll have to check back in a few hours, because Ii don't want to see the conversation between Rick, Victoria, and the teen on the couch. 

[DocHoff 130]

My characters aren't doing what I want them to. I worked on Trent's house:

I even took a nap, but nothing. I did learn that Haven's on Amazon Prime, which makes me happy because that's my favorite series and I thought I'd never see it again.

I know what I want to happen, but I can't envision it. And if I can't envision it, I can't write it, nor can I build it in Vintage Story, which is why I don't always have stories to go with my buildings. I do have one trick, which I hate to use, but here goes nothing.

Rick gets a knock at his door, to find an unfamiliar man in his mid 20s standing on his step. He introduces himself as Ryan and asks if he can step inside, as Trent had sent him. While crossing the threshold, Joy states that she likes his tattoos in as sultry of a tone as she can muster. Freaking teenage daughters, man. If yours are like mine, they have an uncanny ability to sniff out boy blood, especially when it's a boy that they can use to cheese off the old man. I guess Joy has the same mischievous  streak as mine have.

Ryan recognizes this, and while he has no interest in a teenage girl, he's not going to be rude. He gives a wink and says that most of his ink's from the military. But Ryan's not a traditional eagle, globe, and anchor type of person, so he took the symbols of his station and altered them to look like they belonged on heavy metal album covers. Fitting, being that the man's wearing an Alice In Chains t shirt. Rick dismisses Joy before she can start sniffing around any more, then listens to Ryan. He was a combat medic called an FMF Corpsman, and while that was all fine and good, he needed Ryan to know that while New Cashel's anchored to a stable rock, the anchor itself might faulter. And that's far better than New Currumbin; an unknown anchor with a a wildly unstable rock. Lol, when I first came home, it always cracked me up how people tripped themselves up trying to use military jargon. Lol, I might be a military vet, but I spent my first 22 years in the civilian world. I didn't forget civilian lingo while in the service  Ryan clears his throat and begins his narrative (this is what I struggle with; I really hate talking about myself sometimes).

"Have you ever seen The Blacklist; how Red launches into a seemingly unrelated story but you learn at the end of it how it ties in with the scenario? I have a story...well, a story within a story. But the main point is I understand we might not be able to come back; I don't want to come back. This story starts when I was 22. My parents always told me that I was smart and strong enough to do whatever I wanted in life, but I had to pick something. I had no clue what I wanted to do, what I wanted from life, and I can't lie;I was in no hurry to find it. In early 2001, my parents were supposed to go away for several days for their anniversary. Dad turned around halfway there because he got homesick. I knew that dad had never been on vacation because of anxiety and blah blah, but I thought it would have been different because of wedding anniversary, I should have known better. Dad caught me downstairs on the couch with a gal I know...in flagrante delicto. I come from a household where it's ok to say absolutely anything in anger. I mean, I understood my father's position, but he had said some really inappropriate things; I mean some stuff that just absolutely cut to the bone. With other fathers, they might have said a milder version to help motivate me, but my father.... And of course he never once apologized. As he's just totally losing his mind, a commercial for the Navy came on. You can guess the rest, my story's nothing new. It was supposed to be just a ruse, an idle threat; a way to show my father that he really did it this time. I knew that I was in the wrong,too, but he had said some stuff that was just... anyway, Navy doesn't mess around, and what was to be an idle threat turned to being enlisted in a blink of an eye. I graduated bootcamp on September 12, 2001. So, there was no doubt as to where I was going.

So, while over there, I kept having a recurring dream of home, a stress dream, I was told that they're common. In it, I'm coming home from war. In the military, I was taught how to bottle up emotions. Sometimes, emotions get in the way of your job, so you bottle them up, not to repress them forever, just to set them aside so you can deal with them later. Anyway, I was sitting on that plane, having a rum and coke, eating imitation Chex mix, and out of nowhere it felt like each and every one of those bottles I had on my mental shelf exploded, and I was just awash with all of this crap. I switched from rum and coke to ginger ale. Where I'm from, people don't drink Canada Dry for the flavor, they drink it to soothe an upset stomach. So, the airline stewardess asks me if I get airsick, and I meant to tell her that I just like Canada Dry (because I was taught never to tell civilians this stuff), but all of this crap just comes spilling out of me like she was Barbara Walters or something. It's not because of the fact that this woman was smokin hot (though it helped), it was because this woman....just had this way about her. She said that after we landed, she had a welcome home present for me that she thought might help me get back in the civilian world. You...can use your imagination there, I don't need to go into detail. 

