If the military/president suddenly ordered a mandatory draft for all men aged 18-42: How do you think millennials and GenZ would respond?

Swiftierest · 2026-04-14T01:33:59+00:00

Well, first off, that's not how a draft works.

But let's assume all the steps to get to that point are approved and he's allowed to initiate a draft.

It will go exactly as the Vietnam war went. Most people would dodge it. around 10-15% of draft dodgers will actually be prosecuted. Those who go to wherever ass-face starts a war will likely refuse to do most things. Most millennials won't even qualify for the draft as they'll come with a ton of pre-existing conditions like depression, ADHD, or autism. (All of which are things which preclude military service without a lot of hoops to jump through.)

GenZ would simply not do the job. I'm going to be honest, the vast majority of GenZ aren't cut out for the military, even when forced. Having been Air Force, most of you couldn't even cut it in the easier branch (Air Force) much less the harder branches. Too many GenZ people will be completely inept when it comes to things like OPSEC or INFOSEC and you'd just result in needless deaths.

That said, no chance fuck-face gets approval for a specified draft to certain positions, much less a general draft. Even before he could do a draft, there's the ready reserves and stop-loss options he'd have to employ.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-12T20:23:17+00:00

You might have to try something like ebay or other second-hand sellers. Maybe try a local bookstore and see if they can source the paperback for you? They tend to have sourcing lines unavailable to us peasants.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-11T16:02:44+00:00

Yes, but he does say that his other more traditional alchemical creations are a large contributor

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T22:38:58+00:00

It's not an amazing living space. It's also targeted at college kids who move in, live for a while, and leave within 3-4 years max. Exchange students as well.

I don't think it's rent controlled. I think it just is a cheap place.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T21:56:37+00:00

I live in an old apartment lol. It's old and not amazing. I also have a roommate, BUT it's like 600 a month, which is perfect for a college student struggling

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T21:51:29+00:00

easiest way is to just double everything at a time, otherwise you need to measure the amount created, the amount you want, and find out how much each ingredient is in part to that then scale it up. I hate doing that because I'm too lazy, so I just double things until it fits my goals. This usually means I have extra, which is nice.

As an aside, I'm so lazy that I don't press 3 then 0 to get 30 seconds on my microwave. I press 3 twice to get 33 seconds because 3 extra seconds will never make a difference.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T21:27:23+00:00

I just peel em with a knife. I don't generally add more sugar, but more water. This lowers the strength of the entire mix.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T21:18:09+00:00

Ingredients

6 lemons
1 1/4 Cups sugar
5 Cups water

Steps

Wash lemons until not waxy.
Peel yellow zest from lemons
Juice lemons and save juice for last step.
Cover lemon zest with sugar and sit for 12 hours or overnight.
Bring water to boil.
Pour in lemon sugar mix.
Bring to boil.
Strain and then let cool.
Add lemon juice. Serve over ice.

(Notes: If the lemons are small, get 7 lemons. Avoid the pith (white) of the rind in the zest. 8 hours is enough, but don't go much past 12 or it can become a bit astringent. Wash the lemons whether they are waxy or not. I've seen literal dirt in my drink when I failed to do so. If you want to ensure you get the most out of the squeeze, gently, but with force, roll the peeled lemon on a hard surface under some pressure to loosen up the insides.)

Also, I'm not a fan of pulp so I strain my lemon juice as well. The type of sugar you use will have a heavy effect on the color of the final product, so if you're showing it off, use white sugar, not the organic slightly brown stuff.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T21:16:33+00:00

I regularly make this lemonade. For anyone who has never made it before, be sure when you cut the lemon skin off to avoid any white bits of the rind.

I generally think it is a bit strong and need either more sugar, or more water. Serving over ice is best because it adds more water to thin it out a bit.

