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LodgedFromMessages
The Pacific Alpine Commonwealth of Mount Seymour

Aclion wrote:We would'nt have to switch to a parliamentary system, just have a single transferable vote.

This. A parliamentary system has its own set of drawbacks, and is not clearly preferable to a presidential system. But either type you can have with a non-FPTP voting system— STV/IRV/Ranked-Choice principally. Of course, such a change is just as unlikely to ever occur in the current climate. It’s one of the only things the Republican and Democratic parties can agree on: that the system which allows them to preserve their stranglehold on politics has to remain in place (ironic, considering it’s a system which is massively harmful to the democracy they claim to uphold). No one wants to write the law to give themselves more competition.

via Oatland

Aclion

Mount Seymour wrote:This. A parliamentary system has its own set of drawbacks, and is not clearly preferable to a presidential system. But either type you can have with a non-FPTP voting system— STV/IRV/Ranked-Choice principally. Of course, such a change is just as unlikely to ever occur in the current climate. It’s one of the only things the Republican and Democratic parties can agree on: that the system which allows them to preserve their stranglehold on politics has to remain in place (ironic, considering it’s a system which is massively harmful to the democracy they claim to uphold). No one wants to write the law to give themselves more competition.

https://youtu.be/PQRyGacBRA4?t=193



Cameroi

Mount Seymour wrote:This. A parliamentary system has its own set of drawbacks, and is not clearly preferable to a presidential system. But either type you can have with a non-FPTP voting system— STV/IRV/Ranked-Choice principally. Of course, such a change is just as unlikely to ever occur in the current climate. It’s one of the only things the Republican and Democratic parties can agree on: that the system which allows them to preserve their stranglehold on politics has to remain in place (ironic, considering it’s a system which is massively harmful to the democracy they claim to uphold). No one wants to write the law to give themselves more competition.

media has a role to play in this if they would. they don't HAVE to give ALL the air, to candidates from the two major parties.

Areulder

Cameroi wrote:media has a role to play in this if they would. they don't HAVE to give ALL the air, to candidates from the two major parties.

They will, not least because most "journalists" today are little more then political activists and they're in a relationship with their preferred political party.

Digedingdangdong

Ruinenlust wrote: I'm not really thrilled about him either, and I think running Joe Biden might repeat the mistake of 2016, when the enthusiasm for Sanders was rather bluntly snubbed by the party hierarchy.

That comparison doesn't hold up because in 2016 the party hierarchy was very unified behind Hillary -- not just "someone other than Bernie," but specifically Hillary Clinton -- and they put their thumbs on the scale hard. This time around, there are several candidates being given serious consideration. Even if Biden wins the primary, there will still be some other candidates that got a fair shake.

Also, keep in mind Clinton had a lot of baggage that had nothing to do with moderate vs. progressive. A moderate candidate who isn't Hillary Clinton won't necessarily have so much baggage or such a divisive campaign style.



The Rewilding of Ruinenlust

Digedingdangdong wrote:That comparison doesn't hold up because in 2016 the party hierarchy was very unified behind Hillary -- not just "someone other than Bernie," but specifically Hillary Clinton -- and they put their thumbs on the scale hard. This time around, there are several candidates being given serious consideration. Even if Biden wins the primary, there will still be some other candidates that got a fair shake.

Also, keep in mind Clinton had a lot of baggage that had nothing to do with moderate vs. progressive. A moderate candidate who isn't Hillary Clinton won't necessarily have so much baggage or such a divisive campaign style.

I agree with you; I think I didn't explain myself properly the first time around. I meant that because the outcome of these elections is no longer a "big tent" strategy, but, as several others have pointed out, it is more so a contest of whose base can be more roused to action, namely to actually go out and vote. For example, just within my own small circle of personal local contacts, there were several who voted for Sanders in the primary election, only to sit home when it came down to Trump vs. Hillary, since Hillary simply did not inspire the same level of enthusiasm, even above and beyond all of her other faults as a candidate and a public figure (such as what you mentioned). There was no equivalent groundswell of support for Hillary that there had been for Sanders in the primary, and yet Trump had absolutely enflamed and enlivened not only the vast majority of the traditional Republican base, but also he had 'inspired' (if you want to call it that) many otherwise disinterested people to get involved and to vote.

In other words, my comparison between Clinton and Biden is to say that they are both these overexposed, been-around-the-political-block ten thousand times, and do not represent--for better or worse--the hottest energy in the party from rank-and-file voters, since the new push on the left is towards ever-more-liberal candidates. Even if the party itself got burned and exposed for having put their thumbs on the scale for Hillary, making her primary election season more like a coronation, and so now they will be more objective, it is still the case that many young voters, of whom there are more than enough to potentially vote and push the election in their direction. Those young voters don't seem too interested in Biden. Running Biden would be banking on the strategy that the "average voter" (read: an older person, all things being equal, and also a white person) will decide to switch to Biden from Trump, despite the fact that both white people and older people voted for Trump in 2016, on average. That may end up being precisely the correct strategy, for all I know, since young people seem to be okay with allowing ancient people who will be dead in a few decades to make all of the decisions that they themselves will have to live with for the next half-century. I wonder, though, if a better strategy might be to copy the Republicans' dynamic in 2016, in which a massively enthusiastic base turned out to vote for Trump, and the rest of the party largely fell into line anyway, since they weren't going to vote for the other side.

TL;DR -- I agree with your assessment, for the most part, but what the overall best strategy for the Democrats is depends on whether it would be to their advantage to 1. lean into their base, assuming that the middle-left will vote Democrat anyway, simply because Trump is so unpalatable to them, or alternately 2. to lean towards the middle, and hope that the energy of the left wing base doesn't cool down to the point where there simply isn't the groundswell of maniacal support, which Trump will more-or-less have (even if he shoots someone on 5th Avenue, as the Orange Block of Cheese himself has pointed out in the past).

I'm on the fence as to which of the two strategies is better, but in no case do I think the Democrats could run a candidate who would mop the floor with Trump's hair, since the current climate of America's hyper-partisanship will always put both major candidates within striking distance (assuming nobody launches a 3rd party campaign).

---

In a more Machiavellian sense, perhaps the best Democratic strategy would be to run someone like Biden and to also secretly fund a 3rd party candidate or an independent candidate whose positions would almost exclusively only peel voters away from Trump. Like some upstanding, über-Christian type who could bang on about abortion and transgender people and praying in school and all that stuff, but who would also be a model citizen in his own right, a regular Church-goer, someone from a little farm in Missouri or something, etc. That would break up the Republican vote, which would easily throw the election to virtually any Democratic candidate.

Having said that, perhaps you're entirely correct that Biden is just the thing, since he's from Pennsylvania, so Trump would have to work out some different Electoral College strategy.

Lord Dominator, Uan aa Boa, Turbeaux, Canaltia, and 2 othersRivienland, and Kinectia

Caracasus

I've been watching politics both here and in the wider world and I'm genuinely starting to worry that the entire thing is some sort of sick soap opera laid on for the amusement of some vast cthullonic entity of unimaginable malevolence and evil. I'm even more worried that this idea is just a self defense mechanism in my brain and that the truth is the entire theater of democracy is crammed with broken automatons, springs winding down and gears bent that in the absense of any direction whatsoever simply keep bumping into walls and staggering through tired, worn soundbites.

When the mob breaks into number 10 they'll drag May out - she'll just be mouthing "strong and stable. Strong and stable."

Maybe the problem is that the real movers and shakers simply don't have anyone but themselves' best interests at heart, but frankly that's been true throughout a lot of history. It might be the impending climate disaster. Maybe that's how it'll end. Bands of dying peasants searching out the air ventilation chimneys of the vaults the wealthy are hiding in, ready to plug each one with cement. Musk might make it to Mars, and him and a bunch more billionaires and deranged fans will eke out a half decade or so before some critical failure and plummeting supplies makes a second graveyard in our solar system. The last sole survivor driving out in a rover to meet the sunset, lips stained with the grease from a grim retelling of the Donner party.

Or maybe the system itself is just collapsing in on itself like a deflating whoopee cushion, and all the garbage around us is simply air escaping in a long, drawn out fart. Maybe it'll suddenly get worse, maybe it'll be gradual. Perhaps when the UK is forced to enter into an organ harvesting trade deal we'll be lining up - one kidney, eye and lung short - for our Amazonbucks and grimly stating that at least we've got some organs left. God alone knows.

Anyway, happy weekend Forest.