This next part.... I don't know if it'll make sense, but I'll try. You know how veterans come home and say it feels like everyone's changed, and then they realize that it's not everyone else, it's them who's changed? That is not how it felt for me. Everything and one creeped me out because it felt exactly the same. My parents came and got me. That ride hoe freaked me the hell out, because it, and they, were exactly as I remembered. I mean, that sounds stupid; the normality and familiarity of everything was freaking me out. But, it was. So, that, in addition to the aforementioned feelings from the last several years that I was processing....just really freaked me out. They talked about the weather and music, ordered a pizza on the way home, 

After we ate, I went to unpack and go to bed, as all of this was exhausting. The basement and my room down there also felt disorientating, because it felt the same. I mean, is that not asinine!? What was I expecting; that because I had undergone such changes in the military that...change was supposed to somehow be manifested in the environment around me? That's bizarre! But that's how I felt. And the dream always ended the same; with me stretched out on my bed. 

Now, when the real event happened, I wasn't really thinking about the dream; it was just a dream. But it played out exactly as I had dreamt it would, so I was a little disturbed by that by the time the ginger ale came. It was not the same stewardess (that would have been creepy), but everything played out the same with her, too. Every freaking thing felt and played out exactly the same as it did in my dreams. 

So, my main point is for the first few weeks, I was scared to go to sleep, because I was afraid that I'd wake up back in war. Lately, I no longer feel sleep, but when I wake up, I'm often disappointed I'm back here. Things made sense in the military, and I had my place and purpose, but here..... I don't know who I am here. So, do I understand that we might not ever be back? I'm planning on it I'm asking to be the gate guard for the New Cashel/New Currumbin gate. I wouldn't know how to fix the portal, but I can keep the monsters from destroying it. And should you build a new civilization in New Currumbin, I'd like to guard the portal from that side, to make sure nothing comes through."

So, phew, there's the story of our new character. And, by the way, thank you. That whole thing with the airplane, I've never told anyone that, not even my wife. As bizarre as that story might sound, it feels good to have it off my chest. Thank you

Edited December 3, 2024 by DocHoff

[DocHoff 130]

So, things look like they're running smoothly. Ryan's in touch with a whole network of people; people who helped Rick see that he had no clue what he was doing. When Rick thought "Navy", he thought of sailors (like Popeye) or pilots (like Top Gun); he had no clue that the Navy had such a wide array of jobs. He even brought in guys from a construction battalion, known as Seabees. Lol, that's one of the reasons why I went with the 20-something version of me. It's kind of sad how some of us just kinda grow apart as we age. We start careers, families, kids; ya just start to lose touch with folks some times. 

 A bunch of military engineers figure out the machine that makes the gate between New Cashel and New Currumbin, and are confidant that it can be repaired if damaged. The portal between Earth and New Cashel, however, is never figured out, as it has no substance, it just kind of hangs there like smoke. So, most of the folks reside in New Cashel for the time being;planning their big move to New Currumbin. You'd think that folks would be in New Currumbin, at least building roads and whatnot, but Joy makes this big stink about some "prophetic dream" she had or some nonsense like that, manages to get in a few folks' heads, so no one wants to step foot on New Currumbin until all plans are finalized. (The truth is we are very close to a new update that will render current worlds obsolete, so I don't want to build a bunch of stuff just to build it again in a few days.)

So, fine, Joy made a big stink, the Seabees had to build a bunch of huts for everyone. A few of the vets did bring weaponry, but found that guns didn't work in New Cashel, so Trent really had to step it up. Mining underground was often treacherous with the Drifters, so they started excavating the mountains next to his house:

 

So, plans were slowly creeping forward, when someone else has to make a stink, the aforementioned kid on the couch, Victor. He pulls Victoria, Joy, and Rick back to Earth, saying that there was something wrong with Ryan and these veterans. Victoria says "Big freaking surprise, Robert Smith Junior here has problems with the military. Shocking!", but Rick lets him speak. The year, last time he looked, was 2024. Ryan claims to be in his 20s. He looks like he's in his 20s. However, he said that he was 22 when he joined the military, and that he graduated bootcamp on September 12th, 2001. So, Ryan has to be no younger than his mid 40s. So, Ryan appears earnest. He has all these stories about the early 00s; joining the military when very few people had cellphones and coming home to a world where everyone had them, in addition to all of these other advances; it being slightly disorientating, blah blah. Dude doesn't look like he's lying, and his ink looks genuine. One could dismiss Ryan as being touched in the head, but he's got all of these military friends. They sure look like veterans. And they all have all of these stories. If Ryan has some type of mental issues, doesn't all of that seem like an awful big step; all of these folks lying, just to appease him? Something wasn't right, and he wants to go back to New Cashel to talk to the men. Rick sends him back to New Cashel, and I'm sure Victoria has a bunch of crap to say; "blah blah, should have left New Cashel alone once you found out that there's tears in the space-time blah blah". 

