Christmas Bells, Those Christmas Bells

Are you happy with where this year has ended? If you are, let me be blunt: you shouldn’t be. Anyone who says that Armies are not dying is either kidding themselves or delusional. But our fate is not yet set in stone. If you want to make that change, want to make a difference, the time is now. Stand up, and, this Christmas, take your Christmas cheer and spread it. Spread that spirit of joining together and forgiveness that this holiday is so mysteriously able to inspire in so many. Join together and save what we have built from its ultimate destruction.

Those words aren’t my own, those are the words of a former CPAC CEO by the name of Bluesockwa2. This was the final paragraph of a post made in December 2014 to both celebrate Christmas and warn about the dramatic fall that armies had suffered that year. Four years have passed, and the words spoken in this paragraph proved true. By the time that Club Penguin’s inevitable shutdown happened, there were no armies who had the will to fight against fate. But then, there was the Rebel Penguin Federation. Through inspiration, strength and undying loyalty to the cause we believe in, which is the good fight, we were able to survive and even prosper in the situation we were given. It has been four years since that post, yet we’re still alive. To mark the holiday season, I find it only appropriate that I pay homage to this post, and at the same time give my opinion on the status of the current RPF/Rebel Federation.

For the last year and a half I had not been involved in the RPF. Every time I rejoined, whether it was for leader or the Hokage rank, I never really cared and I usually just decided to go back to retirement a few days afterwards. RPF used to live and die by my ability to be there and help. When strong figures like Popsicle and Chip came along to lead, it finally gave me the liberty to rest. RPF had a new future, and I felt like I could finally move on. However, nobody could have predicted the beating RPF was about to go through. In the eleven years of RPF history, there came a point where it had literally never been worse to be in the high command of an army. I had been through thick and thin with the RPF and had lots of stuff happen to me personally, but what happened midway through the year was truly above my threshold, as well as the thresholds of the people who retired. The figures who had kept RPF at the top were forced to leave, with only a few remaining. The newer owners, some of which were quite inexperienced, were catapulted into positions of power. Operation Exodus, a pursuit in which RPF was trying to abandon its Club Penguin roots and move to different games had failed, and luckily we were able to return to Club Penguin Rewritten and start right where we left off.

After all of this had happened, I relegated myself to becoming a chat bum, exactly the type of person I used to despise when I used to lead. I didn’t respect the rules or anybody in the RPF besides my veteran counterparts. I knew I needed to be there for the RPF, but I just didn’t know how to go about it. I think my thought process was that I never thought that there could be a place for me in this army after everything that had happened. The idea of redemption and saving my status in RPF was just something that I didn’t think was possible. Even when I rejoined, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. I was just looking to receive Troop of the Week, for nothing but a little meme or a cherry on top of my career in RPF. What ended up happening is that I actually did start caring. From recruiting and helping out in RPF, I was reminded why I love this army. In my first week back, I recruited 100 people into the RPF, and followed the same routine for the next two weeks as I received my Hokage role which would be eventually switched to different names. I got to know the fantastic people in this army, as well as many awesome people in the HCOM. I did, however, also see lots of problems with the way this army was functioning.

Exam season is almost over and Christmas is right around the corner. Many people in this army will have more time to help the RPF and make it rise. I think we should all use this Christmas to bind together and help make RPF stronger together. It will take a lot of hard work, but this hard work is the reason why RPF has survived for the past eleven years. It cannot be done alone either, it does take a collective effort. Rage against the cold of the winter and step into the big winter boots of the RPF. Together, I believe we can create something spectacular this Christmas. How far we go as an army depends on you.

Merry Christmas.

-Silverburg