Hi friends!

Cas gave me an idea the other day in General Discussion, and I thought it might be an interesting group activity. I was part of a forum, Zeldafront, for about 12 years, and during that time we often did retrospectives around the turn of a new year. I don't really remember if we did a big decade one for 2010, but it's possible. Anyway, I thought we might be able to talk about some of our experiences for the previous year, 2019, and some of the things we're looking forward to in the new year without falling into shallow resolutions.

2019 was a very strange year for me. I've never felt closer to anyone than I do Luca, and I think our relationship has only grown significantly stronger over the past year. In 2018, we were stressed because we were in a new place and working opposite shifts at a bad place. Mines was awful, maybe one of the worst places I could ever imagine working, and entirely because of office politics. And it was in December of 2018 that I got a job at Starbucks (well, Target Starbucks) after years of trying to work for the organisation again, and was able to start moulding my hours to fit us together a bit better. Getting to wake up later, cuddle for a while, and eat breakfast together was incredibly helpful to us both, and I think it made us happier than we were previously.

I love being a barista. I've even written a blog post about it on Pillowfort. In fact, I'd say that article needs refreshing, since it was written about a year ago. Nevertheless, my love for the craft is at the same level as it was then. But it's a bit more nuanced now; I've had a lot of bad experiences with management while we were in Denver. Both of my managers were misogynistic and highly prejudiced against their LGBT employees. As I fall into both of those targets, it's a wonder that I was able to progress as far as I did, ending up in supervisory positions in both locations. While I had a couple coworkers at Target who I couldn't stand (see other PF posts), I dearly loved working with everyone at my actual Starbucks. It ended up falling on me to protect my queer and/or femme-identifying employees from the management, and that was stressful.

Gender has been weird (when hasn't it been for me, tbh). Before 2019, I'd identified as somewhere between non-binary and femme on the spectrum, but January of last year brought a hard shift to enby for me. I felt uncomfortable with the feminine aspects of my appearance and went hard toward androgyny. And it was great! I felt so freed by shorter hair and a more punk-rock jacket and a wardrobe of skinny jeans and polos, lol. My identity switched back to feminine in the summer, buuuuut here we are again another winter shift for for Emily's "world's slowest genderfluid pendulum" machine.

CalRef has been a bit all over the board as well. We had our best month in years when we first started putting a hyper-focus on the forums, but a lot of that initial shine has died away. I'm afraid that we have a lot of community members who just aren't interested in following us to the forums, and that's something that saddens me. I love most of the community, and I want us to all talk and be friends and have conversations. Forums were the only window I had to a better world when I was stuck on a farm in the middle of the most conservative, awful place I've ever lived. The communities I interacted with were my only friends for... ever, and I want to provide that to younger people who might need it. I want to be part of that, a group that genuinely loves one another and wants to be around one another.

I love you guys, and I want you to feel happy and safe being here with me.

2020 is a year with a lot of opportunities opening up. I start school on Monday (!!), my first time attending uni with no distractions since 2008, when I was a stupid 18-year-old with no ability to self-motivate and no money to actually justify being there. I tried for a while in 2014, but I was working two jobs at the same time so it was a no-go. This time, we have some money and we're going to be able to relax while going, so I can focus everything on just doing well. It's also the first time I'm going to school for something I like instead of something I think I have to do for it to be worth the trouble.

We're also in a new country! And we just got a new apartment in this new country! My goodness that's a huge change! Things seem much more relaxed here and, outside of the downtown area we've been staying in while searching for an apartment, it seems nicer. Also there are trees and moisture in the air and I don't feel like I'm going to have random nosebleeds constantly.

I'd like to get back into writing once I have a new computer. And maybe working on other things... I don't know what I'd like to do yet, but it feels like this is a new chapter of our lives (new country, new decade) and that seems as good a time as any to work. And I want to make CalRef everything it should be! I'm seriously going to keep putting a lot of effort into this place, so that you can all feel like you're at home here and feel motivated to chat and spend time with us

PREAMBLE. This document presents guidelines and goals for Refugia and its Regional Councillors.

In continuity with Refugia’s ambition of maintaining an efficient and active government presence, the Refugia Revised Statutes shall be incremented such that:

1. Abiding existing election procedural guidelines, RRS 9 and 10 shall be changed to RRS 10 and 11.

The Refugia Revised Statutes shall be amended as to create:

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2. RRS 9. At any time, a Member State can charge a Regional Councillor of neglect in their duties or mismanagement of their position. Their charge will be submitted in writing to the Arch-Administrator only after a second member state has seconded the motion. This charge must contain:

• A list of grievances against the accused.
• Argument as to why these grievances should result in the removal of the accused prior to the next election.

If all requirements laid out in RRS 4(c), 9, 9(a), and 9(b) are met, the Arch-Administrator will call for a vote of “No Confidence” among the member states. If this vote passes by a simple majority, a new election will be called for that Council seat within the following five days. The previous seat holder can run again granted they qualify under circumstances detailed in RRS 8a.

Authored by Sylh Alanor



Previous Version(s):

Hi friends! I thought it might be a fun way to connect to one another if we had a thread where we could share our dispatches and factbooks.

I can get started with my historical factbook entry on the rise of the only true Elvehn immortal, Silvehn. That story is documented here.

Also shameless plug we have the eco report for this month.

Hey everyone, I noticed we were lacking a general discussion thread in this area!