So, that's where I'm leaving them for a bit; Victor researching and Rick rolling his eyes at Victoria. 

[pevil 114]

This is fascinating stuff still Doc! I'm away for the next 10 days so I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with in that time

[DocHoff 130]

I thought we were getting an update; here it's just a release candidate. Those are cool, but I don't update until we get a full-fledged, stable update. Plus, I have to wait until the mods I use are updated. Mods aren't needed, but there are some things that I think the game needs still. For instance, I know we have a few hunters here. The last time you took down a big buck, did you touch it with a knife and it's hide and edible meat just came springing out of it? Lol, but that's what the game does. With the Butchering mod, you have to skin an animal, then let it dry out. You can also collect offal and blood to make blood sausage and pudding and stuff like that. You can also harvest it's brain, which I use to tan hides, with the Ancient Tools mod. I like Primitive Survival because I get fish traps, snakes, and crabs. Geology Additions gives me more rock types, Rock Strata Variety does...well, just what it says  Lithocraft lets me do more decorative stuff with minerals, and gives me a grindstone. Finally, there's Vies Blocks. Vanilla Glass tiles look like this:

It's a mega-pain to have to chisel these borders off to get the effect you see in the post two posts above; Vies Blocks makes it much more simple. Plus. he gave us little pictures of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega games. My world might not ever have the internet. I read this article on what the internet really is, and understood part of it, but part of it made me say "whaaaa?" So, maybe Ryan in the game knows folks that could bring the internet to the new world, but I sure couldn't. So, that's on our to do list, but not our first priority. But electricity is a big deal, so some folks are bringing their old consoles with them. I'm not dumping a whole mess of kids on an unsuspecting world without some form of rainy day entertainment. 

So, Victor comes back, and reports that all of those military guys think that it's like the early 2000s. He's not criticizing the men, he's saying that he thinks that our own reality's space-time gets damaged every time that the portal to New Cashel's used. So, if the world's being damaged, what's doing it? If there's a multiverse out there, perhaps there's a reason why they're not connected. Or perhaps it's because new Cashel's reality is torn already.

Regardless, people should stop haphazardly using the portals. Rick told Victor to gather stuff up and inform everyone that they get one final trip to Earth. Victor's eyes widen, and then ask Rick to apologize to Joy for him. Victoria laughs and says "that's what I thought, run home to momma, you little chickensh#t! Rick says "sweetheart, I understand, that's a big commitment for a 16 year old", she replies with "Baby, he's 20!" Ok, four years' difference. Rick paused to contemplate that. It's kind of interesting how we deal with age sometimes; 21 and 25 aren't that big of a deal, but 16 and 20 are. And alcohol, for that matter. I dated a gal from Germany. She said we shield children from alcohol, and then give them full carte blanche when they turn 21. In other countries, kids grow up with alcohol, learn responsibility with it. Granted, those are small potatoes, but it IS part of life.

And then, is this really Rick's world? He didn't make it, he was just lucky enough to stumble upon a portal. Does that give him the right to be the head honcho? Even if it does, does he really want that responsibility? And then, there's Ryan. He comes in, claiming Trent sent him, he brings a bunch of vets with him. If Rick is the head dude, will veterans listen to civilian leadership? God only knows what they're doing in New Cashel. Perhaps it's time to leave this world behind. 

So, they left Earth for the last time, and Rick voiced his thoughts and concerns to Ryan, who had a nice long laugh. " You know, some folks consider military people to be dumb-as-dirt, ground pounding warmongers. This isn't an accusation, my man, this is an admission of guilt. Many of us thought that way before joining, so if you have thoughts or statements but fear making them, go for it. You're worried that we're going to take over, yes? From what you said, I assumed that there was no leadership; we're All in this together, for each other. As far as space-time tears, we already know this, too. We are one single unit, which you're a part of, so we're not going to New Currumbin without you. What we've done is hunt and build things we need; latrines, that type of stuff. We move when all of us are ready. Do you have any new intel?"