The new bluestocking homeland, Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, Ruinenlust, and 8 othersLord Dominator, Uan aa Boa, Turbeaux, Canaltia, Rivienland, Northern Wood, Santa guerrera, and Kinectia

Ook oorg

*Looks off to the side*

*See Ook oorg playing on laptop*

Lord Dominator, Dwardossa, Turbeaux, and Canaltia

Sapnu puas

Whoa, my school's website blocker goes offline between 9:50am and 10:10am, although on and off.

Couldn't find any games to take advantage with, so if it keeps happening, any ideas for browser games on iPad?



Autonomous cleaner bot cleaners

High unemployment is ravaging Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners. A recent career fair in Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners City consisted of a tumbleweed rolling through empty booths, and the Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners Career Shopper is only two pages long and stuffed with ads for pizza parlors and discreet massages. They’re just not hiring. In an attempt to get your economy jumping again, a trio of self-professed experts have come forward to proffer advice.

“The problem is lack of opportunity,” says Ashley Long, who so far has been unable to use her underwater basket weaving degree. “The government needs to guarantee that every young person can get a job, maybe to build parks or repair bridges or design specialty baskets. That’s the only permanent way to get Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners working again.”

Today, Autonomous cleaner bot cleaners is proud to announce the creation of the Washing Progress Administration (WPA), which is mandated with achieving full-employment through a national campaign promoting cleanliness. Our printer-bots are already hard at work creating appropriate propaganda encouragement: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=cleaning&co=wpapos

Please contact your local WPA office for further details. And remember, the only thing we have to fear is, um, dirt.

--

Caracasus wrote:

When the mob breaks into number 10 they'll drag May out - she'll just be mouthing "strong and stable. Strong and stable."

Reminds me of that time Parliament sold the UK to Honda: https://youtu.be/b4m_ajuNmSA

--

It’s budget time and the military is in a fierce ideological struggle: should bayonets continue to be issued to the troops?

“There’s nothing more terrifying than the sight of Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleanersian steel!” asserts veteran General Annan, while skewering one of your childhood teddy bears that you still keep on your desk with a shank. “The bayonet is a tried and tested weapon; having a blade at the end of your gun is an essential back-up. Besides, it’s hardly like they’re the most expensive thing in the arsenal. Also, make sure the navy and air force have them too; you’ll never know when they’ll come in handy.”

https://www.google.com/search?q=roombas+with+knives

Caracasus, Lord Dominator, Turbeaux, and Canaltia



The Sylvan Hivə of Turbeaux

Ruinenlust wrote:~snip~
In a more Machiavellian sense, perhaps the best Democratic strategy would be to run someone like Biden and to also secretly fund a 3rd party candidate or an independent candidate whose positions would almost exclusively only peel voters away from Trump. Like some upstanding, über-Christian type who could bang on about abortion and transgender people and praying in school and all that stuff, but who would also be a model citizen in his own right, a regular Church-goer, someone from a little farm in Missouri or something, etc. That would break up the Republican vote, which would easily throw the election to virtually any Democratic candidate.

Having said that, perhaps you're entirely correct that Biden is just the thing, since he's from Pennsylvania, so Trump would have to work out some different Electoral College strategy.

Biden would be a great VP candidate (assuming he would accept that position again). I would be all for a more progressive nominee running for president with him in the VP slot. The Dems could secretly fund Evan Mcmullin since he already split some votes away from Trump in 2016. Bob Corker could be an even better choice (if he could be persuaded to run as an independent or third-party candidate). Also, I am hoping that Weld gets a chance to debate Trump (either formally or informally) and makes him look bad to some of Trump's base.

It should be mentioned that Trump could employ a similar strategy against the Democratic Party. Fortunately, the independents who could split votes away from them are wealthy enough that some Trump money would most likely not push them into candidacy if they ruled it out independently. Trump could still mess with the Democratic nomination process by funding a candidate that would not threaten his hold in Rust Belt states. He could also throw a lot of cash toward the Green candidate (assuming that they would accept it or Trump's people could make it appear to be small-dollar grassroots funding). One has to expect that a corrupt and seemingly amoral president will be ready for some 2020 election hijinks.

EDIT: Is Aexnidaral unaware that Ransium has a follow-up proposal planned (that is quite clearly implied if you even skim the text)? Oh well, it should pass easily without their support.

Digedingdangdong

Turbeaux wrote:Also, I am hoping that Weld gets a chance to debate Trump (either formally or informally) and makes him look bad to some of Trump's base.

Oh, yeah, we want Weld to make as much noise as possible. I wouldn't even put it past him to do something wonky like running as an independent or endorsing the Democrats once he loses the primary.

The Sylvan Hivə of Turbeaux

Digedingdangdong wrote:Oh, yeah, we want Weld to make as much noise as possible. I wouldn't even put it past him to do something wonky like running as an independent or endorsing the Democrats once he loses the primary.

Given his history, I am pretty sure that he would run as a Libertarian and not endorse the Democratic candidate. I am much more excited about Mike Gravel getting a spot in the Democratic debates. I voted for him in the 2008 primary.

The Democratic Island Federation of Frieden-und Freudenland

I am not hopeful about Biden, to be honest, and disappointed that he managed to collect a sweeping 6.3 million dollars in donations on his first day of candidacy. I just don't get why it looks like we should be electing old white men for presidents. Fine and some old white women. The candidates whom we hear about the most often are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, etc. I want to see some diversity.

I think Buttigieg would be an interesting candidate, though I have doubts about how many Americans will feel comfortable voting for a self-identified gay Christian. o.O



Autonomous cleaner bot cleaners

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:

I think Buttigieg would be an interesting candidate, though I have doubts about how many Americans will feel comfortable voting for a self-identified gay Christian. o.O

If demographic trends are accurate and I've understood them correctly, if such a candidate can openly and honestly address the issues and ideas of youth and young adults in a way that doesn't come across as just more Dad-jokey pandering nonsense...a self-identified gay Christian could probably slay an election easily.

--

**engages leaf and yard litter vacuum mode**

**empties bag of leaves into a pile**

**jumps in pile**

^.^

...

<.<

...

>.>

**shampoos a squirrel**

The Rewilding of Ruinenlust

Re: The Resolution Repeal:

Plants! Does it also include the protection of plant species! It mentions bacteria and viruses, but I didn't see it. Then again I'm half-asleep, so maybe I missed it.

We are Forest, after all. Made of plants. Best things ever. :-)



The World Machine of Shwe Tu Colony

After much too long working on my Post an Account, here it is. This tells the tales of MV Crossbar, the humanitarian assassin filled with rage over the deaths of his compatriots; of Jeremy Sentinel, the lone survivor of a wintertime tragedy; & D'aillisioux, the medium by which they rediscover themselves & their lost time, time burned or time frozen. The song used for the story's theme, "When The Lights Went Out," connects with all three, & when confronted by their peculiar situation, all but one can remember where it all fell down, & where the lights had went out.

"The immortal man is quite possibly the wealthiest, for he has a resource that might never be renewable: time." -Sekka Verndara
"Guess I must be the poorest man alive, huh, Sekka?" -MV Crossbar
"I do not remember when I last experienced time." - Jeremy Sentinel

Take, each day
suffer this alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_mu2Zj3Pow

Wasted Time
The Assassin's Guild
It was only a minute ago, that I saw the normally suave blue-haired NYG flee from D'aillisioux's room, trembling with an uncharacteristic fear as something echoed from deeper within.
Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.
That wasn't right, of course. D'aillisioux would never intend to frighten a soul unless they hurt him, but even then, I could tell he didn't want to. I could tell that violence was the last thing a small boy like him wanted, or needed, yet he endured it, day after day, over some morbid obsession with fulfilling his debt to us. At least we had the Assassin's Resolve to let us ignore our casual atrocities, but I could see that it didn't quite work well enough with him. What innocence he could've had would've been long gone in his new job, but it was clear to Notburga & me that he never had any in the first place. Time ill-spent had already taken it, but we were always confused by how Hazel — his closest friend — was raised alongside him, but never had such problems.
There were too many "buts," & it was frustrating. I wondered always when the time I spent with him, spent making sure he wasn't breaking down without Hazel, spent trying to coax out whatever horrid time he went through, would be enough, & finally he would relent. Then, maybe then. Maybe that would be the time for me to absorb his emotions, so he wouldn't have to take this on alone.

