Error 420
One Thousand Club
I have a lot of posts on RPNation. Stretches back 3 or 4 years. A lot of memories. The past two years or so, I've almost exclusively been a lurker -- I fell off of RPing at some point, and it just didn't appeal to me -- just posting occasionally on a poetry thread because I've never had the drive to move it elsewhere yet crave the minute public attention it brings. I don't have strong opinions on this website. I don't have any ties or issues with its community. I am detached to the point that I'll usually only visit the site by accident while clicking on another bookmark on my internet browser, leave a poem or two, and then check back in another month or so. Not much to me, or at least not much that I had thought.
Recently, there has been a change to the website. It seems to be mere visual changes to me, who is uninitiated in web design and web hosting. There is likely a myriad of quality-of-life improvements which may, unfortunately, go unnoticed and unthanked. The people who make this site run have undoubtedly invested a respectable amount of brainpower in making it run. I would not be able to post my meagre writings here if not for their continued effort.
However, one change has been noted -- at least, noted by me. Nobody else seems to be talking about it. There's been a thread of complaints levelled against some visual changes. I take no stance on any criticisms there: I don't care about the site's visual identity so long as the fonts and spacing of my posts have been preserved legibly. I use many terrible websites daily, and this is not one of them. None of the criticisms given strike at my issue, which has caused much suffering in my life. I fear this suffering may spiral out infinitely as an unceasing cosmos of grief. Nothing which has been added has struck this nerve, only that which has been lost.
It is with the utmost respect for the RPN community and the sanctity of truth itself that I speak here. I am compelled to speak here not by petty disagreement, not by greed, not by desire, but by that respect for my fellow persons who, even if they do not realize it, suffer just as I now do. This is owed to them.
Since the Winter season of 2019, there has been a blessing upon this forum in the form of the snowfall visual effect. This seasonal addition to the site has graced many of our eyes year upon year -- consensually, at the click of a button in the style preferences menu. Small white dots would move down the screen in a pattern reminiscent of snow. To those of you unaware of this feature, it may seem as though it is a mere novelty. It is no mere novelty.
The RPNation snow effect is, in absolute fact, the nearest human expression to divinity. It is not the extreme power of the gods of old. It is not the blinding light of the Abrahamic faiths. It is not some concoction of cognition and metacognition. It simply is. It is beauty for those whom it is beautiful. It is nature brought about by man's hand, the child Mankind reunited with Mother Nature as its child. I don't portend that those who do not understand can ever understand, just as one cannot share faith. The sublime is intangible, like pixels on a screen.
In a recent change to the site, the snow effect has been made no longer accessible or, perhaps, been removed. This is a mere inconvenience to some, yes, but to humankind, it is a violation of the most natural rights given. The removal of the snow effect is a violation of beauty itself. It is like going into a library not to destroy all the books but to pluck the eyes of every reader. Even by accident or oversight, such a crime is unforgivable.
The removal of the snow effect, with no exaggeration, ruined my life. I, a working professional, have been inconsolable. I have not slept, nor eaten, nor drunk since I have learned of this heinous crime. I am a broken shell of a man. My every thought has been towards the snow effect. I feel as though I am forfeit for being a witness to this crime. I have been a silent accomplice to tragedy. I will never forgive myself.
I have already liquidated all of my financial assets and transferred them to a charity of high standing. I did so without thinking. Perhaps it was a kindness to those I leave behind -- a tying-off of loose ends. Perhaps it was some pitiful attempt at atonement -- an atonement not for myself but for humankind whose folly has allowed this tragedy to come to pass.
Further, I have sent my wife and young child to live in another place -- a place I do not know the name, so I may not follow. They now live with no internet access, so they cannot be victims of this crime. They don't know why. I didn't have the courage to tell them, nor the desire to further perpetuate my grief. I know that my darling daughter could not live such a life, and I know that I would not want her to.