So that's where I leave it for tonight; it's food night for all my little fishies, so that takes a bit of time.

[DocHoff 130]

2 hours ago, pevil said:

This is fascinating stuff still Doc! I'm away for the next 10 days so I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with in that time

Thank you. One member of my writing guild's an english prof, who reminded me that I'm not writing a book, and I don't need to go into every detail. While that's true, this isn't two gals just having a nice little outing to the local theater; it's a group of folks taking a one-way journey to a world of no/little technology. People don't just pack up and leave everything they've ever known, all of their comforts, etc, unless there's some egregious stuff happening. So, without a good structure in place, they, too will end up bogus. 

I really don't want to cover every issue a society could face. Not only do I think that'd be a tedious read, but there are certain social issues that make me uncomfortable to talk about. Right now, I don't see those Seabees and electricians and whatnot wanting to just sit around talking. I haven't talked to some of them in 20 years, but as I remember, most of them would have prefered to finish building Trent's house, talking can come in the evenings, as evenings are unsafe for my noncombatants. Trent's kind of leaning toward staying in New Cashel, anyway, so he can at least have a decent home to stay in. 

[DocHoff 130]

Trent's working on his home. Some of the folks tease him about building a girlie, gilded cage for himself, but he doesn't care. Nature is everywhere. On the one hand, he understands; animals were in new Cashel long before he was. On the other hand, he's so tired of cleaning animal dirt off his patio furniture. Plus, I can't have my house exactly like the one on page 3. I don't think Trent's going to follow the others to New Currumbin, not at first. He has mountain ranges right outside his window, lakes, swamps, forests, hot springs... And it's said that the new update won't break old worlds. On top of that, a trader told him about some giant museum underground that's supposed to have clues as to what's happened to this world; he's contemplating checking that out. 

Eventually, Trent might get lonely; I see him eventually wandering to the new community. But for now, Trent's happy. 

As far as the rest of the lot, little disputes happen once in a while. Nothing major,  as most of these people know and have served with each other, but I think it's unrealistic to expect just an entire group of people to be shiny, happy, and holding hands nonstop; little arguments are bound to happen. Because of Rick's practical judgment and soothing nature, he's elected as an arbitrator. The reason why that's noteworthy (to me) is because I won't be building a courthouse; Rick's going to need a special room in his house to hear and settle disputes. Or perhaps maybe some type of separate pole building on his property, one with thick walls. After all, Rick has a teenaged daughter; we all know how curious teenagers are. 

[DocHoff 130]

Rick's got a lot to figure out still. New Cashel's not the place to start a community. It'd be good for a single adventurer, like a big ole swashbuckler (like our Seraphim or Shadow Warrior), but there are families here, with children. One might think "well, once upon a time..", and while that's true, these are folks used to modern technologies and luxuries. The clock's kind of ticking down. Perhaps they should have stayed on Earth til they were more prepared. However, he thought he could just hop back and forth from New Cashel to Earth and back at his leisure. But then, he encounters Ryan and his group of vets, who still think it's in the early 2000s. It'd be one thing if these folks all looked like they were in their 40s, but they don't. It looks like they were literally plucked out of the 00s. You can't just dismiss that as PTSD, especially when Victor had a theory that traveling back and forth was disrupting Earth's own space-time. They probably should have waited on Earth until they were all ready for New Currumbin. But this was a good life lesson for him. Life isn't a game of checkers, where you can take back your move as long as your finger's still on your piece; sometimes, all you can do is move forward. 

And then, there's town structure. Rick had pictured a nice, metropolitan type of flat city. The city itself is flat, but you leave everything outside of the city untouched. That's nice, but you run into this:

Sometimes, ya don't realize how uneven the land is until you start flattening it. This is the stuff right here that takes so much time. On the minimap there, you can see all of those ponds and streams that are going to be destroyed while building Trent's house. Perhaps a nice, flat little city doesn't work for a group of folks whose only excavation tools are shovels and pickaxes. Perhaps....

