The General Assembly has been quiet, though not for a lack of trying. While the queue has had a consistent flow of proposals, the vast majority did not make it to quorum. The ones that did were not suitable for the health of international law either. It appears that while interest and energy exist, the bulk of proposals have been made by first-time authors. It is admirable and thrilling to see this event, although this sentiment is tempered by the relative lack of experience and meaningful content in these proposals. Many have not been drafted on the forum and lack an understanding of the General Assembly's scope and form – the ones that were put through international review on the forums were there only transiently. Where are the quality proposals, then, one might ask? They do surely exist, as any quick jaunt through the General Assembly chambers on the forum would show, but they are being carefully crafted over extensive periods of time. As a result, we predict that we may be entering a sort of boom-bust cycle, where the interplay between the timescales of quality proposals is far outpaced by their opposites.

I do note, however, that this is not something to be looked down upon. Rather, this is a problem we as the international community can solve together. Numerous large and effective regions, such as Starlight and Horizon, have incredibly effective World Assembly drafting programs. Indeed, the bulk of active legislation still remains starborn! In response to these events, the ministry has increased its outreach of the proposal scheme and created advertisements for budding GA authors to come to Starlight and Horizon and learn from some of the best.

The Security Council has continued its trend of relative calm, with two commends passing in the timeframe of the last WA Affairs Ministry analysis. Again, reflective of the dominant defender reign over the military gameplay sphere.

Overall, we are still optimistic for the coming months and term. The ministry has both domestic and interregional proposals planned, all of which will contribute to the institutional health of the World Assembly and further the National Sovereignist foundation of the new GA.

Despite the fact that nothing major happened in the form of defending, the Galactic Armada was able to find something else to do. This month, Operation Hawk Tuah occurred between the Galactic Armada of Starlight and the Frontierist Special Brigade of Talonia. An impressive 21 Armada members jumped to bash the region of Vristic on only two short hours of notice. Hawk tuah!

Finally, if you're interested in getting into defender gameplay and help protect innocents, join the Galactic Armada by filling out the application on our Discord! You must hold Stargazer status to join the Galactic Armada.

The League & Concord and Eladria Reunite:
The June constitutional crisis that shook The League & Concord (TL&C) has officially come to a close! On September 30th, Quebecshire announced The Semorie-Sequoyah Agreement, declaring that TL&C and Eladria would be reuniting under a common Governorship and shared foreign policy. The move comes following Entropan’s exile from Eladria, sparked by the grotesque act of harboring a disgraced player under a now-exposed alt alias.

During subsequent negotiations between TL&C and Eladria, it was revealed that former rogue TL&C Consul Entropan had designs for raising a military to seize Concord as a “trophy” after her exile. The two parties, recognizing how rogue elements had led Eladria astray, reconciled through adopting Eladria as an internally self-governing Commonwealth within the Republic that includes TL&C. Significantly, the move means that Eladria is now included in multilaterals such as the Sovereign Seven and Aegis, and is protected under TL&C’s bilateral treaties. Additionally, former Chief Consul Gagium has been granted a pardon linked to their assistance in exposing Entropan’s subversion, and a condemn thereof is in the works. Congrats to TL&C and Eladria on the exciting reunification!

Starlight and The Leftist Assembly Embassy:
Following increasingly closer cooperation over the past few months, Starlight and The Leftist Assembly (TLA) began constructing onsite embassies on September 29th. The move comes after the 72-hour deliberation period in TLA resulted in the embassy being approved, and a joint game night between the two partners was hosted on August 14th. In a statement on TLA’s regional message board, Minister of Foreign Affairs East Pazare stated, “We are looking forward to a long-term prosperous relationship between our regions!” – a sentiment that I share! We’re super eager to continue growing our relationship with TLA and doing fun things together - big things coming! :D

Witchcraft and Sorcery Ascends to TWP Delegate:
On August 23rd, Varanius announced that Witchcraft and Sorcery (W&S) would be succeeding him as the next Delegate of the West Pacific. Varanius has been known for years as a foreign affairs titan, successfully molding the world through endeavors like the creation of the Sovereign Seven, the sole dominant bloc in the General Assembly, and forming an ever-increasing web of relations between the powers of the world. W&S, a newer arrival to the West Pacific but not the game, was serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Varanius when this was announced.

