Author Topic: Welcome to The Democracy  (Read 1669 times)

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Offline Izhitsa

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Welcome to The Democracy
« on: July 03, 2022, 05:59:47 AM »
Vignettes involving the people of The Democracy. This post is intended to act as an index whenever I get around to it.

Offline Izhitsa

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Re: Welcome to The Democracy
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2022, 06:05:04 AM »
Of all the things there were to hate about working at Wenhua Television Group, Tianming hated the meetings the most. They were insufferable, interminable, and most of all there were just so many of them to hate. And worst of all were the breakout rooms. As if the only thing a meeting needed was more meetings inside of it.
“Come on, folks, don’t speak all at once!”
That was Jiyue, the manager, heaping more pain upon the torture with her obligatory cliches. Without thinking, Tianming let out a sigh.This Open Country Act had brought The Democracy nothing but confusion and trouble. Confusion at the borders, influences from outside ideologies, and if that wasn’t all, now he was being forced to suggest ideas for new shows to whet the nation’s appetite for anything foreign.
“Just spit out whatever ideas come into your head. It’s brainstorming, anything goes!”
The first thing that came into Tianming’s head was a show about savagely beating up middle managers around the world, but somehow he felt the office wasn’t ready for such revolutionary programming.
The deathly silence refused to release the room. After a painful eternity, a voice piped up. “Well, maybe we need to look at this from another angle.”
That was Zimin, the office suck-up. It wouldn’t be a meeting without Zimin saying his classic catchphrase, “let’s circle back.”
“Let’s circle back,” he said. See? “Maybe we should start by listing things that other countries have, and then we can base our ideas on that. I’ll get everything down on the blackboard. Just say anything that comes to mind.”
At this, the room seemed to become considerably more eager to speak.
“Well, every country has their own cuisine.” “I heard Achkaerin is filled with old castles.” “Mountains! I’m sure people want to see mountains in other countries.” “My great-grandpa went to Rokkenjima once and got food poisoning.” “Ok, folks, hear me out. Organized crime. I was just reading this book the other day…”
Tianming sat at his chair, contorting his head into what he believed looked like a thinking expression. He started recounting his shopping list. Let’s see, he thought, definitely need soy milk, and some mustard greens wouldn’t be a bad idea eith—
“Tianming, do you have any ideas?”
Oh no, it was Jiyue again. Ideas, ideas…
“No need to be shy, I’m sure the entire office would love to hear what you have to say.”
“Uh,” Tianming blurted. “Milk.” Seriously? This was what he was going with? Well, too late now. “We, uh, do a show about milk. Since most people are lactose intolerant it would be an interes—”
“Sorry,” said Jiyue, “but Pengyi already suggested that.”
Tianming looked at the blackboard. Yep, there it was, right between “Hygelacian stations” and “curry rice.” Goodness, these so-called ideas of everyone's really ran the gamut. Although—
“Actually,” said Tianming, “There is one thing I notice about all of these.” He gestured to each of the ideas written on the board. “All of these are things that we have to go to other countries to see. Which seems pretty hard to do with our country’s diplomatic situation.” The others nodded. Everyone knew how hard it was to travel abroad in a world with ridiculous expectations of visitors, such as passports and visas. And the Democratic form of government wasn’t as well equipped to handle the problem as everyone had expected. Tianming pondered for a second. Was this the kernel of an idea? “It seems to me there’s one thing that other countries have, that every citizen would like to see, and that would come directly to us.”
His coworkers looked at him expectantly. Yes, this was his element, this was his life, this was why he joined the TV industry to begin with, this—
“Well, Tianming, get on with it!”
“Ah. Yes,” said Tianming. “What other countries have, that we all want to see, is leaders.”
The scheme he worked out was fairly simple. Invite foreign heads of state to the country to write a treaty with the nation that would then be proposed in the National Legislation System. The only catch? The negotiations would be broadcast, live, to the nation, ensuring that the treaty would be instantly recognizable to the nation, which would hopefully guarantee its adoption into law. Of course, they’d start with the more aesthetically pleasing heads of state first, this was TV after all. But they could work their way even to the likes of the leader of Mktvartvelo before long.
Of all the things to love about working at Wenhua Television Group, Tianming loved the attention the most. It was intoxicating, incomparable, and most of all there was just so much to love. And as the bosses hinted at yet another raise for what was sure to be more unsurpassable work, he looked to the months ahead with great anticipation.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2022, 06:15:57 AM by Izhitsa »