"Perhaps you shouldn't have gone at this so half-assed! Perhaps we need leadership that knows what it's doing!", a Marine's wife chimes in. Perhaps. Perhaps Rick got a little too excited and got a little too ahead of himself. But you know what? Not one person spoke up, not one bloody person said "dude, perhaps we should slow down a bit." Ryan and his group leapt at the chance to come to New Cashel. Don't those folks have experience with this? Rick's sure that Air Force or Marines or SOMEBODY has some type of Expeditionary thing. He's sure that he's heard weird acronyms, like I MEF and MAGTF. Ryan had said that he was some type of combat medic, some weird three letter acronym thing. Everyone needs combat medics, right? So, he has to have served with all types of folks. Not one of those freaking people said a single thing; "oh, we got this, Rick, don't worry, we thought of this and this and that." They need to put more stuff up for vote. Votes, fireside chats, etc. 

And Trent. Trent wants to stay behind? Blah blah, "love my house and land and blah blah"? A house can be rebuilt, land can be landscaped into whatever you want. Naw, Rick doesn't buy that. Rick thinks that Trent feels bad. He blames himself for whatever happened to Ryan and these men. Was it their fault? Rick wasn't going to venture into the library or whatever it was, but perhaps one of those merchants knew something. Somebody knew something, right?

Eventually, Rick did find one chatty merchant. All of these tears and rifts and portals were because of one man named Mike Salk. The merchant, named Olaf, claimed that Salk started doing experiments. He tore the sky, which was an accident, but built a portal to somewhere else...Erp, or something like that, where salk experimented with people, especially veterans. Salk said that people would dismiss veterans as having...something. ESPN? PTSD? LSD? Something like that. All Olaf knew was that Salk was kicked out of this land, which was actually named Haven, went to Erp, and then some guy, a precedence or something with a name like Oh Blah Blah or something banished him from there, too. 

So, perhaps their presence in New Cashel, or rather Haven, wasn't to blame for anything on Earth. Rick had a nice little fireside chat with Ryan. He told him that the year was actually 2024, not 2008. Some dink from this place did some strange sh*t back on Earth; had he experienced anything strange? Ryan squinted, and then struggled for a bit, as he was uncomfortable talking about himself. In Ryan's area, any time a veteran talked about anything the slightest bit unusual or quirky, someone's gotta flip out "oh my God, they got PTSD!", because of one or two incidents and a few dumb a## movies. Eventually, Ryan gave in.

" You already know about that recurring dream I had (that's true. I don't really like talking about that one, but you folks gave me a forum to talk about it a tiny bit, so thank you). The only other thing I'm willing to talk about is an incident that happened before I enlisted, before the incident that caused me to enlist. I, once again, was in the basement with a gal. And, once again, dad busted us. While dad's yelling, I happened to look at the tv. It was that episode of My Name is Earl where the reporter edits a video to make Randy look special needs. Dad's yelling and Randy's on the tv "I pooped my pants, I pooped my pants!" When I got home from the service, I wanted to see that episode again. I have a friend who's a big Jason Lee fan. He did know the episode that I was talking about, but said that I was confused because I couldn't have seen it in 2000, because it didn't air until April 12 of 2007. 'Is it possible you were watching Mallrats?' I can understand how one might come to that conclusion. Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee were in both of those, but I'm sure it was the "Harassed a Reporter" episode of My Name is Earl. Crazy Head, I pooped my pants, backwards letters on the sign, etc. I'm sure it was 2000, because it was the straw before the straw that broke the camel's back. I shouldn't have had a girl in the basement, on mom and dad's couch, I'll admit that. But dad was very embarrassing; "the only thing you're good for is smoking and effing!" right in front of the girl, named Shelly. And then, he tore into Shelly. Like, some terribly hurtful stuff. You ever fight your dad while undressed? I sure as hell have. So, my friend said "whoa, if that's true, you had an experience with the Mandela Effect! You should tell people!" So, I looked that up. My gut says "no, no freaking way." The Mandela Effect is where those crystal out of body voodoo people believe that a ripple in time happened, changing what Darth Vader said and the name of the Berenstain Bears books and junk. There's a rational explanation for all of that. But isn't there also a rational explanation for why I thought I saw a tv show years before it actually aired? I did get in contact with Shelly. She said "Ryan, I'm married now, it's a little uncomfortable to be talking with you. I've pursued this, which really upset my husband when I told him the full story. But I've pursued this , and trust me; you will not find any answer that doesn't just lead to more questions." That's all I really have for you, sorry." 

