The votes are in, and by a 60/40 margin we've discovered we're all still thirteen years old cursing at our crispy new "Choose Your Own Adventure" and flipping back and forth to more propitious forks in the ol' decision tree. So we're going to go back in time and undo our choice (appropriate given that the HeroMachine "undo" feature went live this week!), and pretend we said our Safe Word to get back to the Oradumbledoracle:
The secret word worked! You know that, because you are no longer where you were (or when you were!): you're in a dark tunnel. You have a feeling that it leads to the Cave of Time.
Also, you know the secret word worked because you're no longer cuffed. Ahem.
It's risky entering a tunnel when you can't be sure where it leads, but you're not going to turn back now. you have to stoop so low, it would almost be easier to get on your hands and knees and crawl.
You step on a smooth stone surface. This too seems familiar. Another step. The angle pitches forward; then you're sliding, too fast to stop yourself, falling into blackness.
Somewhere a voice is singing. As your eyes slowly adjust to the pale green light, you realize that you are once again in the chambers of the Oracle of Time. The thin, ghostlike figure you remember stops singing. He looks at you intently.
You an hardly find words, but, as if to answer your questino before you ask it, this strange man -- if he is a man -- says, "You have found the Oracle of Time."
"Don't you remember? We've met before," you say. I must be going around in circles. Can you help me get back to my own time?"
"Sometimes time goes around in circles," the Oracle says. "Some break out of the circle; some don't."
"How can I break out?"
"This, my child, is something you must learn for yourself."
"All right," you say doubtfully, and are about to ask another question when he says:
"To begin you must go to the future or the past. Which do you say it will be?"
I wonder, if we choose the future again, do we go to literally the exact same place and scene? Or will it be different now that we remember we were there already? I haven't looked ahead so I honestly don't know.
On the other hand, we haven't seen the past yet, so that might be interesting as well.
The future kind of sucked, but that’s probably on us, for just standing around watching it happen. There’s probably a metaphor for life in that. All the same, I’m going back to my original position: bring on the dinosaurs. Or Romans. Or Romans riding dinosaurs!
Seriously? After seeing just how inadequately our “descendants” managed the yellow, runny s%$t-storm we call “the future”, are we still determined to visit it again? It’s been said the definition of insanity is making the same choice over again expecting a different outcome each time.
Very well…give me a minute.
*Saddles up my prize stallion, “High Horse”.*
Ready when you are.
😉
Oh well…. Right now I’m being outvoted two to one on going to the past…. Guess the majority of us wants to play in the matrix before we get wiped out…. I’m with X-stacy and would like to see the dinosaurs, even if it’s to become dino-appetizer….
Fresh start sounds nice. I’m up for some Roman-dinosaur hybrid folks who evolve into our gods. Besides that, it gives a newcomer like me the chance to hop on board from the beginning.
All right, who’s wanting to go through the same nonsense we just did? *glare*
If it weren’t for being made fun of, the way the votes are going, I’d be riding sidesaddle on that high horse with Josh.
It’s time for Simon to say “take one giant step back.”
A wise man once said, “When faced with a choice between two evils, choose the one you haven’t tried before.”
I can’t believe everyone posting here is saying, “Okay, now that we have a second chance, let’s go to the past!” and yet voting still seems to be doing the same thing we did last time.
A query to the Head Man: I was designing my Wild West poster thing, and I just noticed at the bottom where it says “vA.19.” Does that mean the alpha test program has gone through 18 previous iterations?
A lot more than that, Blackjack. I only introduced the numbering in the last two weeks or so as I was rapid-fire releasing updates, wanting to be sure the one I was seeing in my browser was the one I wanted.
Oh, okay. Very interesting. Thanks for getting back to me.
@Myro: We’ve finally edged out the future people 30 to 28… Hope it stays that way 😉
I’d chime in but I’m enjoying the to-the-death vote struggle too much!
Worf (10): Let’s hope.
@Jeff: HAHAHAHAHAHA!! You’re funny! You DO realize that you’ve made it possible to select both future AND past at the same time right?
On a totally unrelated subject (except for what relates to the past) It’s been a little over two years since I discovered your blog and began posting. Just about the time HM3 started. I just felt like saying that for some reason……
Oops! Dangit, I don’t know why all the other settings in PollDaddy are sticky except for that one.
Two years, wow. Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess!
Congrats, Worf (13). I think I’m approaching my first anniversary from when I first started coming here. Although I wasn’t regularly contributing for the first few months.
Worf 13) wow Worf, you’re a veteran already. I’ve only been around about 9 months myself.
@Jeff: Yeah, I didn’t realize it until I went back to search for my first post.. getting nostalgin in my “old” age I guess 😉
@MMI: Seriously? I could swear you’ve been around longer than that!
@Myro: Thanks and congrats to you too..
The past is 3 votes ahead now!! YEAH! Dino-fest here we come!!!!
nostalgin = nostalgic… that’s what I get for typing while watching TV…
Yup, I just went back to the very first image I created and checked the date. I created it May 26 2010.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6781672/Bjorn%20w%20Shield.bmp
@Myro: I know what you mean… I read the blog for at least a month before I got the nerve to post…
I vote for the future. I just hope people doesn’t vote for going back to the earth again.
To the future … 53.49% (46 votes)
To the past … 46.51% (40 votes)
Oh, and my oldest Hero Machine file (a text file containing the strings of several characters) was created on February 17 2009 🙂
I did the same as Worf and Myro. I browsed around for months until I was like ‘Derp, gotta comment’. Unfortunately my first comments were from my friend who spammed the hell out of the Blog-post I commented on first. >__>
I’m so glad I have any old school friends any more….
My first HeroMachine creation is from November 18th 2009.
Oooh, dating conundrum. My first HM2 creation was from July 2009. I was coming in off Ugo, so I didn’t even know about the blog until March or April 2010.
Also, HM3 intimidated the hell out of me the first time I tried using it. It was so much more open than the last program, I couldn’t wrap my head around using it. I actually didn’t even attempt it again for 3 weeks, until I had some tutoring from a friend that had already played around on it.
I say to the past. Because I want to be the first to buy Kool Moe Dee’s “Funke, Funke Wisdom”.
Yeah, the first thing I did with HM3 was trying to figure out masking… This was the result of that experimentation:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ricardo.m.almeida/Stuff#5582831689735139186
Clearly the past has its attractions…
Well Worf it that’s your first try, you did 100 times better then me!
I remember when I first stumbled across the blog. It was pre-2.5!
Hey, wait, I just got one of those things! a headache with pictures!
Jeff, how about another sharing day specific to when we all started blog-wise?
Ooooh! I like that idea Brad! Good thinking!
😀
*takes a bow* Hopefully the man in charge will like it, too. Extra points if you read the above and got the Futurama reference!
Not a bad idea, Brad, thanks for sharing it! I might just do that …
You bet, big guy.