Update for Everyone VII: Insert Something Philosophical Sounding Here

[We Live in Black and White]

So I may be moving to New Mexico in the actually-pretty-near future. Trading Liz Cheney for Xochitl Torres-Small? Sign me up.

[We Live in Black and White]

So I was just locked out of the forum for a month and a half on account of a glitch. I'm not actually angry or frustrated with anyone, just really, really confused.

But I'm back!

[We Live in Black and White]

I love you all.

I love you all too.

Ahem. In all seriousness, and putting aside all my issues with certain posters and aggravation with the culture of s**tposting that sprung up over the last year, I'm glad to be opening the New Year with all of you. This month marks the official tenth year I've been here, and I'm never going to stop being glad that I asked the mods to give me a proper chance, nor grateful that they actually did (thanks in no small part to YE and Virginia).

Cheers, nerds. Here's to more New Years.

[We Live in Black and White]

So, just a few things.

The Good News: Social Security is going to be paying me more on account of rent and no longer having a job starting in a couple of months, meaning I can contribute more to my household. I'm writing a whole-ass novel with what I hope is a winning concept (socially-critical science fiction war trilogy with an LGBT+ flavor in later books), and the ideal is to actually make money on it. I might also be moving soon, which is bad news in terms of my scenery but good news for my bank account and personal morale.

The Bad News: Oh sweet Jesus my stomach hates me.

[We Live in Black and White]

So, just a few things.

The Good News: Social Security is going to be paying me more on account of rent and no longer having a job starting in a couple of months, meaning I can contribute more to my household. I'm writing a whole-ass novel with what I hope is a winning concept (socially-critical science fiction war trilogy with an LGBT+ flavor in later books), and the ideal is to actually make money on it. I might also be moving soon, which is bad news in terms of my scenery but good news for my bank account and personal morale.

The Bad News: Oh sweet Jesus my stomach hates me.

So you’re rewriting the Red Rising trilogy?

Actually yes, after a fashion. The story does actually center around an intergalactic revolution, specifically against an antagonistic federation based on a hybrid of the British Empire and the United States circa George Bush.

[We Live in Black and White]

Realized the hard way that I'm bisexual because I have fallen completely head over heels in love with a male friend of mine.

One problem though. He's gay. So rip me.

First of all, welcome to the Bittalion. Second of all, you're definitely bi because "I love them BUT THEY'RE NOT A COMPATIBLE ORIENTATION" is the most bisexual experience there is.

S**t sucks.

[We Live in Black and White]

Social Security decided to be nice to me and give me a rent bonus to my monthly payments, meaning I can finally contribute a decent chunk to my family's household expenses. Christ, what a relief. I've spent the last two years since I lost my job feeling like a high-functioning leech with a face.

Also, @Scott and Sanchez: Jesus, you two, take care of yourselves. I'm not a religious man by any means, but you have all of my best wishes and I'm certain those of everyone here. The forum would be a darker place, and worse off, missing either one of you.

[We Live in Black and White]

After a brief period of immense disappointment, I am over the results tonight and intend to spend the rest of my time this primary season working on my novel and accepting the inevitability of four more years of Agent Orange. Less stress that way.

[We Live in Black and White]

After a brief period of immense disappointment, I am over the results tonight and intend to spend the rest of my time this primary season working on my novel and accepting the inevitability of four more years of Agent Orange. Less stress that way.

Will you at least vote for Biden in the general?

Nope. Won't make any difference given my state, so I might as well vote my conscience, and my conscience tells me that a 78 year old geezer who can't string a sentence together in a debate is not the future of America.

Atlas needs more published authors! Best of luck with the writing process. Lately I can't stick to anything I write at all for longer than a few days.

Thanks, my guy! I totally get that, though my issue is motivating myself to actually start. I have no problem doing collaborative writing, since there's an immediate pressure in that case, but solo writing is the bane of my nonexistent attention span. This is what I want to do with my life, though, what with how my disability effects my ability to work in public, so I'm working on it steadily.

[We Live in Black and White]

Wow that's a brain fart

Trust me, it happens. Having said that, I'm absolutely willing to share my thoughts on Hickenlooper, and my voting philosophy in general this year: I'm either going third party or write-in at the presidential level, but I'm more likely than not still going to vote blue all downballot, especially for my local State Leg. Rock Springs still has a well of Democrats in it and I intend to help capitalize on it.

Now, even though it's the wrong square state, my thoughts on Hickenlooper are this: I wish we'd found someone more progressive and, way more crucially, younger, but it's still going to be satisfying to watch him bat Gardner into the planet's orbit. As far as embarrassing that SOB goes, we could've found no better candidate.

