Awesome! (And thanks.)

In that case, lemme float one item of confusion for me:

Can you define what is meant by 'combat' in terms of both the metaphor (what we're doing to each other in the game canon) — and the mechanic? (What we're doing to each other with our plays, I guess.) Not that you haven't answered this question before, but in my brain thus far, where I want to find [an understanding of what we're talking about when we talk about 'combat' vis-a-vis this game], I mostly find [a hazy sense of something happens which involves motivations and strategies that the players will probably understand at the time].

That kind of thing.

(Something else that might help me is just to read a generic good strategy for playing the game. What to 'do.')

I cannot afford to fly to the UK and spend a week making dick jokes in a hospital room right now.

I just... cannot afford it. In terms of money or time.

But, dude — seriously — I'd be there in a heartbeat if I could. I'd literally book a flight and literally book a hotel and literally spend a week hanging out and making dick jokes in that room, and it's driving me insane that I can't.

My heart goes out to you. I'm sorry you're going through this. Lemme know if there's anything I (or we) can do.

REGAN.

HOLY GOD.

I'm so sorry about the pain. I hate uncontrollable pain.

I can't imagine how much this has sucked.

I would be interested to read your The Rules, whenupon they are correlated.

Being forced into some major operation by one's own body is the kind of nightmare I have yet to encounter.

(Winter is coming, I know.)

At least you got to hit the snooze button for a minute, I guess? Bought a bit of time for mental preparation.

...

Eh. No. It just sucks.

In any case, it does sound like you've got your head screwed-on straight about it, so that's something good.

(I'm gonna reply either way, but to be clear: do you mean, essentially,

...or do you mean somethin' else?)

As for "tolerance of intolerance," I — for myself — generally find that to be a fairly easy question to answer.

Measure by the violence of the outcome.

Whom do you tolerate? Anybody who's intended outcomes can be stopped (if necessary) without violence. Some positions inherently increase the amount of exclusionary violence in the world — ahem: in the philosophical 'all-politics-is-violence' sense, that is — and some positions increase the amount of inclusionary consensus-attempt. Forget 'tolerance vs. intolerance,' and just seek positions which prevent violence — systemically — as best you can. If you only do half-well at this attempt, you're still way above the worrisome threshold... because it means that you care about allowing your ideas to be refuted without becoming violent in response.

PS #1: I'm not sure if this was too simplified. It was either gonna be this — one short paragraph — or one of my ginormous treatises that nobody enjoys reading. I'm happy to throw out a longer version if anybody's interested.

PS #2: Also, remember the etymology of "violent" — something 'violent' violates somebody's earnestly-willed outcome. Ultimately, to have violence enacted upon you is to be shut down, not injured. It's the ultimate violation of will. With that definition in mind, again: seek positions which prevent violence, systemically, as best you can.

In other words: Intolerability arises from the expected requirement of violence in the outcome of your position.

tl;dr:

If, after having adopted your position, society could not "stop engaging in it" without fundamentally rejecting its implicit terms of authority — i.e.: if your thing implicitly includes entitlement to violate — your thing sucked.

This shit is just such a slog, y'know?

"Okay campers, rise and shine! And don't forget your fortitude because it's devastating out there today! (It's devastating out there every day — what is this, some Chekov shit? Not hardly!) So, really: Do you think any of our leaders are going to see themselves in the mirror today? Ha! That's right, doldrum-lovers — it's Tues-day!"

Well, anyway.

Just to begin somewhere, here are my concerns:

[placeholder for future mod-stuff-as-necessary, if necessary]

FAXED

1) Thanks for the update.

2) Dude, this sucks. Particularly the 'rock-and-a-hard-place' stuff with the ileostomy. What a nightmare.

3) Had you had issues like this in the past? (In other words, did you have any idea about this being an issue?)

4) I'm so sorry to hear about all this.

5) Thanks for the update.

6) Cat.