The transition was successfully completed early on September 20th! According to an inaugural address published by W&S, near-future goals include setting up TWP’s cultural calendar and working on a couple major foreign affairs projects. Varanius will continue serving as TWP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs under W&S, and of course, we wish our friends the best of luck and lots of success under W&S! ^-^

NPO Continues Experiencing Government Dysfunction:
The Pacific, a backwater known for their all-around dysfunction and attempts at deceiving both friends and foes, continues to recede into irrelevance. This recent trend of unprecedented government failure includes appointing two separate Emperors/Empresses following Syberis’ tenure as Emperor coming to a close. The first ascended Emperor, SoL (Krzyzewskiville) began his tenure with a forumside statement claiming the NPO will not “shy away” from rebuilding trust.

Less than a month later, it seems like SoL shied away from being Emperor, being replaced with the ascension of Mouse (Neo Romana II) as Empress. No amount of pilers brought in from other games, it seems, has been able to stabilize the situation in The Pacific, or introduce a semblance of mature government and taking responsibility for past misdeeds and deception. We hope they’re getting used to their irrelevancy and endless pattern of failure – it’s the path they chose for themselves, after all.

Sloppers Downed in Vristic!
On September 20th, Starlight & Horizon and Talonia executed Operation Hawk Tuah, a raid on the region Vristic, in order to perform emergency cleanup of dismal levels of slop that had, unfortunately, been brought to the attention of the wider world. The problematic region’s officers had a string of past affiliations with fascist regions, and put their bigotry on full display after being raided. Unfortunately, while the slop was contained in Vristic, it resulted in several pages of forums posts being made in an ill-fated attempt to decry the operation that brought Starlight & Horizon and Talonia closer.

The Galactic Armada of Starlight, on an incredibly short notice, mustered 18 jumping participants in Operation Hawk Tuah – asserting that the Armada continues to be at the forefront of military gameplay in the world, alongside our friends and allies.

A Message from Celia, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lastly, I can’t hint at anything concrete, but I’d like to assure everybody that big things are definitely in the works - this term’s gonna be a blast in terms of developing our relationships, and spending time with our friends across the world! In the super near future, everybody’s encouraged to participate in our joint movie nights with The North Pacific – learn more about them here! Otherwise, expect some shakeups in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as we modernize our structure for this new era – and as we’re able to reveal everything that’s in the works!

I’m super happy at how far we’ve come, and I just know we’ll continue proving ourselves on the world stage as reliable allies. To our friends, Starlight & Horizon is really excited to work with you this term – we’ve already reached out to a lot of you, and expect more outreach as things get settled! And to our Starborn, stay tuned as opportunities pop up for you to be involved in forging our bright future! Thanks, everybody, and I’ll see you in next month’s Voice of the Stars!

My last report may have been the last of that term, but it's not my personal last by any means! I have another Halls report for you, and while it's still fairly quiet on the legislative front, there are some promising signs that this may be another great term.

Shortly after the beginning of the term, the Mandate of the Stars Act was presented to the Halls: a structural bill formally laying down the process of authority delegation in the Executive Government. Authored by Oseao, Stevist Guam (aka Kitteh), Imantica (aka Aoife), and myself, the bill saw relatively low voter numbers, potentially reflecting its technical nature, but still passed with a strong majority, 18 votes to 1.

I then submitted to the Halls my planned replacement to the Procedures of the Halls of Solaris, as promised. The bill remains in drafting, and will eventually cover a number of new topics including omnibus bills and delegated motioning, as well as tidying up the various inconsistencies as so many of my proposals seem to do.

We then saw a treaty come to the voting floor: the Movement of the Heavens, serving as a promise of mutual recognition, non-aggression and military cooperation between ourselves and the West Pacific. The treaty was successfully ratified 21 votes to 1, admittedly with a higher number of abstain votes than usual: 5, to be exact.

Another proposal by yours truly was then submitted into drafting: the Governmental Misrepresentation Act. This serves as an amendment to the Penal Code, adding new crimes that prohibit falsely representing the government or using its resources in inappropriate manners. It remains in drafting at the current time.