Hi everyone, sorry for spamming out the links, but I thought the forums could do with a little more fullness at the moment.

Here's my Pillowfort account. I've been toying around with blogging on it, and I plan to do a lot of long-form writing on various things there. I will try to share them here as well, so I'm sorry if you see the same thing multiple times. I want to approach a lot of common topics from a different angle- empathy. I think a major problem in the world right now is a lack of empathy, and while I'm not the person who's going to fix it, maybe I can help.

Anyway, I put it here instead of writing because I think I might eventually be sharing some things on the Pillowfort that aren't just writing. But it's what I'm most comfortable with so, for now, it's what I've got to offer.

Síne had always been afraid of Kingfisher Forest, because she couldn't explain it.

She could explain most things, because even if she didn't know how they worked, there was a clear logic to them. She might not understand exactly what caused the sun to move through the sky, but it did so at approximately the same time every day and followed a pattern of birth, death, and rebirth every year. The seasons lasted approximately the same length every year, and followed the same pattern as the sun, with a time of sewing, growing, reaping, and death. The cycles were so predictable that the farmers of Ceadaichte Mòir anticipated them every year and could accurately plan their yields around them.

But Kingfisher Forest didn't make sense. Trees only grew in the forest; according to the traders that came by the town twice a year, there was a dead zone for approximately 100 kilometres from the edge of the forest before trees started growing again. And even those trees were very different, small and dull of colour compared to the massive red-brown of the trees in the forest. Whatever trees were felled by axe or storm regrew in a matter of months, as tall and as vibrant as they were before. The forest was unfathomably large, extending further north and south than anyone had ever gone, and deeper west than anyone had ever been able to venture. It was an infinite expanse that happened to end right at this spot, where Ceadaichte Mòir had been founded. There were other villages, though Síne had not seen them, to the north and south along the tree wall, but none within an easy travelling distance. She would often hear animals playing or calling for mates within the trees, and the children of the town often ventured out and played among them. The forest itself showed no malevolence or intention to harm. And that's why it was scary.

It was the 8th of Sun's Rebirth, only a few days away from the beginning of the sewing season. Síne was at a desk in her home, reading scraps of paper by candlelight. She was trusted with the responsibility of teaching the town children letters and numbers, and was only able to get them to gather during the winter at the main community building, in a room near the mayor. She was also responsible for rationing out what paper and candles the community would afford to her for this task. Her last candle of the year burned with a matter of centimetres left to go, lighting the last few shreds of paper that had been left. The remaining paper was wrapped in twine in various piles around her floor. She would exchange it with the traders when they finally arrived, and they would return in the fall with it having been reformed once again blank. All of the empty ink pots had been rinsed and sat atop the various bound piles of paper, as glass was always a valuable commodity with the tradesmen. That being said, they were a few days later than expected this year, and if they took much longer she would have to start reading next to the fireplace.

The wind outside rattled her door, causing the woman to start. With a hand placed against her rapidly-beating heart, she turned to look at it, waiting. One, two, three, four... the room remained silent save the friendly crackling of the fireplace and the occasional muted pop of a candle wick near its end. If it was any quieter Síne was sure she would be able to hear her heart beating raucously against her chest. Once she was sure it wasn't an intruder, the woman sighed, blew out the candle and stood up to stretch; it had been a long day of reading; the children this year seemed more generally interested in the old stories, and were writing a lot of their own. Hence the shortage of paper. Still, it brought a lot of joy to her heart to see the spark of curiosity in one of her classes, and she would try to get more paper from the traders in the fall. Some of the children had already started borrowing out books from her, which hadn't happened before, and two of them had stayed behind the last few days to ask about one of the legends she had recited, a story about a clever princess who had evaded capture by running into the Kingfisher Forest, which had recognised her virtuous heart and protected her from her pursuers.

They had asked how the forest protected her. She wasn't sure of that; the story that had been passed down to her wasn't as concerned with the details as the inquiring minds of babes. One boy, a brash little one who was often playing pretend swords with his friends just inside the forest, theorised the forest had cut the pursuers down to size with whips of vine and spears of branch. The other boy, a shy child who had lived with and helped his grandparents after the pox had taken his father, theorised the forest made the princess disappear, and those that chased after her gave up after not finding her for a time. The fact that both of these assumptions could very well be the truth was what frightened Síne. But then again, most things surrounding the Kingfisher Forest did.

She stepped to the door and grabbed the handle of the metal bolt, rotating it up and pulling it to the side, then down again so that it caught in the unlocked position. She then pushed down a latch that allowed her door to swing outward and open, letting in the night air. It was somewhat cold outside, though it was much warmer than it had been even a few weeks prior, and was warmer still during the day. Still, she was small in frame and stature, lacking any heft that might block the chill of her environment. The ground was no longer stiff with frost, and the grass along the ground had started coming back to life. She stepped outside and stifled a yawn, then looked to the forest. The Kingfisher Forest didn't change during the winter either; its leaves were still as full, its wood still as vibrant. Though the trees felled by axe or storm dried and became quality firewood, what was still connected to the ground never changed. A wind rustled through the tree tops, causing the branches and leaves to stir and rattle quietly, as the air moved toward her house. It rustled her shoulder-length brown hair, causing it to tangle even worse than it had been before. But even then, the forest did not seem intimidating. Not of its own merit.