"NYG!" I shouted at him as he ran past me, but he didn't give me even a glance. I let my eyes drift into their red, spiraling form indicative of focus & stood still as I steeled my nerves, only for the lights to cut out, "Hmm? What the..." I shook on the flashlight on my pistol, but it looked like I was standing somewhere else. Somewhere I shouldn't be. I took out my communications crystal with a shaking hand. "J-Jeremy," I began as I stepped forward, hearing a peculiar song in the distance from D'aillisioux, "Jeremy, get here. Fast. Something's wrong with D'aillisioux, I don't..." The world shook & I was thrown to the floor. "Agh! We don't have much time, Jeremy," I yelled into the crystal as I put it away.
"As you wish," came his deadpan Blanker voice, apathetic & entirely emotionless, "I shall be there. Momentarily, if you please. I must find Hazel, as well."
"Good, good!" D'aillisioux's voice continued to echo softly within my ear, tickling it with an antique, sinful sound that almost mesmerized me in how he sang, serene yet terrified. Scarred, yet innocent. Or, perhaps oblivious to his abuse.

I started up yet again, not willing to let even a few seconds pass & soon enough I was running in the vast, dark void. Then, I was standing in front of him, & as I shined the flashlight all over, I found that his room was dark & grey like some sort of prison's basement, unlike the poster-adorned one he himself had decorated as a result of our art therapy program for him. There were no butterfly or hummingbird hawk-moth swarms flying towards the sky on the walls, nor cities withered by time & faces turning into trees. None of his beautiful artwork to accompany me, & as I shined my flashlight onto him, I could tell that somehow, we had lost everything.
His face, tainted with milk & specks of cereal (I had seen NYG go into his room with a bowl of cereal & milk; he had probably thrown it onto him in a panic), looked at me with a dead expression — no, no, maybe he was dead — & even his amber eyes, usually the one guarantee of pigment he had, were greyed out. He was sitting up in his bed, his blanket wrapped around him, & to his side lay the decapitated head of the teddy bear that I guessed NYG gave him, as I had seen him go into D'aillisioux's room with it. Why he would have desecrated that gift, I wasn't sure.

Maybe his ill-spent time had finally claimed him, & that my habit of burning time hadn't been enough to save him. Before I could confirm, Jeremy walked into the room, touching my shoulder, & then his. "Sorry for the wait," he said as the room returned to normal, yet D'aillisioux's body lied limply in front of us, presumably exhausted from creating his illusory world, "I did find— I did find— I did find— agh!" He gripped his left eye with an agonized hand, & he fell to the floor as the emotions from D'aillisioux's memories overwhelmed him. Bells rang out in the distance.
Familiar bells. Unholy bells. Lethal bells. I felt a familiar chill embrace me, & Jeremy seemed to feel something similar.
Time went back.

I never would have done
a thing like that
to you.

Burning Time
The Memoryscape, The Holy Kingdom of the Syhi, Late Night, 2 years ago
"Here you go," Crossbar said as he handed the package to the small lad in front of him, watching as a smile began to spread across his face, "You & your family enjoy it, you hear? & stop coming out here so late! You don't know what sorts of dangers might be out here. Make this your last time, got it? Tsemper's here, but he's only here to guard this here building, & not the road ahead of us."
"O-okay, mister!" he replied as he ran off into the dark, barren streets, the only lighting being the graceful pair of cathedrals & the smaller church where Crossbar was stationed, "I'll… I'll make sure that I can find time, but it's really hard…"
"Is that so?" Crossbar looked away for a moment at the boxes beside him as the lad sighed, & he felt a strange pulse of illusory energy, as though his world didn't exist, "Hmm, tell you what… next shipment, I'll ask for a golem. What's taking up so much time, anyway?"

"School, then when I get home, I need to take care of my siblings… mom & dad are always working," he sighed, glancing at Tsemper, who was standing stalwart & looking into the darkness with his shield & lance in his hands like some sort of guardian statue, "They're always telling me to do well in school, but honestly, I just want to help them. When they get home, they look so tired..."
"I see, I see," Crossbar took out his projecting crystal, which fired out a screen that indicated his next shipment, "You got a specific golem type you want?"
"O-oh! I really couldn't accept it, mister! You really are too nice, but what if—"
"Don't worry about that," Tsemper suddenly spoke up, his light, gentle voice embracing them like a soft cotton blanket, "You love your parents, & they love you. That enough is clear. Take it for them, they won't be mad." A strange regret seeped through his voice, a regret of a memory & life long gone, one that time could never wear away.

The lad nodded, & the next instant he sped off. The next second, he heard the clanking of heavy paladin armor, & saw out of the corner of his eye a shining shield. The next minute, he was on the floor, with Tsemper over him, his vision coming back swirling & clouded with red blood. The paladin placed a finger over his lips as he hoisted Crossbar up onto his shoulder & then placed him on the other side of the counter, away from his storeroom. "What… what the…?" he began.
"Quiet! I don't know what's gotten into them, but they're—" shouts echoed from within the storehouse, & the lad from earlier came back, "Huh...! What are you doing here? Get out, it's not safe!"
"I-I heard screams!" he said as Crossbar got up, holding his head with one head & taking out his pistol with another, "M-mister, what are you—"
The choice was made on a whim, in an instant, without a thought for the future or for the past, with eyes only for the present. Red, swirling eyes, consumed by a grieving resolve.

The Assassin's Resolve, the one that dictated the instantaneous.

Seconds later, two paladins lay dead in front of Crossbar, & the lad screamed in terror as Tsemper shoved his shield in front of him to block him from the sight. "Shhh, it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay!" the paladin reassured him, "Gods… Crossbar, what's gotten into you!"
"Something's starting," his voice was cold, "Tsemper, get that kid out of here! He can't see what I'm going to do..."
"Wh-what are you—" Tsemper's hand cut him off, & he ran off, back towards the boy's home. Crossbar, meanwhile, took an empty box & placed it to the entrance of the storeroom, where he shined his flashlight & would've vomited from the gruesome sight in display in front of him. However, his mind — now steeled by his early resolve, & would not waver in his goal — was focused on only two goals.
Survive. Take vengeance.

He burnt an instant. He spun around & fired his pistol at a paladin approaching him from behind, hardly noticing the bullet wound among the countless blood stains already on him. He burnt another second & a lance thrust towards his head from behind, but he ducked to the side & countered with a pair of shots, one after the other with hardly a second passing between them. Then, he kicked forward the box, trapping another one of his foes that soon after received a bullet to her chest, only for time to rewind.
He had only a moment to react, & he burnt it without a second thought; he was now acting on a furious adrenaline, & time had become irrelevant. His opponent's wager to distort it had failed, & instead the entire sequence repeated.

A gunshot, then time rewound again, only to be burnt in an instant. Their charade repeated several times, & at last the crusader mistress began to speak. "W-wait! Don't shoot!" she begged, her body having aged a few days as a result of her reckless time distortion, only to be met with the cold, smoking barrel of his pistol. This time, she did not go back, & her helmeted gaze stared at him almost apologetically before she fell to the floor. Undeterred, Crossbar threw aside his flashlight & continued a sprint through the cold storeroom, dark & now flooded with blood, letting his red, swirling eyes be his light source instead, patrolling the area like some sort of demon.
Not a second would be wasted; he, as a vengeful embodiment, would burn any piece of time he got, he would drench it all in oil, and he would watch as the flames licked at the shattered hourglass until it snuffed out the time that the paladins & crusaders had stolen away from him.

The night went by, & when Crossbar woke up, he cleaned himself up, called Tsemper, & exited the storehouse.
It had taken an hour for him to purge the entire town of the sinful enforcers of the churches' laws.
It was a calculated slaughter: eighty-eight of them, around one-and-a-half per minute.
They made it a calculated slaughter: three hundred & sixty-nine of Crossbar's friends & associates. Justified.
The hour, he burnt away, burnt away the days & months & years that were lost from those supposedly great men & women, nothing more than traitors to the humanity they claimed to be benefactors of. His comrades, their time was burnt as well.
Time had been incinerated as waste, & not a resource. Crossbar had participated in it as well, & as he waited for Tsemper, his resolve disintegrated & he began sobbing to himself in the corner, waiting for his last paladin friend to get back.

Try to remember
when it all
fell
down?
And where I was standing
when the lights
went
out.

Frozen Time
Canada(?), 2AM, 22 years ago
"Good work, everyone," Jeremy told his friends, high-fiving them as they all went back into their car from their concert venue. At this point, they mostly referred to one another by their nicknames — he was known by his last name, "Sentinel," his brother was "Twister," his friend was "Delphinius," the two younger twins-by-bonds were "Jaundal" & "Branch," the giant was "General," & the stylish fellow rolling a marker in his hand was "Pigment." Most of these names were based on how they were introduced or their most obvious characteristic, such as his brother's ferocious dancing reminiscent of a raging tornado & Jaundal's sickly yellow eyes.
"Only our second time, only our second time," Delphinius said to herself as she entered the car, followed by Jeremy himself.
"& we've already made it rather big, haven't we?" Pigment continued, his voice brimming with pride, "Who—"
"Who'd have thought we'd get here from a joke?" Branch sank his head into Jaundal's lap, only to be promptly shoved off.