And finally, a few corrections were submitted for expedited approval as allowed by the Procedures. I say a few - it is the longest proposal in the Halls to date, coming in at a slightly ridiculous 27477 characters. No objections were raised, and therefore the proposal was approved automatically.

As you can hopefully see, we have various bills nearing completion, so I hope that I can bring you a new report next month with details of how they all got on!

Starlight bears an incredible number of surnames and monikers, many of them changing over time. On a base level, different people call the region ‘Starlight,’ ‘Horizon, ‘Starlight and Horizon,’ or ‘Starizon.’ Then there are names based on the size of its military, or its (characterized) placement on the raider-defender alignment scale. Even its members go by many names; indeed, perhaps there will be more to say about old names in a future edition of the Voice of the Stars!

Yet one of Starlight’s proudest, and truest, monikers is that of the ‘Honorary Sinker.’ What does it mean to be an ‘honorary sinker ’? The answer might be a deeper question: what is the Starlight and Horizon dream?

To investigate, this editorial can answer an easier, but no less fascinating, question: why is Starlight called the Honorary Sinker? In NationStates, regional communities are characterized partially by the global perception they hold in the region. These characterizations can be positive or negative. For example, ‘Raider’ regions––regions that exist exclusively to go on ‘raids,’ or griefing missions, are generally viewed negatively, as they tend to offer little reasonability and a lot of potential grief. ‘Independent’ and ‘Defender’ regions generally hold more credibility, since they can be reasoned with, but even here, there are large variances: the region in question must exercise fair and good faith behavior to others, and take care of its internal affairs with dignity, if it is to hold a positive reputation.

Starlight and Horizon is one such region that holds very positive characterizations. It is the largest defending force in the game, meaning that it contributes heavily towards protecting regions from raiders, and it joins others in the international community for global improvement in various arenas as the World Assembly.

However, many of the region’s most storied members are redeemed nations from previous regions that have gone more astray. Some of its first members were former raiders starting anew, while other historic members came from raided targets. Many of its most active soldiers were unwilling participants in a region now tarnished. Its most visible ministers, GAS Officers, councilors––even its current Aetherion––lead here prominently, but their former places have since gone into negative directions, consumed by the greed and avarice that they’ve left behind. Of course, we do not accept those who have perpetuated out-of-character harm (anything that harms not just someone playing NationStates, but the person behind the screen), but within the confines of the game, this region is a place where those who always wanted to do good in NationStates, but never had the chance to due to the first recruitment telegram they clicked on, or the region they were spawned in, can do follow their true nature. In short, these demographics are why Starlight and Horizon have the moniker the ‘Honorary Sinker.’

Here, it’s important to re-examine the core paradox here: although Starlight and Horizon is home to many who escaped injustice, the region itself acts as an accepted force of good. In other words, and despite the electoral nature of Starlight and Horizon, the community has broken the cycle perpetuated by these reviled regions. It’s an ‘Honorary Sinker’ not mechanically, in the sense that a sinker region takes nations that are ejected from another region, but functionally -- an accepted sinker region acts as a place where community members can unlearn their past, wisen up, and contribute better and more meaningfully back into wider NationStates.

Then, being an ‘Honorary Sinker’ is something that both the region and the honorary sinkerite must work on. On the part of the region, it's up to Starlight and Horizon to be empathetic and offer plenty of good-faith chances to ‘chill,’ collaborate, and lead, from the deputy level to perhaps the highest office in the land. On the part of the ‘sinkerite,’ there’s a second imperative to prove oneself a good-hearted citizen: to keep an open mind, follow the rules, contribute, and dedicate oneself wholly not just to the nostalgia of a flawed era, but the dream of a kinder future, exemplified by Starlight and Horizon itself. There’s a whole dedication involved in the pursuit of the Starlight Dream.

So, that’s the story of our moniker as the ‘Honorary Sinker ’: an ever-evolving one. Whether Starlight and Horizon is a kind place to retire, roleplay, and relax for a tired soul or a second shot at making it big through involvement and leadership, the community and members alike have roles and duties that make the region a ‘sinker,’ if not mechanically, very much functionally. Our region is one that has a diverse group of active players from all over the world––and a region that attracts those who, in areas that have starless nights, still want to bring light.