The site update took the snow effect from me. It took my family from me. It even took my mind from me. However, far worse, it has taken beauty from this world. It has taken away a glimpse of existence from existence itself -- blinded the observer to the observed -- and these crimes shall echo out in eternity. I ask not for its return for the revivification of the murdered does not undo the murder. In the perpetration of this crime, the crime has demonstrated the possibility of its existence. Hope has been extinguished. No matter how many times it is relit, it is temporary. The gods are mortal. The atom decays. Everything fades away like snowflakes in the rain.
Recently, there has been a change to the website. It seems to be mere visual changes to me, who is uninitiated in web design and web hosting. There is likely a myriad of quality-of-life improvements which may, unfortunately, go unnoticed and unthanked. The people who make this site run have undoubtedly invested a respectable amount of brainpower in making it run. I would not be able to post my meagre writings here if not for their continued effort.
However, one change has been noted -- at least, noted by me. Nobody else seems to be talking about it. There's been a thread of complaints levelled against some visual changes. I take no stance on any criticisms there: I don't care about the site's visual identity so long as the fonts and spacing of my posts have been preserved legibly. I use many terrible websites daily, and this is not one of them. None of the criticisms given strike at my issue, which has caused much suffering in my life. I fear this suffering may spiral out infinitely as an unceasing cosmos of grief. Nothing which has been added has struck this nerve, only that which has been lost.
It is with the utmost respect for the RPN community and the sanctity of truth itself that I speak here. I am compelled to speak here not by petty disagreement, not by greed, not by desire, but by that respect for my fellow persons who, even if they do not realize it, suffer just as I now do. This is owed to them.
Since the Winter season of 2019, there has been a blessing upon this forum in the form of the snowfall visual effect. This seasonal addition to the site has graced many of our eyes year upon year -- consensually, at the click of a button in the style preferences menu. Small white dots would move down the screen in a pattern reminiscent of snow. To those of you unaware of this feature, it may seem as though it is a mere novelty. It is no mere novelty.
The RPNation snow effect is, in absolute fact, the nearest human expression to divinity. It is not the extreme power of the gods of old. It is not the blinding light of the Abrahamic faiths. It is not some concoction of cognition and metacognition. It simply is. It is beauty for those whom it is beautiful. It is nature brought about by man's hand, the child Mankind reunited with Mother Nature as its child. I don't portend that those who do not understand can ever understand, just as one cannot share faith. The sublime is intangible, like pixels on a screen.
In a recent change to the site, the snow effect has been made no longer accessible or, perhaps, been removed. This is a mere inconvenience to some, yes, but to humankind, it is a violation of the most natural rights given. The removal of the snow effect is a violation of beauty itself. It is like going into a library not to destroy all the books but to pluck the eyes of every reader. Even by accident or oversight, such a crime is unforgivable.
The removal of the snow effect, with no exaggeration, ruined my life. I, a working professional, have been inconsolable. I have not slept, nor eaten, nor drunk since I have learned of this heinous crime. I am a broken shell of a man. My every thought has been towards the snow effect. I feel as though I am forfeit for being a witness to this crime. I have been a silent accomplice to tragedy. I will never forgive myself.
I have already liquidated all of my financial assets and transferred them to a charity of high standing. I did so without thinking. Perhaps it was a kindness to those I leave behind -- a tying-off of loose ends. Perhaps it was some pitiful attempt at atonement -- an atonement not for myself but for humankind whose folly has allowed this tragedy to come to pass.
Further, I have sent my wife and young child to live in another place -- a place I do not know the name, so I may not follow. They now live with no internet access, so they cannot be victims of this crime. They don't know why. I didn't have the courage to tell them, nor the desire to further perpetuate my grief. I know that my darling daughter could not live such a life, and I know that I would not want her to.
The site update took the snow effect from me. It took my family from me. It even took my mind from me. However, far worse, it has taken beauty from this world. It has taken away a glimpse of existence from existence itself -- blinded the observer to the observed -- and these crimes shall echo out in eternity. I ask not for its return for the revivification of the murdered does not undo the murder. In the perpetration of this crime, the crime has demonstrated the possibility of its existence. Hope has been extinguished. No matter how many times it is relit, it is temporary. The gods are mortal. The atom decays. Everything fades away like snowflakes in the rain.
Last edited:
