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October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#1
I dumped the last few milliliters of water out of the cup and
carefully put it back down on the sinktop with a clink of ceramic
on marble that was louder than I expected.  Blinking still at the
brightness of the ensuite's light I stared blearily at my
reflection and tried to recall more of the dream, and came up
with nothing but a brown ponytail and bright green fabric.

It hadn't been a nightmare, not *quite*, but something about its
end had catapulted me completely awake.  And in my first moments
of confused wakefulness most of the details had evaporated --
even with my semi-eidetic memory I'm not immune to forgetting my
dreams.  In this case, though, it was infuriating and
heartbreaking both -- because I knew I'd known and remembered
*everything* about the mysterious Makoto.  And her friends.

Every damned thing.

And now it was almost all gone.

*Almost* all.  I had managed to hang onto a few shreds of memory
through the transition to wakefulness.  Makoto and the other 
girls had been *important* -- not just to me personally, but in 
some other way as well.  But *how* hadn't come back with me.  I
was now sure of one thing -- whatever my relationship with Makoto 
had been, it hadn't been romantic.  Not that I had seriously 
expected it to be, between her apparent age in the photo and my 
vows to Maggie.  

(A nasty little voice in the back of my mind raised the spectre 
of that time with Misato, almost fifty years ago.  I shook my 
head vigorously to banish it.  One night of weakness, and since 
then I had remained faithful to my wife, for longer than most 
people stayed married.  And vows or not, I would *never* become 
involved with a teenager.)

Whatever it had been, though, losing it had been heartbreaking.  
I could still feel the echoes of despair resonating from the end
of the dream.

There was one other thing I had managed to drag back into the
waking world with me -- the very last image of the dream:  a huge
polyfaceted diamond, the size of a golf ball or larger, hanging 
in space and shining like a beacon with white light.

With that image at the front of my mind, I left the bathroom and
lit the lights in the main room.  I stepped over to my dresser 
and picked up the photo of Makoto and the others, and studied it
for many long minutes.

Who *were* you to me, Makoto?
-- Bob

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber.  I have been 
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#2
If only whatever has been leaking from the block has that effect on him,
when he recovers those memories once he is back home, will he try looking to re-establish some sort of contact with her again?

Just curious.
“We can never undo what we have done. We can never go back in time. We write history with our decisions and our actions. But we also write history with our responses to those actions. We can leave the pain and the damage in our wake, unattended, or we can do the work of acknowledging and fixing, to whatever extent possible, the harm that we have caused.”

— On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#3
Quoting from Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel - 0. Time Lost and Forgotten
Quote:There are only two women in my life whom I have ever loved wholeheartedly and unconditionally: my wife Maggie, and my adopted daughter Makoto.

Then quoting from the Drunkard's Walk main page:
Quote:If I am lucky enough to complete this terribly ambitious project, the Walk will be followed by the joint explorations of Doug and Shadowwalker in The Drunkard's Vacation, and possibly a few more "Steplets" as the impulse takes me.

And considering the existence of Girls, Girls, Girls ...

... well, I'm not Bob, but I know how I would bet on what the answer to that question is.
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#4
> that time with Misato

You dog, you.  Or is it "You Doug, you"?

To be fair, that's a universe on the brink of a mental breakdown, where love of any kind is probably worth it.  Though now that I think about it, there's a lot of ways that could go very wrong when Doug wakes up the next morning.

> a huge polyfaceted diamond, the size of a golf ball or larger

Doug is gonna be so surprised when he finds out that Usagi's sport is ultimate frisbee, not crystal golf.  (At the 19th Hole, they serve Crystal Pepsi.)

> Who *were* you to me, Makoto?

I can answer the inverse question: Doug was the guy who reminded Makoto of the sempai who broke her heart.

Hmmm, no Harry Potter content to comment on here.  My post feels almost off-topic.  Anyway, this is nice character study for our hero.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#5
Quote:> that time with Misato

You dog, you. Or is it "You Doug, you"?

Given that its Misato involved, I'd blame the hair of the dog and wazzizname.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to rock the sky?
Thats' every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry!
NO QUARTER!

No Quarter by Echo's Children
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#6
On Misato's part, yeah.  Doug's metabolism is such that... well, here's a passage from the incomplete chapter 2 of DW13:
Quote:My metabolism would burn through the 
alcohol faster than I could drink it -- beer is essentially malt- 
and hops-flavored sparkling water as far as my system is 
concerned.  (Well, as long as I didn't down a six-pack in as many 
minutes, at least -- and even then I'd get only a mild, short-
lived buzz.)
In Doug's case it's a moment of weakness he'll despise himself for for several years afterwards.

Any more on that topic should be pursued over on the DW6 board.
-- Bob

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber.  I have been 
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#7
I do have a question on the topic that is not DW VI related: Does Doug have a song that makes him feel intoxicated? For some reason "Purple Haze" is coming to mind, but there has to be a country song about getting too drunk.

And also back on Harry Potter: the longer these sealed memory sections go on, the more I wonder if the revelation of his memory will move from a side plot to into the main plot. Though I'm not sure what that means, exactly. Someone casting Moon Healing Escalation on Voldemort? "Refressssssssh!"
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#8
(12-20-2017, 06:08 PM)Labster Wrote: I do have a question on the topic that is not DW VI related: Does Doug have a song that makes him feel intoxicated?  For some reason "Purple Haze" is coming to mind, but there has to be a country song about getting too drunk.
If THIS doesn't do it, I doubt anything will:
"Could've been the whiskey,
Might've been the gin; 
Could've been the three or four six-packs, 
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in:
My head is like a football; 
I think I'm gonna die!
Tell me, me oh me oh my,
Wasn't that a party?!"
(The song is by the Irish Rovers, but the punctuation is mine; the site I checked used almost none.)
-----
"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that this was some killer weed."
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RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#9
I have honestly never felt the need to find a self-intoxication song for Doug.

As for the "memory leaks", no, they aren't going to elbow their way into the main plot; in the long run they'll be settling into a frustrating and occasional mystery -- at least until the seals blow off in DW10. The defeat of Voldemort comes from resources originating in another timeline entirely. And I've already dropped one (terribly subtle and inobvious) hint about it in a previous chapter -- but before you go looking for it, I'll tell you that even if I quoted it here right now it won't necessarily help you.
-- Bob

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber.  I have been 
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
Reply
RE: October 4, 1995, 2:37 AM
#10
Fanon depictions of Misato can be somewhat.....exagerrated.

Must be pretty shite not being able to get properly drunk mind. Things just couldn't be tolerated with the assistance of alcohol.

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
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