The following is an interview with Cuchimilco (also known as Gong) about their Dawnbreak nation. Voice of the Stars is committed to publishing a variety of pieces in our publication, to include those focusing on roleplay. If you have an interest in having your nation featured in an interview, reach out to Deputy Minister of Media Freemer for more information!

Freemer: Hi Gong! To start off, I’d like to know some general info about your nation, like name, location on Dawnbreak, nation’s capital, geography, etc.

Cuchimilco: The name of my nation is the Empire of Cuchimilco! I am located on the western coast of Dextera, just to the west of Anderlion. Mochica is the capital, and has usually been the capital historically, as well across Dynasties. It is the largest city in Cuchimilco and lies almost in the exact center of the homeland. Cuchimilco is particularly mountainous, but it does have some areas of hills and plains. It is quite dry compared to its neighbors.

Freemer: Perfect! Now I’d like to know more specifics. Could you explain what your species is?

Cuchimilco: Cuchimilcos are constructs, specifically small rock golems. They do not have organs, a need to breathe, or a need to sleep, as they are not natural beings. They were originally created by the Mountain God Hayalai, who formed many mountain ranges on the early land of Dawnbreak, to protect his many treasure hordes across the land. Also, name Empire of Cuchimilco is actually an exonym. Most Cuchimilcos simply refer to their own country as The Empire, and to themselves as Cuchimilcos.

Freemer: An empire, huh? How does your government work?

Cuchimilco: The government system of Cuchimilco is an absolute Imperial Monarchy. Dynasties form when a powerful warlord conquers the other Cuchimilcan states, entering them into what is referred to as an Imperial Period by the Cuchimilcos themselves.

Freemer: What about your social hierarchy? And is there some kind of magic system?

Cuchimilco: Well, on their own, Cuchimilcos cannot use any magic at all, even enchanted items (with the exception of Panyuchanite treasures, but those are for another time!). But, they are able to use magic if they encrust a gem into their foreheads. Each different gem gives the Cuchimilco wearing it a different power. Some powers are also "greater" than others, at least in the eyes of the Cuchimilco's values of bravery and glory in conquest. This creates a caste system in which rarer and more powerful gems are out of reach by the lower castes, and the higher ones wield increasingly incredible power.

Freemer: Now onto characters! Who would you argue is your most powerful?

Cuchimilco: Hmmm... I would say Panyuchan is! Panyuchan the Conquerer is a Cuchimilco in the far, far past who is directly responsible for the death of Hayalai and the formation of the First Cuchimilcan Dynasty. Before becoming the leader of the country, Panyuchan was a low-ranking Agate. Legend says that he found his anomalous gem (meaning a gem outside of the Cuchimilcan caste system, either because it doesn't naturally exist in Cuchimilco or is so rare no one remembers what it does) when a small meteor landed near his village. Curious, he decided to replace his agate with the meteorite, and it gave him the power to conjure up enchanted items from imagination. It was not an easy power to use, however. It oftentimes went wrong. His trials and errors of testing the limits of his ability to make magic items are where the Panyuchanite Treasures originate from. With his ability, Panyuchan was able to create a sword that could cut through Hayalai's impenetrable scales, and also fashion an army fit to overthrow him.

Freemer: “Do you have any favorite characters!

Cuchimilco: So far, my favorite characters are Nankaya and Anilon! [They are citizens involved in “The Rock and a Garden,” a RP with Freemer] Them and their banter just feels so Cuchimilcan in nature, and unlike most Cuchimilcos, these two come across as

Freemer: Cuchimilco has certainly made its mark on the world! What are some important interactions you’ve had with other Dawnbreak nations?

Cuchimilco: I have interacted with many! For my three longest RPs, I have Iken in Imantica, which is an RP with Aoife in which I had a Cuchimilco named Iken try and fight the Bakunawa, end up almost dying, and being saved by a Roca and brought to Imantica. Over the course of his stay there, Iken became more and more fond of Imantica until he decided to go rogue and stay there permanently, cutting ties from the Empire of Cuchimilco. Now, he fights the neighboring naiton of Ghermeza on the side of Imantica to protect what he now considers his home.

My second RP is the one with Elarithil! Its tradition at this point for new nations to visit Silvarin, and Cuchimilco is no stranger! While they didn't send an official delegation (actually they haven't sent an official delegation to anywhere yet, its all been independent actors so far) a Cuchimilcan ship did get lost and find its way to Silvarin! There, Shama and his crew of Cuchimilcos decided to explore the city and Shama was then subsequently wrapped up in a different plot which has not ended yet!