And that's where we'll leave them for today. And before I go, wow, that's story #2 from my actual life that I've shared with you. It's really hard for me to share things like that. #1, I am a big skeptic when it comes to aliens, Mandela Effect, supernatural/paranormal stuff,crystal healing, out of body experiences, prophetic dreams; all of that stuff. #2 Being caught in flagrante is kind of a big theme in my life. It's led to some major life decisions, a few adventures, and a couple misadventures. But, there ya go; a story that only my wife and kids know. I didn't even really want them knowing. But they had this picture of me, with the flag proudly waving in the background, etc. While I did serve with every ounce of my being, it is a blatant lie to say that  I joined out of sheer patriotism. Maybe it's better sometimes to let people think what they will. Sometimes, I wish life had more of an SOP. But sometimes, good things happen from what appears to be a mistake. It's all part of the journey

Edited December 6, 2024 by DocHoff

[gogoblender 3,583]

21 hours ago, DocHoff said:

Rick's got a lot to figure out still. New Cashel's not the place to start a community. It'd be good for a single adventurer, like a big ole swashbuckler (like our Seraphim or Shadow Warrior), but there are families here, with children. One might think "well, once upon a time..", and while that's true, these are folks used to modern technologies and luxuries. The clock's kind of ticking down. Perhaps they should have stayed on Earth til they were more prepared. However, he thought he could just hop back and forth from New Cashel to Earth and back at his leisure. But then, he encounters Ryan and his group of vets, who still think it's in the early 2000s. It'd be one thing if these folks all looked like they were in their 40s, but they don't. It looks like they were literally plucked out of the 00s. You can't just dismiss that as PTSD, especially when Victor had a theory that traveling back and forth was disrupting Earth's own space-time. They probably should have waited on Earth until they were all ready for New Currumbin. But this was a good life lesson for him. Life isn't a game of checkers, where you can take back your move as long as your finger's still on your piece; sometimes, all you can do is move forward. 

And then, there's town structure. Rick had pictured a nice, metropolitan type of flat city. The city itself is flat, but you leave everything outside of the city untouched. That's nice, but you run into this:

Sometimes, ya don't realize how uneven the land is until you start flattening it. This is the stuff right here that takes so much time. On the minimap there, you can see all of those ponds and streams that are going to be destroyed while building Trent's house. Perhaps a nice, flat little city doesn't work for a group of folks whose only excavation tools are shovels and pickaxes. Perhaps....

"Perhaps you shouldn't have gone at this so half-assed! Perhaps we need leadership that knows what it's doing!", a Marine's wife chimes in. Perhaps. Perhaps Rick got a little too excited and got a little too ahead of himself. But you know what? Not one person spoke up, not one bloody person said "dude, perhaps we should slow down a bit." Ryan and his group leapt at the chance to come to New Cashel. Don't those folks have experience with this? Rick's sure that Air Force or Marines or SOMEBODY has some type of Expeditionary thing. He's sure that he's heard weird acronyms, like I MEF and MAGTF. Ryan had said that he was some type of combat medic, some weird three letter acronym thing. Everyone needs combat medics, right? So, he has to have served with all types of folks. Not one of those freaking people said a single thing; "oh, we got this, Rick, don't worry, we thought of this and this and that." They need to put more stuff up for vote. Votes, fireside chats, etc. 

And Trent. Trent wants to stay behind? Blah blah, "love my house and land and blah blah"? A house can be rebuilt, land can be landscaped into whatever you want. Naw, Rick doesn't buy that. Rick thinks that Trent feels bad. He blames himself for whatever happened to Ryan and these men. Was it their fault? Rick wasn't going to venture into the library or whatever it was, but perhaps one of those merchants knew something. Somebody knew something, right?

Eventually, Rick did find one chatty merchant. All of these tears and rifts and portals were because of one man named Mike Salk. The merchant, named Olaf, claimed that Salk started doing experiments. He tore the sky, which was an accident, but built a portal to somewhere else...Erp, or something like that, where salk experimented with people, especially veterans. Salk said that people would dismiss veterans as having...something. ESPN? PTSD? LSD? Something like that. All Olaf knew was that Salk was kicked out of this land, which was actually named Haven, went to Erp, and then some guy, a precedence or something with a name like Oh Blah Blah or something banished him from there, too. 