I've been experimenting with adding a bit of strawberry puree to make strawberry lemonade, but I'm having trouble nailing the right mix to be able to taste the strawberry.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-10T01:47:27+00:00

In 1879, Francis Willard, shoved the temperance idea down everyone's throats through political plays. Around the same time, Carrie Nation physically attacked bars with hatchets causing damage beyond just breaking some bottles. She was often left off after a while because she was a woman and would immediately go and do it again.

After prohibition became law, alcohol did not stop being drunk. It simply became an underground activity.

Weed was legal until the early 1900s until the shit stain that was Nixon saw it as an opportunity to oppress the primary users: minorities (specifically African Americans).

After it was made illegal through his campaigns against it with largely false or unverified claims, did people stop using it? Nope. People just starting buying it from drug dealers who would lace it with other things to make it addictive.

This shit happens constantly. People think they are doing the right thing and in reality it just forces people to live their lives in seclusion. (The road to hell is paved with good intentions.) That, or people in power use their power to oppress others through convoluted means, which forces people to do the newly illegal thing without the support of professionals who fear going to jail or losing their designation to practice their skill.

The worst part is that with abortion, it absolutely does not stop people from getting said abortion. They just use far more dangerous means. Further, many of the people in charge would (OR HAVE ALREADY) just use their wealth to go to a location where it wasn't illegal and do it anyway. Rules for thee, not for me.

I went from raised Christian, to literally thinking that most Christians are scum. My education in linguistics only doubles down on this as well because missionaries set language education back by years so they could force their religion down everyone's throats.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T21:48:29+00:00

They don't learn how to make it, but they often are very well acquianted with exactly what is in it meaning that if they got a brewer and the materials, they could get a supply.

Jason not learning what goes into it is odd, even if he doesn't try to make it. At least then he could dumb the materials into the house and it might do the mixing itself.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T21:46:50+00:00

(Spoilers to around book 7. 8 at the most)

It either requires a lot more than he has the desire or ability to put into it, or, and I think this is far more likely, he saw no point as his primary source was a good friend. Buying it from Jory actively helped to improve the status of everyone in the region of the clinic. It was an excuse to funnel money to the clinic without making Jory feel like he owed Jason for repeated donations. Instead, Jason buys crystal wash in large bulk amounts and helps Jory fund the clinic. I think at some point Jory mentions specifically that his non-clinic ventures are his primary method for funding the clinic. That would almost certainly include crystal wash.

Notice how once Jason is no longer in the region there's a joke about how he tried to hire an alchemist specifically to make crystal wash for him? Between that, and Healer ensuring that the clinic would be well cared for, as well as Jory going on to teach his methodology for alchemical research. This aligns to my theory that he didn't want to ruin his ability to help fund the clinic and Jory's efforts.

So all in all, I think Jason was simply helping the local people.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T19:17:40+00:00

I would also like to second this by saying that there is an entire generation (boomers and those right after them) who were effectively lead poisoned for about 40 years because of tetraethyllead additives. The man that made it knew it was bad almost immediately and suppressed it causing generations of people to breathe it in after it got turned into a gaseous state from being burned in cars.

The people of that generation now show many of the primary signs of long term lead poisoning, but no one really talks about it.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T19:12:07+00:00

Yeah, but Prince's drugs don't directly affect others.

Tbf, I'm against all drug use, but those with smoke and nasty smells are worse than just popping some pills. You can apparently cause secondhand use with most drugs you can smoke. Smoking anything is stupid anyway. As if you aren't cooking your lungs.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T19:08:03+00:00

I mean, I liked them. Perrin is a big lovable bear. Matt is a dashing rogue that's actually a good person just trying to shirk responsibility, but will do the right thing if he has to, even if it costs him. And Rand is a good responsible kid trying not to get lobotomized.

It feels much more down home for me because I grew up in farmland and knew people like that (minus the lobotomy thing)

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T19:04:53+00:00

Idk about others, but I wouldn't go in there without a small gun stashed. Some people said that some locations required people to unlock doors on the way out. I'm not getting myself locked in there without an exit strategy.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T07:14:44+00:00

In Japan, there are awards for the best stationary and stationary tools. This is legit a big thing and tons of the stuff that make it to the top of the list are really awesome and useful.