"Hey, hey, stop being so [DATA DELETED] gay!" the car began moving, launching him a short distance forward, "W-woah!"
"Justice, [DATA DELETED]!" Branch cackled at his friend's misfortune, receiving a smack to the gut as Pigment watched the two of them, completely silent.
"Get your seat belts on," Jeremy ordered. Both lads frowned, & Branch stuck his tongue out, "Oi! No!" He unbuckled his seat belt, only to be restrained by Delphinius. "Come on, lemme at 'em a bit, lady!" he laughed as she continued to hold him down, "I'll show them some real justice!"
"All of you, stop being so disruptive," General ordered, his voice soft yet authoritative.
"Yeah, I'm trying to drive here," Jeremy's brother looked at the rambunctious lot behind him through his rearview mirror, followed by him examining the rest of the mirrors.
"Do you guys hear that... humming noise?" Pigment asked.

For a moment, Twister saw something standing beside his car through his side mirror, its ghostly green face accentuating its unholy, baleful gaze, its brown robes like a tree against the night, terrifying him with how it stuck straight out of the road so unnaturally. Its long river of black hair flowed out behind it, blowing in the rushing wind as it seemed to not move, yet still keep pace.
Twister jumped in his seat as the car briefly slid to the side on the icy roads. "Did-did you guys see that?" he yelled, immediately raising all heads towards him despite the mess in the back, for never before had they heard him so panicked.
"See what?" Jeremy said.
"Dr-drive more carefully!" Delphinius demanded, "The roads are really icy tonight."
"Gods, sorry," Twister turned his focus back to the road, hoping that the robed figure would not appear again, "I just… I saw, like, some sort of ghost, I think. Don't suppose any of us paid attention in our Native American folklore classes?"

"Why did we decide to take that class again?" questioned Pigment, looking behind them.
"I thought it'd be fun," Branch looked towards Jeremy, "Yo, you pack any drinks?"
"Heh, I'll give your [DATA DELETED] something to drink…" Jaundal winked at his friend a—
"Oi, not in this car, thank you very much," before Delphinius could stop him, he leapt towards him & slapped him on the head. Sensing General's lethal gaze, though, he slunk back into his seat & bent forward, a bit embarrassed at his impulsive actions. "Oh, right the class…" Jaundal began, smirking as he flipped through his photographic memory, "I… well, for starters, what did the thing look like? Like Branch in the morning, I—"
"Sh-shut up!" the other boy shoved his friend into the car wall, "Only because of wh—"
"Back on topic…" Jeremy said.

"Right, right," his brother began as he tried to recall the figure, glancing again at his mirrors. "Well, it was pale. Greenish face. Its body was thin & black… No! It was brown!"
"I… ah, no, no," Jaundal said to himself, "Yeah, definitely nothing like that."
"Oh, look, it's the ocean! I've never seen it frozen like that before..." Delphinius turned her head towards the left side of the car, where it was, "It's so pretty…" Branch snapped his fingers. "Got it! Q-Qalu… Qalu…"
"Qalupalik, [DATA DELETED]," Jaundal smirked as his friend glared back at him, "Ah… wait, wait, wait, wait! Those [DATA DELETED] pursue lonely kids, not a gang like us, so it can't be."
"Greenish face. Didn't see the back," Jaundal merely shrugged, smiling to himself.

"Honestly? Let's put something like that behind us," he suggested as he relaxed in his seat, "General, put on some music." He sighed. "Gods, we made it big — we made it to one of the biggest venues in Canada — & you guys are panicking over some weirdo at our side? It's probably just some hallucination on Twister's end. We've been ridiculously busy anyway; when was the last time we got a good nine hours, huh?"
Humming from the sea. Jaundal jumped in his seat.
"O-okay, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, I— General, you listen to deep sea noises, right?"
"Mhm," he pushed a few buttons on the car's front to activate the music player, "Want some Wintuk?"
"Yeah, that's cool… but anyway, deep sea noises, right?" the hum grew louder, but not deafening, "Iceberg, meets sea floor, makes big bloopy groan."
"A few of them were explained by icebergs, yeah."

"Point being! It's winter, there's ice out at sea, we're tired, so…" he gave a second's pause, trying to come off as calm & collected as possible despite his own slight uncertainty — or perhaps desire for excitement, "Let's not worry, 'kay?"
"I guess you're right," Twister relented as he checked his mirrors again, "Can't help but shake off the feeling..."
"Of what?" Jeremy could detect a twinge of fear in his brother's voice.
"I don't… I don't know. I feel like we need to get home soon. Something feels off, you know?"
A second passed, & suddenly Jeremy felt a keen awareness of time, & how they had only just been on the road for a short while & were already encountering something strange, something unfamiliar.
"Ah! I know what's strange," Branch began, smirking as Jaundal readied his hands, "Hey!" Branch grabbed his friend's hands & tried to hold them down, but was only barely successful. "[DATA DELETED] you're so strong! All that time with me, huh? Or maybe..." he taunted as his smug look grew.

"You be quiet, you're the one making gay jokes all the time!" Pigment, having been mostly silent, suddenly reached over Branch & slapped Jaundal lightly on the cheek, smiling to himself.
"Can't you two joke in some other way? It is rather juvenile," he complained.
"Hah! No chance of that," Branch sneered as Jaundal's hands shoved forward & pulled his head towards his in an instant, stopping the instant before their foreheads would've collided. For a second, the two boys stared at one another, then their smirks turned to smiles as they split apart, cackling at their idiotic joke.
"Ho… ho God, we were way too close there!" Jaundal hit the back of Jeremy's seat, eliciting an angry turn of the head, "Hahahaha! Sorry, sorry, I'm just… just…" He & Branch leaned onto each other as they laughed, much to the chagrin of the others, who still loved them dearly.

As friends, of course — all but they themselves were convinced that romantic connotations were much too plausible.

"Delphinius," Jeremy spoke up after their fit was over, "Would you like to, ah, switch seats. There's a rest stop coming up pretty soon, right?"
"Yeah, which reminds me that I gotta go use the restroom," his brother said, "I need to remember not to drink so much coffee…" He looked at his mirror, & in the lull between songs, he changed to Jack Stauber's "Coffee," at which point he began singing to himself.
"Hey, don't-don't close your eyes by accident, like you usually do. You're drivin' this time," General advised him, receiving a nod in response as his quavering voice echoed through the car sounding completely exhausted & more like a mournful whisper, as though he was on the verge of collapse; normally, his voice sounded just tired & world-worn or maybe a bit dead, a quality that his fans described as a young man who had seen too much in a short life. By the time it repeated, Delphinius's voice began chiming in to fill the role of the seductive coffee, her whiny, ethereal timbre piercing against his, skewering the prior words that he said with its arrow-shaped sound, trying to seduce him back into addiction.

By the time the song ended, the rest stop came into view. When Twister pulled on the brakes, his car surged a fair distance forward because of the ice sheets that had frozen the roads nearly solid. "Oh, whoops, sorry," he said as he began backing up, "Make sure I don't hit anything."
"Well, that's the thing," Jaundal looked around outside of them.
"There's nothing."
"Nothing? I… there really hasn't been much all this time, huh?"
"Everyone else is waiting for after winter stops freezing the roads solid," Jeremy said as the car finally stopped, inspecting the nearby area as well.
Still nothing, as though time had frozen — even the forests, normally teeming with life in the summer months, were dead silent. "General, if we see any trouble, you know what to do," he said as he got out of the car, looking farther down the road & behind them, "Bridge coming up, best be careful… Dang things get frozen solid, but hopefully we won't have to burn that bridge when we get there!" He smirked as Delphinius facepalmed, followed by him taking a picture of the bridge & posting it online with what he just said.

The group went to use the restrooms at the rest stop: four waited in the car, in case something happened in the silent woods, & three would be allowed to leave. Something felt off, & as Jeremy, Delphinius, Pigment, & General waited in the car, they were not content to stay still, squirming just a little in their seats.
Jeremy squirmed a little too much, & before he knew it, he was sitting on Delphinius's hand, which mo—
"Y-yah!" he hopped right off, hiding his blush in his face as she hid hers in her hair.
"Are you two all right?" Pigment asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
"Y-yes, yes we are!" the girl replied, brushing aside a clump of hair, "Just… just a little bit of tomfoolery, that's all!" There was an awkward pause as the two waited for the moment to pass, yet with how embarrassed they were, it seemed to be an agonizing minute before the twins came back.