So, perhaps their presence in New Cashel, or rather Haven, wasn't to blame for anything on Earth. Rick had a nice little fireside chat with Ryan. He told him that the year was actually 2024, not 2008. Some dink from this place did some strange sh*t back on Earth; had he experienced anything strange? Ryan squinted, and then struggled for a bit, as he was uncomfortable talking about himself. In Ryan's area, any time a veteran talked about anything the slightest bit unusual or quirky, someone's gotta flip out "oh my God, they got PTSD!", because of one or two incidents and a few dumb a## movies. Eventually, Ryan gave in.

" You already know about that recurring dream I had (that's true. I don't really like talking about that one, but you folks gave me a forum to talk about it a tiny bit, so thank you). The only other thing I'm willing to talk about is an incident that happened before I enlisted, before the incident that caused me to enlist. I, once again, was in the basement with a gal. And, once again, dad busted us. While dad's yelling, I happened to look at the tv. It was that episode of My Name is Earl where the reporter edits a video to make Randy look special needs. Dad's yelling and Randy's on the tv "I pooped my pants, I pooped my pants!" When I got home from the service, I wanted to see that episode again. I have a friend who's a big Jason Lee fan. He did know the episode that I was talking about, but said that I was confused because I couldn't have seen it in 2000, because it didn't air until April 12 of 2007. 'Is it possible you were watching Mallrats?' I can understand how one might come to that conclusion. Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee were in both of those, but I'm sure it was the "Harassed a Reporter" episode of My Name is Earl. Crazy Head, I pooped my pants, backwards letters on the sign, etc. I'm sure it was 2000, because it was the straw before the straw that broke the camel's back. I shouldn't have had a girl in the basement, on mom and dad's couch, I'll admit that. But dad was very embarrassing; "the only thing you're good for is smoking and effing!" right in front of the girl, named Shelly. And then, he tore into Shelly. Like, some terribly hurtful stuff. You ever fight your dad while undressed? I sure as hell have. So, my friend said "whoa, if that's true, you had an experience with the Mandela Effect! You should tell people!" So, I looked that up. My gut says "no, no freaking way." The Mandela Effect is where those crystal out of body voodoo people believe that a ripple in time happened, changing what Darth Vader said and the name of the Berenstain Bears books and junk. There's a rational explanation for all of that. But isn't there also a rational explanation for why I thought I saw a tv show years before it actually aired? I did get in contact with Shelly. She said "Ryan, I'm married now, it's a little uncomfortable to be talking with you. I've pursued this, which really upset my husband when I told him the full story. But I've pursued this , and trust me; you will not find any answer that doesn't just lead to more questions." That's all I really have for you, sorry." 

And that's where we'll leave them for today. And before I go, wow, that's story #2 from my actual life that I've shared with you. It's really hard for me to share things like that. #1, I am a big skeptic when it comes to aliens, Mandela Effect, supernatural/paranormal stuff,crystal healing, out of body experiences, prophetic dreams; all of that stuff. #2 Being caught in flagrante is kind of a big theme in my life. It's led to some major life decisions, a few adventures, and a couple misadventures. But, there ya go; a story that only my wife and kids know. I didn't even really want them knowing. But they had this picture of me, with the flag proudly waving in the background, etc. While I did serve with every ounce of my being, it is a blatant lie to say that  I joined out of sheer patriotism. Maybe it's better sometimes to let people think what they will. Sometimes, I wish life had more of an SOP. But sometimes, good things happen from what appears to be a mistake. It's all part of the journey

your written journey is beautiful because every point upon it is its own universe. There's as much meaning in one sentence as in a number of them styled out along the years... 

Doc, come post up with us as well in some other other topics if you have time, I bet your story telling will feel it as well, and so will we.

Happy Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekend mon Ami!

gogo

[DocHoff 130]

:) Dude...for real? "There's as much meaning..." thank you, but this story's just me playing around. Hell, half the time, I'm watching A.P Bio or Salem or watching my rabbit snails. Well, and playing the game.  It's written off the cuff, on the fly. But for real, if you enjoy this that much, I should share one of my real stories some time. 

Post in other topics; I can do that. 

Thank you, you have a good weekend as well

[gogoblender 3,583]

15 hours ago, DocHoff said:

Dude...for real? "There's as much meaning..." thank you, but this story's just me playing around. Hell, half the time, I'm watching A.P Bio or Salem or watching my rabbit snails. Well, and playing the game.  It's written off the cuff, on the fly. But for real, if you enjoy this that much, I should share one of my real stories some time. 

Post in other topics; I can do that. 