My third largest is my RP with Mole, in which Anderlion initially sent a letter to all nations of Dextera inviting them to join the Dexteran League for the purposes of creating lasting peace on the continent. Cuchimilco rejected this invitation, and the letter they sent had an ominous tone. Julius, the bastard brother of the Prince of Anderlion, took this opportunity to pose as his brother and write a vitriolic message back to Emperor Cuyu of Cuchimilco. After a few back and forths, Cuchimilco and Anderlion have now found themselves in a war that's ongoing.

Freemer: Wow, where hasn’t Cuchimilco gone?

Cuchimilco: I have not really interacted with the nations above Elarithil or the ones in Sewaura yet! Nations outside of the center ocean I have also not interacted with very much.

Freemer: What do you think Cuchimilco has to offer to Dawnbreak in terms of trade?

Cuchmilco: Cuchimilco is a difficult nation to trade with because of their staunch position on many things. But if they were to, they do have a surplus of grain which they could trade away. The reason they grow grain at all is not to eat it (they couldn't even if they wanted to) but to feed it to their livestock (primarily sheep and Alpaca whose wool they use to spin yarn and make textile works). Speaking of, Cuchimilco could also in theory export textiles. And also various earth metals such as gold, silver, and copper. They have very little use for these metals outside of ceremonial situations since Cuchimilco does not have a currency system.

Freemer: You really have such a creative, detailed nation. How did you come up with the idea? Did any OOC media inspire you?

Cuchimilco: The main things that inspired Cuchimilco was the IRL Incan Empire, Steven Universe, and the caste systems which existed in almost every pre-modern society. Minorly, Cuchimilco does also take some reference from ancient China and the Aztecs, but not much.

Freemer: Are there any plans for your nation in the future?

Cuchimilco: Yes, there is! I have some big plans for Cuchimilco in the far future that I would like to do! And that I hope I can get many people to participate in! I'm also excited for what comes after that, as I don't even know for sure what will happen! It will depend on the other RPers.

Freemer: Thank you so much for being interviewed. I just have one more thing to ask: what’s your favorite thing about Dawnbreak?

Cuchimilco: My favorite thing about Dawnbreak is the community! It sounds like a cheesey or cop-out answer, but when you've been in as many RPs as I have over the years, you really do start to cherish the amazing gems of communities that you come across!

We rarely recognize the significance of a moment while we are living it. A brief conversation or a simple act of kindness may feel like any other ordinary event. Yet what if such moments influenced our lives in ways we could never anticipate? What if a sentence spoken without much thought turned into a source of comfort - or self-hatred, for that matter - for another person years later? What if a decision we barely remember became the beginning of a journey that, otherwise, never had come to be?

These questions evolve around a phenomenon known as the "butterfly effect" - the belief that small changes could contribute to vastly different outcomes. It raises a question that reaches beyond science: if we cannot foresee the consequences of our actions, how much responsibility do we truly carry for the world we live in? Maybe, just maybe, the most meaningful moments of our lives are not always the ones we remember the clearest.

Our lives consist of interconnected events, decisions, and relationships. A seemingly minor occurrence can influence another event, which influences yet another, creating a chain of consequences that may extend far beyond our awareness.

I have experienced this first hand. It was merely a simple question that I had decided to ask. "Are you alright?" And not only did it contribute to a life being saved, but also, an unbreakable friendship forged, one that lasts until today. A very common trope is how a homeless person suddenly receiving 20 dollars finds an opportunity to turn their life around, and eventually does. The possibilities are endless.

Not every small action will produce an extraordinary outcome. Humans are still humans, after all, and the butterfly effect should not be treated as a universal explanation for everything that happens. And yet, the metaphor draws attention to a genuine feature of existence: we often participate in causal chains whose full extent we cannot see.

Now, to a more difficult question. If our actions can contribute to consequences we cannot predict, should we be held responsible for those consequences?

Let's be more precise about this... imagine two people. The first one acts carelessly, ignoring a foreseeable risk, and causes harm to someone else. The second one makes a reasonable decision with good intentions, yet an unforeseen series of events that come of it eventually produces a result of comparable severity. Should both individuals bear the same degree of responsibility, now?