"Yo, you two get back, had to sto—" Branch began.
"I did not! Toilet paper's too fragile to fold, anyway," the other gestured for Pigment & General to go have their turn, "Can't do any origami with that stuff."
"Yeah, sure," Branch remarked, "That's what they all say. Everyone I know has made that excuse at least once."
"[DATA DELETED], you've seen my origami!"
"The only paper you fold is when you lose a card game every other day," Branch smirked as his friend grew angry.
"You're the one cheating!"
"You played with a mirror behind you in our poker match, you dumb[DATA DELETED]! Who does that? Turn on your [DATA DELETED] brain!"
"D-don't talk about that!" Jaundal's anger dissolved into a radiant blush, "Gods, just hearing about it gets me—"

"Calm down," General ordered them, his tone slow & deliberate as he scolded them, "Don't be so loud. You'll draw unwanted attention." Both boys shrunk away in their seats, a bit ashamed at their behavior, & Delphinius & Jeremy excused themselves to use the restroom, which they found to be in surprisingly luxuriant quality — it seemed as though someone had plucked the restroom from a hotel lobby & planted it right in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. "Jeez, what's this all about?" Jeremy said to himself as he inspected the area, eventually finding a sign that said "SUPPORTED BY THE ELIZA FAMILY."
"That explains it," he muttered as he completed the objective, beginning to hear a slight hum, "Hey, Twister, I thought you said it was just coffee."
"Nope…"
Jeremy fled before anything more happened. As he exited, though, he paused to examine the trees around them, but he saw nothing beyond the still woods. Two trees seemed to have rather strange trunks, gnarled like dessicated corpses & compressed to the bone, & a pair of branches hung from the sides, swaying in the wind & flanking them.

As he examined the thin, bone-like roots & ends of the branches, he found that it resembled a body, but it was too dark to try to look farther up, even when he stood only a few feet from the trunks. As the background hum grew louder, he noticed that the branches seemed to have begun closing in on him, but he thought little of it. Perhaps they were always like that. Well, no use holding up General & Pigment, he thought as he moved away from the trees & back to the car, only to stop in front of the women's restroom, feeling a foreboding presence within. The hum, he realized, was coming from inside. "Hey, uh, Delphinius? You… you hear that?"
"Y-yes! Jeremy, help!" she hissed out, & as Jeremy took his step inside, he noticed a hunched-over figure in brown, furry robes, its body dripping wet, & he intuited that it was probably the qalupalik from earlier. Without a moment's thought, he reached down & threw a stone at its back, then sidestepped behind the wall as it fled the area, its head hidden away in its robes. "Hmph, bloody coward," he said to himself, "Geez, you good in there, Delphinius?"

"Y-yeah, thanks," the stall door opened, & she waved her head around, letting her clumped hair flop around, "What was that?"
"Pretty sure it's what Twister saw earlier. Qalupalik," when she got near, the two of them began walking back to the car, but he noticed that the two trees that he noticed earlier seemed to have shifted a few spaces right. Chalking it up to nothing much, he began a brisk walk back to the car with Delphinius. "This place is giving me the creeps," she complained as she looked behind them, "Hopefully we'll get out of here soon… hey, you see those trees behind us?"
"Oh, those? Yeah, I did. Doesn't it remind you of, like, a body, or something?" her eyes widened at the epiphany, & she began a panicked sprint back to the car, "H-hey, wait up!" When he turned his head back, he noticed that the pair of trees had seemingly moved forward, but again he brushed it off as just some sort of hallucination, or perhaps he hadn't really been paying attention. Seconds later, the two of them slammed into the car as Jeremy tried to calm down his terrified friend, who was still hyperventilating from what he said. "It's going to be all right, it's going to be all right, just breathe in, breathe out," he said, holding her from behind, "W-we're just… tired! Like Jaundal pointed out. None of us have gotten even slightly close to a good night's sleep."

"Right… y-you're… I think you're right," she looked behind them, seeing only the empty, frozen road & Jaundal & Branch, "But you feel it too, right?"
"Feel what?" General asked as he looked around them, "Well, now that you mention it, the forest feels… off. Not alive." He took a step towards the restroom. "Like time has stopped," Pigment continued as he also began walking away, "It's quiet… too quiet."
"To be fair, it is winter," Branch pointed out, "Everything's probably asleep."
"There's no wind either," General said, licking his finger & holding it up in the air, "None at all."
Silence.
The two young men left.
"I-it still doesn't feel right…"Delphinius whined.
"Don't worry, don't worry.

Soon enough, everyone was back in the car. "Everyone here?" Twister asked as he turned towards them, nodding as a chorus of replies came back, "All right, let's get going." He jammed the key into the car & turned it, only to be met with silence. He tried again, & then again, his face knotting in a slight fear as the car remained quiet. "Ah, [DATA DELETED]. Jeremy, get the jump box out," he said as he exited the car, "Shoulda left it on…"
"Got it. Scuzi, Delphinius!" he said as he clambered over her, a bit confused as to why his brother didn't specify to just have Jaundal & Branch reach over to the trunk & grab it. Still, Jeremy walked to the trunk, figuring that the foreboding woods were beginning to take a toll on his brother's bravery, as it was beginning for the rest of them. As he opened it & extracted the box, he heard a hum, & looked back.

A shrill, radio-like voice began echoing through the area.
"AGE: EIGHTEEN. NAME: MARIAN "DELPHINIUS" CHOI." Her eyes lit up in terror, & she glanced back at the petrified Jeremy, who slammed the trunk down & began running to the front. "DESCRIPTION: SMALL WOMAN, WETTISH CYAN HAIR, SCHOOLGIRL OUTFIT, BLEU DE FRANCE WINDBREAKER. LAST SEEN: THE ONUMA CONCERT, AN HOUR AGO WITH HER FRIENDS."
"Wh-what the…!" she squealed in panic, & then hid herself, sliding over to the middle seat as the rest of her friends began looking around the area, seeing nothing except Jeremy & his brother trying to start the car, their terror causing their hands to fumble.
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Jaundal yelled as he tried to look into the dark woods, "Come out you [DATA DELETED]!"
"Get this [DATA DELETED] thing started!" Twister rammed the jumper cables onto the car battery, but his loose hand let it go just before it clamped all the way down, "Ah, Gods! Jeremy, cover me!" He thrust his hand into the maze of wires, trying to fish out the cable's end. His brother, though, was frozen in fear as he looked towards the rest area, where the pair of trees were now right in the middle of the concrete. "Those… those aren't trees!" he hissed out as the message continued to echo through the area.

"LAST SEEN," it gave their current area at the rest stop, & everyone had their eyes on the now-sobbing Delphinius, "REPORTED DEAD TW—" Before anyone could hear, she screeched.
"Delphinius, we-we'll be fine, please calm down!" Pigment unbuckled his seat belt & shuffled over to her.
"Jeremy, snap out of it," his brother ordered as the cable at last clamped onto the battery, "Now, dang it!" Jeremy slammed the button on, & the car roared back to life for a moment, & then quieted back down as the two disengaged the cables. The duo rushed back inside. Jeremy handed the battery back to Jaundal & Branch to put in the back, who by now were just as anxious as the others. "Come on, come on!" his brother said as the car began to sluggishly come back to life, "I just started you, what the—"
"What the [DATA DELETED] is that!" Pigment's normally eloquent voice shattered with stress as he pointed towards the rest area.

The pair of trees suddenly began rushing towards them as radio chatter began to reverberate forth from it. "LAST SEEN. LAST SEEN... REPORTED DEAD TWO MINUTES LATER. REPORTED DEAD TWO MINUTES LATER… VLADISLAV "BRANCH" LASLZO. JOHN "JAUNDAL" DEVERAUX."
"Those-those are our names!" Jaundal screamed as he watched the figure, "A-and… &—"
"I-it's s-saying we're g-going to… t-to..." Branch swallowed as he hid his face in his hands, "D-die?"
Just before it reached them, the car screeched away on the frozen road, & when the whole thing came into view, Jaundal snapped a picture of it & posted it. "Wh— hey, priorities, man!" Branch berated him.
"Sorry, sorry!" he said as everyone watched it almost keep pace with the car, its ridiculously long legs somehow keeping its emaciated body upright. The arms that Jeremy had thought were branches swung around in the wind in its swift gait, comedic if it wasn't for how it was pursuing them & had just given them an omen of their death. When he looked up, he found that he could just barely see the creature's head — a long, desiccated neck, where two loudspeakers were.