Thank you, you have a good weekend as well

Oooh yah, sooo much snooooooooooooooo... if the temps hold out and stay around minus five, its the best outside weather in Montreal.  "written off the cuff" ... I can feel an imagination like that around a fire in the dark... 

gogo

[DocHoff 130]

 

 

No snow here. You use Celsius, if I remember correctly. So, this weekend's gunna be like 10 to 12 C.

Sometimes, my stories go in a way I don't want. Sadly, this is one of them. A new one will take its place, but this is the end of the line for these folks. Some of them are sitting around, and there's just too much confusion. Here's the basic facts:

1) A man, just your common family man (Rick) finds a portal to a brand new world on the bottom of a well. 

2) He learns that a civilization used to be there, but it's a world where nature's completely reclaimed the land. 

3) There's dangerous wildlife there. Modern technology like guns and stuff don't work for some reason, so he brings with him a blacksmith by the name of Trent.

4) Rick and Trent learn that there are monsters that often appear at night and underground, because of bizarre experiments done in this world. Rick goes back to earth for a bit to collect more folks, because he thinks that there's a greater chance of survival if they stay in a big group. Trent kind of likes the new world, so he stays there much/most of the time.

5) Trent finds a veteran named Ryan, who has this whole network of Sailors and Marines.

6) Something's wrong with this group of vets; math just doesn't add up. These vets were supposedly the first wave/one of the first waves of Operation Enduring Freedom. That began in the early parts of October, 2001. So, these guys should be in their 40s-50s, but they look like they came fresh from bootcamp. There's just no way; there's something wrong.

7) The boyfriend of Rick's daughter hypothesizes that whatever happened to these vets was the result of hopping back and forth from a world whose space-time is torn. Rick wants to send the boyfriend to tell these vets this; Rick ends up having to do it himself.

8) The vets say that they're happy right where they're at.

9) A machine was found that can make portals to other worlds; worlds where Drifters and temporal storms don't exist. 

10) Its discovered that a man from this world made a portal to Earth (the one that they're currently using) to do experiments on unsuspecting folks. This is potentially why Ryan and his men and women are as they are. 

So, that's where we're at. So, what's the bfd? The bfd is that these folks want to form society a little differently than the one they left, so they're discussing what exactly it is that made them leave Earth. Again, what's the bfd?! The bfd's the fact that you have too many folks standing around, thinking; too much unknown variables. A bunch of multiverse theories, like "what if all layers are somehow connected?"; just a million of those type of questions zinging through the air, and no one has answers, and everyone's scared to make the first move out of fear for what might happen back on Earth. And the whole thing just falls apart, and people quietly sneak back to Earth. 

The final scene of this thread; you're walking in to a hookah bar, for whatever reason why you'd walk into a hookah bar  . The carpet and walls are mellow earth tones. There are rows and rows of couches, with little coffee tables in the middle. You hear..... hmm, something like Marooned or Planet Caravan's too easy, too cliche. I'll find something good.

Ok, you hear:

So, you're sitting there, relaxing. The music's just at that golden level to where you can have a conversation without having to shout over the music, and yet you can comfortably talk without bothering folks just listening to the music. You hear a guy on the couch next to you talking with a group of folks, must be his friends:

"Dude, all I'm saying is that stuff's getting weird. Once upon a time, boy or girl met boy or girl. They'd fall in love, and have a kid or adopt if they were both boys or girls. I'm cool with that. But now, you have boy who used to be a girl who wants to be called neither boy nor girl meets with a person who identifies as a gender neutral bearded dragon lizard. I'm not being hateful; I think people should be free to do as they want; they're not breaking any laws, they're not hurting anybody. But this new stuff is way out of left field for me; I don't like being called 'phobic' just because I hear something brand new. Sometimes, my initial reaction can't be a two thumbs up "good for you!" with a cheesy grin. Granted, I don't think it should give me the right to blast hate. But why can't I be allowed to be taken aback and need to process for a second? Dude, if I had my own world...."

Just then, you see a guy get off the couch a row or so over. This is a big, brawny dude. He's wearing a t shirt that says 'Devil Doc University', with dark blue jeans and black, pointed cowboy boots. He calmly walks to the guy who was just speaking and beats the ever-living snot out of him. Lol, no, I'm joking, to see if you were paying attention. The man sits down and says "Excuse me, did you say you'd like your own world? What would you do? Because if you're serious, I have a deal of a lifetime for you."

This will resume in "The resort that Tom built".

 

Edited December 8, 2024 by DocHoff