Intention matters, but there is more to an action than mere intention. The risks a person could reasonably have recognized, the care they exercised, and the nature of their decision all influence how we judge what they have done. If we held individuals responsible for every consequence of their actions, moral responsibility could become limitless. A person could spend their entire life feeling guilty for outcomes that no reasonable person could have anticipated. The sheer thought causes with any standard of human reality.

However, if we disregarded consequences entirely, we might use uncertainty as an excuse for carelessness. The fact that we cannot predict everything does not mean we should stop considering what our actions might cause.

I personally believe that responsibility exists somewhere between these extremes. We should take reasonable care with the consequences we can foresee, while recognizing that we cannot be accountable for every possibility the future contains.

We need to learn how to live with uncertainty, otherwise our response might be to become excessively and needlessly cautious. We could imagine every possible negative outcome and hesitat,e to act, fearing that even the smallest decision might lead to disaster. Obviously such an approach would creative negative consequences on its own. Refusing to speak, help, or take a meaningful risk could very well negatively affect others' lives as well.

Others may start believing that, if they cannot control the future, their choices might not matter at all. However, while we may not know precisely what our actions will produce, we can - and should - still reflect on our intentions, examine foreseeable risks, and consider the people who may be affected.

There is a certain humility in recognizing the limits of our influence. We are neither omnipotent, nor are we powerless. Our choices matter, but they matter within a world shaped by countless other people, circumstances, and events. And I believe this perspective feels both sobering and liberating. A meaningful life cannot be built upon complete control.

What do we gain from this?

The butterfly effect reminds us that our lives are connected in ways we cannot fully comprehend. It suggests that ordinary moments deserve attention, not because each one is guaranteed to transform the world, but because we cannot always know what influence they may have.

We should not allow this awareness to become an unbearable burden. We cannot carry responsibility for every possible outcome and we certainly cannot attempt to predict every aspect of our future.

Then, what can we do?

Approach our decisions with care. Acknowledge the limits of our understanding. Perhaps, remain open to the likelihood that even small actions might make a difference. Fortunately enough, kindness does not come with a cost.

So, I play video games. Unfortunately, I don't finish many of them. But this month's game doesn't need to be finished... sort of? Well, it's a sports title, so finishing the game is more like just finishing a match.

Backyard Baseball is a title all about traditional bat-and-ball play. Get your team made and start playing, that's what the developers give you. You're able to make a team from a group of neighborhood kids, some among them able to play like pros!

Team Lizardbrain had to set this one up in a unique way. They said they had some kind of machine, something about the word SCUMM. I don't know why they would call a machine that, but it managed to work okay.

The game offers pick-up matches, where you can select a fresh team and play, or league tournaments, which have you coach a team through to the championship. Both play identically when on the diamond, but the league tournament offers more structure outside of it. Team Lizardbrain recommended turning on the "pitch locator" function to help guide hitting, as without it you are left to make more hitting mistakes.

The game's visuals are very classic indeed. The simpler art style allows for some fun expression, and pop-up graphics appear for certain events in gameplay, including a floating blimp when you hit a home run. As for sound, the game has music in downtime, while the children taunt each other as each one goes up to bat.

The gameplay itself is just classic baseball action! Of course, you can get some pretty fun special moves while pitching, anything from a ball that freezes in mid-air to making your ball into a ripping fireball! Batting can be challenging, but it feels very rewarding when you get a solid hit that turns into movement on base.

Backyard Baseball is very easy to pick up and play, and not at all hard to have fun with. I hear they got real pros for later games, somehow...

Overall rating: 8.4/10 worms

And it's time for my third song review!

In November 2015, a bus crash that killed both drivers and left all five members of The Ghost Inside with severe injuries happened. Bassist Jim Riley, however, has stated that roughly 90% of the music and most of the lyrics were already written before the accident.

Now, the song has two meanings simultaneously. Before 2015, it was about unspecified personal struggle: frustration, stagnation, failure, self-doubt, and eventually overcoming whatever was holding the speaker back. Following the incident, the same words became almost literally autobiographical. The situation gave the song a real-world event that could embody the meaning it already had.