As the car swerved onto the bridge, it began twisting & turning, barely in his brother's control. Throwing out a barrage of expletives, he began a desperate fight for maneuverability on the frozen road. &, seconds later, Jeremy realized that on the opposite end, lights shone.
The lights were heading right towards them. "Twister, look out!" he screamed as a maniacal cackle came out from the creature behind them. He dared check his watch for the time.
One minute and fifty seconds had passed, & as he looked behind him, he noticed Jaundal & Branch hugging & sobbing together. It would've been both blackmail & adorable if it wasn't for the sudden impact moments later that threw them off of the bridge, followed by the creature behind them suddenly thrusting its hand through the car in midair, extracting Jaundal & Branch, who looked back at the others.
Their eyes were filled with terror.
One minute, fifty-five seconds. The car slammed into the shore, & then plunged into the freezing waters.

One minute, fifty-nine seconds. Jaundal & Branch disappeared above the bridge, but just before, Jeremy watched as — perhaps as one last prank — they gave one another their first & last kiss.
Two minutes. Their heads were suddenly spun around as the car slammed into the rocky shore on General's side, followed by the car rolling down into the frozen waters. "JAUNDAL: LAST SEEN," the monster above gave the name of the bridge, as though bragging about its most recent kills, "BRANCH: LAST SEEN..." As the car began to flutter so gently into the consuming waves, Jeremy felt as though time had frozen, & he looked around at the rest of his friends.
General lied ominously still, & Pigment had an enormous gash in his body. His brother seemed mostly fine, & Delphinius had a few moderate wounds, but otherwise, he thought, or maybe hoped, that they could make it.
Some sort of intuition told him otherwise, though, & as time resumed, the car began filling with the frigid water of the river below them. Immediately, the survivors' breaths were sucked away.

Jeremy, though, felt dead, & he regarded the rest with a strange, unfeeling eye. They gasped, & he breathed, & his horrified expression fell away into one devoid of emotion. Without a second thought, he shattered the window next to him with his fist, unbuckled his seat belt, & then removed Delphinius's.
He knew that he only had seconds to act, yet he felt nothing, even as he saw his brother's head sink beneath the icy waters. No saving him — he had been gasping for air moments prior, & would have made one last, instinctive inhalation.
One full of water. He'd drown before he knew it.
As he examined the car, he saw no floatation devices. "Swim," he ordered Delphinius, yet as they tried to clamber out of the car, it became obvious that she barely could, "Come on." Before they exited the car, he stepped behind her & approached the broken window.

Seconds before the car sunk away into the frigid waves, he leapt out of the window, covered her mouth to prevent her from inhaling water, & tipped his body flat so that Delphinius wouldn't land in the water. When he was back on the water's surface, he opened his hand & began swimming back to shore.
Then, he felt something begin to tug on her leg. Qalupalik.
"Let go," he growled at it, & immediately the cowardly creature fled. He continued his swim back to shore, whereupon he lay Delphinius flat. Yet as he stared at her still body, he could not help but feel an obsessive desire to stay & watch, stay & observe, stay & imbibe the suddenly strange sensations of emotion, of terror & of the frigid winter chill.
"J-Jeremy…"
In an instant, everything came crashing down on him, & his dead expression twisted into a scream of agony. "J-Jeremy! P-please… it's c-cold," she reached up & touched his cheek, "We-we can't stay here."

"A FUNERAL IS BEING HELD FOR JEREMY SENTINEL."
He looked up, & saw the loudspeaker-headed beast looking down at them.
"AS A RESULT OF ENTERING A SEMI-VEGETATIVE STATE FOLLOWING THE TRAGIC CAR ACCIDENT FEBRUARY 1, HE HAS BEEN DECLARED DEAD."
He looked towards Delphinius, his pleading eyes asking her if it was true, as though she might somehow know.
"WE MOURN THE LOSS OF WHAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS IN MODERN MUSIC HISTORY. FEBRUARY 8 IS THE DATE. MAY HE & HIS FRIENDS FIND PEACE."
His head fell into Delphinius's neck as church bells began echoing through the area, ominous & hollow, & entirely artificial, as though mourning a death that meant nothing. "Jeremy!" she yelled, "We-we have to get going!"

The creature stretched its arms out, yet when Jeremy noticed, he felt nothing yet again. Not a moment passed before he hoisted Delphinius up onto his shoulders & began a mad dash back to the rest area. His body felt numb all around, as though he did not even exist, & he did not even feel a twinge of fear. Rather, he was propelled sheerly by a sense of duty & a peculiar desire for empathy. Every action he made was instinct, even the sudden swerve right to avoid the third headlight creature that blitzed past them, right into a tree.
It seemed to be some sort of bull, but its skin was a constantly contorting fusion of faces, widening, breathing, talking, eating, & biting the nothingness that wreathed the beast, yet it was clear it was intended to gnaw away at whatever dared approach it. As he passed by it, Delphinius screamed in horror.
At last, they ran into the restrooms of the rest area, & as Jeremy stepped into the women's restroom, he collapsed onto the floor. "J-Jeremy… Jeremy, we made it…" Delphinius said, shivering.
They were interrupted by ambulance sirens.
"WE ARE HERE TO HELP."

"Oh, th-thank God!" she began walking out. As Jeremy's eyes began to close, the last thing he saw was a dessicated hand reaching towards Delphinius & snatching her away — it seemed her mind had been weakened by the cold, & so she never realized that they had never called an ambulance.
Then, Jeremy Blanked Out.

See I've been growing to expect these things from everybody else
I always get these kind of things from everybody else
Yeah, I could have taken all of this from anybody else, but you

The Assassin's Guild
I woke back up to Jeremy… crying? When I looked towards him, I realized why: his eyes had regained their color. He was back to his old self, if only for a moment, & crying for a life long lost. "J-Jeremy," I said as I crawled towards him, yet as I neared him, I turned my head towards D'aillisioux. His greyed, sullen eyes suddenly regained their color, & he regarded us with terror as he clutched his bear. "Did-did I do something wrong? Why are you crying, pl-please don't cry!" he wiped the cereal off of his face with his bear & rushed towards Jeremy, his blanket acting as a cocoon around him.
"No, no, it's-it's fine," the Domeses said, looking at the portrait in his hand. Out of instinct, he wiped away the thick layer of grey dust that had accumulated over it.

He smiled to himself as he wiped his eyes, & I went over to where he was. "Who… who are these people?" I asked him as D'aillisioux also bent in close; when I looked at the younger assassin, he hid his face away in the blanket, refusing to let any part of him be seen. Not that I wanted to. I had seen enough the last Heritage Festival.
"They're… they're my friends," Jeremy smiled, & it was like looking at a different man, "Before the accident."
"Y-you're…!" I began.
"So this is what it feels like," he murmured out as he clutched the portrait to his chest, "It's been… it's been so long." He pulled it away & began identifying them for us. "Th-that's me & my brother in the front. The guy on my side is Pigment, & the one on my brother's is… is General," his smile grew a bit more forlorn, yet I could tell he was determined to keep it up, "The girl's Del-Delphinius… & those two are Jaundal & B-Branch… G-God!"

His face contorted as he began to sob in remembrance of them, & he hugged the portrait close to him. As I reached my arm out towards him, he batted it away. "I'll… I"ll be fine. You-you just got-gotta take c-care of him!" he told me. I turned towards D'aillisioux.
"What… what was all that about, anyway?" I asked, only for him to flinch & jump back onto his bed, letting his bear drop beside him, "H-hey!"
"I-I'm sorry," he stammered out, looking away from me, "But… I can't-I can't tell you!"
"Why's that? Did..." I paused, unable to believe the possibility.
"N-no, I… I just thought I saw something, th-that's all!" at that, Jeremy's eyes lit up, & as he wiped his tears away, he took a step towards D'aillisioux, still crying a little.

"That's not true," he proclaimed as he dashed forward & tried to grab his shoulder, but the boy dodged his hand.
"Please… please don't touch me!" he slid backwards onto his bed, only to fall onto it. As he lied there, he looked back at us in fear. I tried to give him a reassuring nod, but was only met with continued terror. "Please, I don't need you here," he pleaded, his weakened voice barely a whisper & his face hidden away in his bangs, "He—"
"Who's he?" Jeremy interrupted. D'aillisioux's eyes widened in shock.
"N-no! No! I-I didn't mean… I didn't—" I looked back at him with a stern gaze, but he remained firm, "There-there's no-one, okay? I just… I just panicked a little bit!"
Jeremy looked back at me, "I don't think he's budging… I guess we best— what are you doing?" I picked up the bear, & looked at the head at its bed. Then, I turned the body towards D'aillisioux, gesturing towards it.