After a brief period of immense disappointment, I am over the results tonight and intend to spend the rest of my time this primary season working on my novel and accepting the inevitability of four more years of Agent Orange. Less stress that way.

What's your novel about? That is, if you're comfortable telling.

Oh, I'm f**king jazzed to share, believe me. It's called Only Darkness, and it's a sci-fi war novel and political critique. By that, I mean that the main antagonistic force is an authoritarian federation based heavily on the British Empire and Bush-era America, especially in the foreign policy department. The message I'm hoping to go for is that a righteous person's duty is to question unrighteous authority, and that love and loyalty to family should always trump loyalty to country especially when the country in question has degraded rapidly into a dictatorship.

So basically a dramatization of world events transplanted into a spacefaring setting. Also, have I mentioned my opposition to neoconservatism today?

[We Live in Black and White]

Oh, I'm f**king jazzed to share, believe me. It's called Only Darkness, and it's a sci-fi war novel and political critique. By that, I mean that the main antagonistic force is an authoritarian federation based heavily on the British Empire and Bush-era America, especially in the foreign policy department. The message I'm hoping to go for is that a righteous person's duty is to question unrighteous authority, and that love and loyalty to family should always trump loyalty to country especially when the country in question has degraded rapidly into a dictatorship.

So basically a dramatization of world events transplanted into a spacefaring setting. Also, have I mentioned my opposition to neoconservatism today?

So do the villains justify their deeds using the same philosophy as Bush did? "You're with us or against us," "We'll be greeted as liberators," "We're the world's police," and all the moral superiority that comes with that? That sounds interesting. Villainous sci-fi dictatorships all too often play off of Rome or Nazi Germany, so it's good to hear a different take on that. Anyway, best of luck. I've always thought that sci-fi was the best venue for political/philosophical commentary, even if the genre doesn't always live up to its potential.

Absolutely all of the above. I feel like the Nazis, Soviets, and Romans are way too easy as targets and that there are much more appropriate contemporary inspirations from which to draw. So in my case, I want to make the philosophy espoused by my villains less "genocidal goose-stepping mass murder" and more "mass murder as committed by patriots loyal to their nation who legitimately think they're doing their righteous duty as citizens".

In any case, I agree. I love high fantasy and all, but genres like steampunk and sci-fi hit way closer to home in setting and can, thus, be more easily related.

[We Live in Black and White]

Officially making plans to go back to counseling. It's not that I'm in an especially bad place right now, but I desperately need help motivating myself to do more than just sit around, write, and watch elections. It's very difficult for me to work, but that doesn't mean I have to act like a sentient potato with a face.

[We Live in Black and White]

I've finally started writing again after a months-long dry spell. Kiss my ass, writer's block.

[We Live in Black and White]

I'm going through a particularly rough period in my life (on which I won't elaborate), and given how primaries turned out, I don't feel Atlas is the best place for me right now. I'll be popping in from time to time, though. Have fun, everybody

Be well, Kal. Stay safe and look after yourself.

[We Live in Black and White]

Dad's out of the hospital. If one person in that whole freaking building has it then I'm pretty sure my whole family has to go in quarantine.

Glad he's out and doing alright, but Jesus, that second part just about sums up the madness of this entire season.

[We Live in Black and White]

Just lost two friends over, of all the stupid things, D&D. Because apparently some people are incapable of acting like adults and others are incapable of critical thinking skills.

[We Live in Black and White]

So that sure was a long stretch of being muted.

So basically my mental health from February through July was a great big smoking crater. I'm not going to use that as an excuse for being, as it were, indiscreet with my commentary on here, but it was basically the sole reason. I was in a long-term entanglement with a """friend""" of mine who s**t on me at every turn, never took responsibility for their actions, and badmouthed literally everyone I've ever cared about - to me, behind their backs - that quite literally sapped my will to live, and it manifested in less than stellar ways in my political life. I make no apologies for being outspoken and I would happily disintegrate into nothingness before making excuses for or giving concessions to the Right, but I do apologize to the forum for causing enough problems to get myself into trouble with the law again.

On the flipside, if anyone's interested, I've started going back to counseling, I'm now 28, and I'm still writing with regularity. Oh, and I have a girlfriend. Trust me, I'm as f**king amazed as all of you are.

[We Live in Black and White]

Three relationships in and I finally know how it feels to be actually, fully in love.

Not gonna question my terrible taste in partners up until now. I'm just going to savor it.