The opening kicks off with a great line: "Running around in circles and I'm heading nowhere fast". This is a very different emotional starting point from the triumphant ending - frontman Jonathan Vigil admits being stuck. There is movement, but no progress. This becomes especially powerful after the accident, because the band went from being a touring band with a career trajectory to being physically incapable of doing what they had spent their lives doing.

At the end of the first verse, Vigil asks himself: "Sohow many times must I beat my head against awall beforeIfinally break through?" At surface level, there is frustration, even helplessness. However, he asks WHEN he will break through, not if. There is underlying determination, which fits the general theme of The Ghost Inside's lyrical philosophy of taking issues head one rather than allowing them to determine their identity. And after the accident, that metaphor became almost painfully literal: rehabilitation involved repeatedly forcing damaged bodies to do things they could no longer do naturally.

The chorus starts off with a question that could easily be considered the emotional heart of "Aftermath": "Can I be myself ever again?" This question is not about survival, but identity - a common issue caused by severe trauma. The accident enhances this question, as it was particularly relevant, seeing as how their identity was so intertwined with being a touring band. If, as a musician, you can't: perform, tour, or even just walk normally and travel, then who are you?

Following this line, Jonathan continues singing: "The sights and sounds, the rise and the fall; it all played out with my life on pause". There is a huge contradiction here: the world continues, life goes on, but he is no longer participating in either of them. Everything is happening around him while his own existence feels suspended. Again, following the accident, this line becomes almost literal, as the band members had to undergo years of rehab.

This is not the end, however, as Jonathan follows up with defiance: "This is where it ends! I will not stay silent ever again". There is no question, there is only a statement. What is about to end? Silence. Imprisonment in passivity. The declaration is further enhanced by the pre-breakdown: "I don't have it in me to sing of defeat;
triumph over tragedy". And there is subtlety in these words. Jonathan does not deny there WAS defeat, because there absolutely was. There was defeat, tragedy, pain. He does, however, refuse to let that story dictate how the rest of his life will play out.

Even more determination is found in the breakdown, as the vocalist continues singing: "For all the demons that follow me around, it's time I put you six feet deep underground". These demons, of course, are trauma, fear, anger, guilt, self-doubt, among others. He does, however, call them out to be following him rather than being inside him. Jonathan refuses to allow his past following him around - the demons must die.

It is time for the bridge, which may very well pose the most complicated part of the song: "Foundations that could never break - was moving forward a mistake? Or is that me pretending? What happened to my happy ending?" In these lines, there is vulnerability, doubt, intrusive thoughts. Even though Jonathan vowed to move forward, he is conflicted about what happened, and heartbroken about his destiny.

What follows is what I believe to be the rawest, most powerful metalcore scream I have ever heard. It is full of pain, anger, and determination, and perfectly gaps the distance to the remainders of the bridge, which reveal the singer's personal development.

"Today I woke up to a brand new me" indicates that Jonathan is indeed no longer who he used to be, but he has moved on from desperately trying to recover his old self. This is further confirmed by the next line "I know I can't rewrite history, as well as the line ending the bridge: "Yesterday is gone, and I'm ready for what tomorrow brings".

"Aftermath" normally means the consequences of a major event. The title is fitting, for the event itself is over, and the aftermath is what comes afterward. It's all about what happens after the crash. And that distinction mirrors the band's own stated intention. Jim Riley specifically described the song as being about their journey, growth, and who they became rather than simply retelling the accident.

The story being told here boils down to: "Something destroyed the future we thought we were going to have. We spent years wondering whether we could become ourselves again. Eventually, we realized that the goal wasn't to recover our old selves, but to accept the people we'd become and keep moving."

You don't get to choose what happens to you. You don't necessarily get the happy ending you imagined. You can't rewrite yesterday. But you can decide whether yesterday is going to determine tomorrow.

Contributor

Role

Contribution

Aav

Minister of Media

Formatting, editing

Freemer

Deputy Minister of Media

Dawnbreak interview

Imantica

Writer

Song review

Alainian Federation

Writer

Foreign Affairs update

Idinist

Flamewarden

Halls update

New Ryansville

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Armada update

Stevist Guam

Aetherion

Editorial

Untecna

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Game review

Ubertas

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World Assembly update

Morvainne

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Editorial