He knew what I meant.
"I— noone did—!" he began, yet a fearful hand gestured towards his neck, & as he pulled away the blanket, I saw it. I could tell that something was barring him from help, yet I could not believe who the perpetrator could be.
I threw the bear towards him, taking a deep breath. I glanced one last time to Jeremy for reassurance, only for Hazel to walk in. "D'aillisioux!" she yelled in joy as she ran forward & glomped him, slamming him against the wall & briefly stunning him, "I'm sorry I left you alone! Di—" She suddenly stopped speaking, as though what she would've said next was to be kept a secret.
"It's… it's fine," the blanket fell away as she hugged him, yet his eyes were focused on the bear in front of him rather than his beloved at his side.

I had never before seen him so vulnerable, & I grew enraged that anyone had ever hurt a precious child like him. Or, rather, all of his would-be time as a child had been immolated for lives of debauchery & of sin, & he had been thrust into a horrible world without a minute to enjoy himself. I couldn't help but wonder if he ever did have a moment to himself, a moment where neither the ghosts of his past were reaching forward & trying to drag him back to the depths of his prior abyss nor where paranoia of the future was daring to taunt him with falsehoods & say that he will be cast aside someday again. In his eyes, I always saw him suffering from his memory & from his imagination, & I couldn't understand how or why he ended up in such a wretched state, trapped in a rack of time that stretched him so far apart.

After a few moments of silence, I gestured to the bear.
"Sh-show me…" I breathed in, & I could tell that Jeremy was anxious for the result too.
"Show me where he hurt you. Every last bit. You don't deserve this."
Minutes passed. We realized that he didn't even know that he had been injured. It was, to him, entirely normal, entirely expected, & entirely justified.
We had no proof of anything.

So, on that universal day
When we all get to feel the same
I’ll be a million miles away;
And now I’m free

The lights are on, the story's done;
It ends the same for everyone

Goodbye

The five in that room wished only that they hadn't lost so much time.



Caracasus

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:I am not hopeful about Biden, to be honest, and disappointed that he managed to collect a sweeping 6.3 million dollars in donations on his first day of candidacy. I just don't get why it looks like we should be electing old white men for presidents. Fine and some old white women. The candidates whom we hear about the most often are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, etc. I want to see some diversity.

I think Buttigieg would be an interesting candidate, though I have doubts about how many Americans will feel comfortable voting for a self-identified gay Christian. o.O

I am a bit wary of promoting or supporting any candidate solely on the fact they are a member of any minority representation group. I think that it's a vaguely useful barometer of how inclusive a group is but beyond that I would far rather a candidate that has a track record of good, inclusive policies gets in than someone who is from a minority representation group but has policies that are pretty uninspired.

There's a risk I think of unconsciously pushing a narrative that suggests someone who is not part of one particular group cannot possibly support someone who is a member of another group. EDIT, not accusing you of this obviously, but I've certainly see others unconsciously supporting this rather odd take.

My main problem with Buttigieg and many other dem candidates is that they seem to have precious few concrete policy ideas aside from 'I am not Trump.' There's a saying about not fighting the last war you fought. It is particularly strange then to fight the last campaign you fought and lost.

The new bluestocking homeland, Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, Ruinenlust, and 10 othersLord Dominator, Dwardossa, Turbeaux, Canaltia, Dekks, Rivienland, Cat-herders united, Utopia novas, Peigan, and Kinectia



Peigan

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:I am not hopeful about Biden, to be honest, and disappointed that he managed to collect a sweeping 6.3 million dollars in donations on his first day of candidacy. I just don't get why it looks like we should be electing old white men for presidents. Fine and some old white women. The candidates whom we hear about the most often are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, etc. I want to see some diversity.

I think Buttigieg would be an interesting candidate, though I have doubts about how many Americans will feel comfortable voting for a self-identified gay Christian. o.O

While I understand the sentiment I believe people should be elected on their merit and experience, not their identity. I certainly wouldn’t have any issue with voting for a gay man, but Buttigieg is too inexperienced for the presidency and is just another unknown Democrat running on the fact they aren’t Trump. Where as Warren and Bernie have decades of experience. And in the case of Bernie, he’s been consistently pursuing a progressive platform since the 80s, showing he isn’t like Clinton who would flip to whatever position was popular at the moment.

via Democratic Socialist Assembly

The Dead Meme of Dekks

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:I am not hopeful about Biden, to be honest, and disappointed that he managed to collect a sweeping 6.3 million dollars in donations on his first day of candidacy. I just don't get why it looks like we should be electing old white men for presidents. Fine and some old white women. The candidates whom we hear about the most often are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, etc. I want to see some diversity.

I think Buttigieg would be an interesting candidate, though I have doubts about how many Americans will feel comfortable voting for a self-identified gay Christian. o.O

Hi, a member of the Democratic Socialist Assembly here. My personal stance is that regardless of your race, gender, sexual orientation, religions, etc. everyone is equal and deserves respect and to life their life based upon their merits without discrimination. Which is why identity wouldn't be a factor in my pick for any political candidate, what I would factor in is what they have done and would do for the good of their country, equality, human rights, and the environment. That's why I personally support Bernie Sanders even though he happens to be an old white man, he has still faught for the environment, equality, human rights, and has stood steadfast against discrimination. Elect politicians based upon their merits and record, not their identity.

The new bluestocking homeland, Caracasus, Frieden-und Freudenland, Ruinenlust, and 7 othersLord Dominator, Uan aa Boa, Turbeaux, Canaltia, Novian Republics, Peigan, and Kinectia

Caracasus

I would state though that FuF definately has a point regarding who the political machine throws up to vote for. Whether intentional or not, it is very much skewed towards rich white men.

The new bluestocking homeland, Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, Ruinenlust, and 7 othersLord Dominator, Uan aa Boa, Turbeaux, Canaltia, Dekks, Rivienland, and Peigan

via Democratic Socialist Assembly

The Dead Meme of Dekks

Caracasus wrote:I would state though that FuF definately has a point regarding who the political machine throws up to vote for. Whether intentional or not, it is very much skewed towards rich white men.

The political machine and media certainly do have their biases, in general and for the gop it's ofcousre rich white men, but for the democratic establishment it's just a bias towards the rich in my opinion. They don't like Bernie, atleast not as much as the other candidates, alot of mayor Pete's support can be attributed to the media fawning all over him.

Caracasus, Frieden-und Freudenland, Ruinenlust, Lord Dominator, and 4 othersTurbeaux, Canaltia, Rivienland, and Peigan

Cameroi

Caracasus wrote:I would state though that FuF definately has a point regarding who the political machine throws up to vote for. Whether intentional or not, it is very much skewed towards rich white men.

i think that's a matter of momentum and inertia, but it is, or has been, unfortunately true.

part of what may be a new dynamic though, is that demographics are shifting.
european ancestry is no longer a clear majority of american voters, and it will continue to become a smaller slice.

(and of course this is what has 'conservative' panties in a wegie)
there's an entirely different kind of REAL conservative though.
the indigenous voice is perhaps becoming no longer quite so small a minority, nor too tiny to be heard.

the empowerment of women is not entirely an illusion, and it is congress, not the president who make the laws.

The Rewilding of Ruinenlust

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:I am not hopeful about Biden, to be honest, and disappointed that he managed to collect a sweeping 6.3 million dollars in donations on his first day of candidacy. I just don't get why it looks like we should be electing old white men for presidents. Fine and some old white women. The candidates whom we hear about the most often are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, etc. I want to see some diversity...

(all emphasis added)

Before I put my two cents in on that specific position, let me say that this type of thing is one of a few areas where I have serious misgivings about common threads of liberal or progressive thinking. While my opinion is apt to be dismissed out of hand by those who are either not men or not white or both, I would also say that I reject that line of reasoning as well, since it assumes that an individual cannot have an "authentic" or "valid" opinion about some issue for which they are looking from the outside (e.g. a white guy talking about issues affecting women of color, for example--but interestingly not vice versa, as everyone is allowed to talk about white men, which is one undeniable breakdown in the logic, whether people like it or not). If we do not allow for someone to have an objective, worthwhile opinion simply because they are in the "problem" group, then how is that different than saying that women, minority groups, groups with physical or psychological struggles, gender issues, etc, etc, are somehow "less than," to use the current turn of phrase, the traditionally dominant groups?

In other words, I want to open by saying that despite the fact that I am a 100% white, 100% male, to the best of my knowledge, I am also a human being, and therefore I have the right to an opinion. And if I don't "get" to have an opinion about gender or racial issues, then what gives any other group on this Earth the right, other than by societal fiat, the very same thing that once benefitted white men to the horrendous detriment of other groups throughout many centuries? In other words, if we're all going to be equal, then we really and truly have to be equal, even in terms of how seriously we consider each other's bona fide positions, the key qualifier being bona fide. Arguing from a position of hatred, suspicion, disdain, fear, or otherwise is its own fallacy, the Appeal to Emotion, and often cascades into other fallacies, usually Straw Man, ad Hominem, and especially Equivocation.