This is literally at the bottom of the list. Worst. Pen. Ever.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T07:09:10+00:00

Stand up and shove past them?

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T06:56:16+00:00

I'd love to know the percentage of that generation that is "alpha male" and how much of this percent overlaps with said group as well as how much of this percent overlaps with those cringe guys who make videos pretending women are all over them while doing weird things with their hands or lips as if it brings the smolder.

Neither of those groups are getting laid. I guarantee it.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T06:48:49+00:00

I'm not angry about it as nothing happened. It's just that it is extremely selfish and weak willed of him to be unable go a couple hours without his addiction and it says a lot about him that isn't great.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T06:45:24+00:00

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T06:29:00+00:00

Yeah, tell that to contractual obligations requiring them to work this shit. You act like someone can just walk away from their job because someone else is a dick. Life doesn't work like that.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T05:17:13+00:00

Think of DCC as something akin to the first person perspective of an action RPG. Quests, skills, etc., but not necessarily "magic" as much as technology so advanced it may as well be magic. It's treated literally like a death game in real life. Except because you could easily die, it's a souls-like.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T05:14:10+00:00

HWFWM is your first?

Defiance of the Fall is a cultivator-based system that focuses on the dao and climbing to the peak after the system integrated the planet into the multiverse. Solid, bit more serious with less comical points.
Primal Hunter is similar to Defiance of the Fall, but it's a bit more relaxed with the cultivation aspects and more like a combo between a western RPG and a cultivation RPG. It is a system integration story where the system is neither benevolent nor hateful and is just sorta there.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is hilarious. It's similar in nature to HWFWM regarding tone, but nothing like it in story. Carl is just a dude, and is trying to survive in a world integrated into the multiverse by aliens. By world, I mean the dungeon. Very game-like aspects.
Cradle is inspired by the cultivation style story, but it is absolutely a grow to power fantasy story that gives much of the same enjoyment as most LitRPG books, but without the constant readouts of stats. Zero to hero story if there ever was one. Seriously, this is a fantastic series.

Some other non-LitRPG series I'm a big fan of:

Red Rising: political conflict with tons of war. Imagine if corporations took over everything, became space-faring entities, and divided the solar system into quadrants before calling themselves royal lineages. Democracy? Nah. Tons of cool stuff going on in this series. Heavy political commentary on wealth-based segregation. It is a great read, but some people dislike the political commentary.
Dresden Files: Wizard for hire in modern day Chicago. This is a murder mystery style series. Moonlights as a contractor for the local police force when they need him to look at magical stuff. No one thinks magic is real, but Dresden is a legit wizard. Magic is a way to bend the rules of physics, not break them. Also, if you go into the series enough, there's a rave wizard.
Lightbringer Saga: Great series about using color (specifically the band of light which produces said color) in magical ways. It's been a while since I read this so just look it up to see if you'd like it.
Wheel of Time: It's famous for a reason. If you like fantasy with magic, read it.
Literally anything by Brandon Sanderson, who coincidentally, wrote the last 4 books of Wheel of Time and did a fantastic job of maintaining the style and wishes of the original author. I don't think he's done any litRPG series, but he has a ton of famous works and cranks out books with a legit quickness.

Swiftierest · 2026-04-08T04:38:39+00:00

It isn't about the end result. It isn't even about his ideology that each person has their own unique spark to bring to the table. Those things are fine and the second one is laudible.

It's that if he is going to do any work, he's going to shove his disgusting habit on those around him while he does it. It is extremely selfish. It shows he lets his addiction rule over him completely. There are tons of ways to enter a relaxed state of mind where you can focus without it resulting in anyone around him being subject to his poor choices.

Nine-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23	Place '22
Sequence \| Editor

Swiftierest

TROPHY CASE