I'm always sort of curious what the intention is behind comments like these, since I just don't follow how this sort of thing is any different, ultimately, than a form of discriminatory thought itself, or at least a misguided attempt to rectify past injustices.

I'm open to being convinced otherwise on this, if someone can explain it without falling into some sort of contradictory or fallacious argument, but it seems to me that:

0th. If our starting premise is that every individual person, regardless of race, sex, age, gender, religion, ethnicity, physical health, mental health, appearance, intelligence, etc, etc, etc, is equal in value and worth simply and precisely because they all fully belong to the community of currently living homo sapiens, i.e. each person is a human being, and that itself confers and entails equality of rights, and furthermore that:

0.5th. If, furthermore, the only justification that disqualifies an individual from full or even partial enjoyment of those humans rights is their own choices and actions that are wrong, NEVER some categorical label that is beyond one's control, such as those mentioned above, then:

It follows that:

1st. We cannot discount, devalue, or otherwise penalize or disenfranchise an individual based on the effectively bogus or meaningless criteria of those innate categorical attributes to which we give labels. So no race-based slavery. No gender pay gaps. No bans on gay marriage. No religious discrimination. No locking up of psychologically or physiologically unwell people. No arbitrary penalties for other unchosen circumstances (e.g. the abandonment of twin newborns and/or punishment of the mother, as in some tribal societies).

1.5th. We can say, based on our starting premises 0 and 0.5, that any actions, systems of law or belief, societal norms, etc, that violate them, such as in 1, are wrong, and unacceptable.

2nd. Death, notably, is NOT one of those categories. That is to say that the living are in fact more valuable and of a "superior rank," at least for the purposes of our moral system of equality, than the dead are. After all, whether the dead persist in some form is a matter for the dead themselves and also for the living as a matter of personal belief and thought. Therefore, our system must prioritize the currently existing and living human persons, since all of the other ones, whether having died yesterday or during the Ice Age, are gone.

2.1 It follows that not only are the classical injustices leftover or continued from historical eras wrong, but also that retaliatory, compensatory, or retributive measures that push back against entires groups or categorical labels for the supposed benefit of other groups or categorical labels is also wrong, since it rests on the very fallacy that justice, morality, ethics, etc, can be adjudicated on the basis of these categorical labels, which we are defining as being—in and of themselves—“[disqualifiers.”

2.2 Therefore, it follows that however well-intentioned it may be, it is ultimately just another—if much less serious and softer—permutation of the same old prejudices and all of the bad “-isms” to have the position that white men “shouldn’t” do or be some entirely legitimate thing in and of itself (e.g. the president, a board member, a wealthy person, a mechanic, a father, a professor, a ballet dancer, a model, a speaker for human rights, etc, etc.) based on the very fact that they are both white and male. Whether anybody likes it or not, there is simply no justification for this if we have accepted our 0th and 0.5th premises as true.

2.3 In other words, if I “don’t get to” do or be something that is in itself legitimate and good because of some circumstantial reality in the past, some currently existing prejudice or double standard, or anything else, other than some bad or wrong action or choice made of my own free will, simply because I’m a white man, then neither is there any justification to give other individual or group any rights or inherent value. Either it’s all of us, or it’s none of us. Either we can all be president, or nobody should be and presidents are in and of themselves an invalid construct, or morally wrong, etc.

2.4 To rephrase the thing as a question, precisely why “should” we not let white men do or be things? Because in the past and continuing into the present, they were the only ones who could do so? If we’re starting with the idea that everyone is an individual, who is entitled on that basis of being a human person, to the same equal rights as everybody else, then erecting a new structure or system by which white men “shouldn’t be… / be doing…” anything at all that is otherwise open to people is wrong. It’s just putting the shoe on the other foot, if only in a small and fractional way. Nevertheless, it rests on the wrongheaded premise that justice can meted out, not for everyone as a collection of equal individuals with the only proscriptions being wrongful actions and choices, but instead by dealing in terms of, yet again, these fundamentally and inherently bogus or valueless categorical labels.

So now “white men” are supposed to shut up and go plant potatoes or play MarioKart because “they were bad” in the past, and now “to make up for it” (i.e. because it must be a zero-sum game of tit-for-tat, we cannot actually all move forward together or win together, no), we must have all of the non-whites and/or non-males doing everything, always, all the time, otherwise it’s a sign of societal retrograde motion and stagnation, and of how ever more aggressive, retributive measures are required.

Note on “Diversity” By definition, if we’re speaking of diversity insofar as the human race is concerned, that does, in fact, fractionally include white men to the extent that they exist, unless they are not to be included as human. How is it otherwise? And if we’re still arguing, in good faith, from our 0th and 0.5th premises, then we can say that any group of multiple human individuals who have not discounted themselves on account of their wrong or malā fidē actions and choices is, in some sense, diverse.

In common parlance, however, “diversity” has become something of an inverse dog whistle to mean, in effect, “everyone except for white, straight men,” with the almost always unspoken, yet often loudly and clearly heard, and sometimes not even intended, addition of “because you’re bad” and/or “you’re time is over,” and/or “you (group) had your (group) shot for hundreds of years, so you (individual) should just shut up and go away now because “the future is ____ [insert literally anything other than “white” and/or “male”].”

Now, if you are not a white male, or are and haven’t though about it before, how do you imagine that sounds to the average, regular white male, just sort of going through their unremarkable life, as we all do? A common, perhaps understandable response is something like, “wait a minute. I, me, ___, was born in 19xx/20xx, and I haven’t ever knowingly done/said [example of classical injustice], so why am I, personally, being discounted or written off simply because I happen to have been born white and male?” Why, indeed?

Diversity is indeed an inherent good, an inherent benefit, to any community of living things or any ecosystem, whether physical or social. But it must actually be diversity, and not some politically-motivated or politically-distorted interpretation of “diversity.”

3rd. Either the categories are bogus, and they are universally meaningless, or they are real, and we are doomed to forever have hierarchies and categories and labels. Either we are all free, unique, infinitely and equally valuable individuals, until and unless we choose to act or to be otherwise, or else we will always be nothing other than our our categories. Either I’m Ruinenlust and you’re FuF and you’re Uan and you’re Ransium, and you’re ___, or I’m just a “white/gay/scrawny/20-something/man”, and you’re just a “black/straight/tall/60-something/woman,” and you’re just a “crippled old fat guy,” and you’re just an “ugly stupid so-and-so,” and we’re all JUST the worst of our (group label) stereotypes on the worst of our (individual) days.

TL;DR: So, I’m going to do the “individuals-are-unique-and-equal” thing, whether it’s realistic or not, and I’m also to gently and yet relentlessly insist that everyone treat me as such in return, since that’s what I’m trying to do with everybody else. The whitest, straightest, most masculine guy in the world can also be just as human and kind and empathetic and objectively positive as anyone else can, believe it or not. But only if we’re all going to be unique and equal individuals.

Please don’t take this any of this as a personal rebuke or anything. I value you and your presence here tremendously, and I imagine that if we in real life together at work or something, I’d naturally want to friends. This is one of the few areas where I think there is a genuine bad nugget in the otherwise decent corpus of liberal and progressive beliefs. I moreover think that this is, largely, done in a genuine spirit of recognition that despite all this time and how far we’ve come, there are still vastly more of “the classical prejudices,” as I’ve termed them, in our world and even in parts of Western society than there is of any sort of “reverse” discrimination. However, I do also think such efforts are ultimately founded on the very prejudicial and categorical thinking that discounts individuals for the sake of some kind of official, categorical redressing of wrongs or compensatory approach or even of retribution, in some cases. Moreover, I also readily and easily recognize that, even in the 21st century of the Western World, there are easily more of the classical injustices than whatever there may be of “reverse discrimination,” although while the former is gradually coming down off a centuries-long high, there is simultaneously a small, but growing tide of the latter, which threatens to foreclose on the degree of real, meaningful, enduring progress or leap forward as a society that we may otherwise achieve.

Like I said, I’m entirely open to reconsidering these things, provided that we can actually get there logically, in truth, and in good faith. As always, I welcome feedback. I’m always trying to sharpen and strengthen my ideas, hopefully without totally torpedoing the RMB, lol. :-)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, by the way.

Kawastyselir, Caracasus, Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, and 5 othersLord Dominator, Turbeaux, Canaltia, Altmer dominion, and Rivienland

The Kingdom of The Niben

o/

Lord Dominator, Dwardossa, Turbeaux, and Canaltia

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