Interview with the Beholder: Governor Race 2022

[Tenball]

The RhyDin Roundtable with Ric Darsant
7:00 ET, 24 September 2022

Ric: Good evening, friends, and welcome to the RhyDin Roundtable. I'm Ric Darsant. -studio audience applause- Thank you. My first guest tonight is someone who has been making surprisingly little splash in the headlines, despite being in the running for Governor in this year's election. He best known as a regular weekend bartender over at the Red Dragon Inn and occasional caller for dueling challenges. Let's give it up for Tenball!

-more applause as Tenball floats onto the studio set-

Tenball: Thanks, Ric. Glad to be here!

Ric: I have to say, I was a bit surprised when you agreed to appear tonight. You haven't exactly been making a household name for yourself on the campaign trail. Why break your silence now, right on the eve of the election?

Tenball: Two reasons. First off, it is the eve of the elections. Polls open tomorrow, so I figured, if I was going to take the opportunity, now would be the time. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly... when I announced my candidacy, I wasn't sure what I'd be facing. After all, nobody else had spoken up at that point. Then the slate was posted and I saw Dris' name there and, well, I lost heart. I mean, seriously, who's going to vote for me over Dris? He's popular, he's got the experience, and he's got Karma's endorsement. How am I going to measure up against that?

Ric: So you were considering dropping out?

Tenball: Not dropping out, no. I just had to find a way to remain relevant in this election, win or lose.

Ric: And now you've found it?

Tenball: -bobbing up and down- Yes.

Ric: So then tell us, what makes you relevant? Why should people support you?

Tenball: I'm an excellent listener and I don't make snap judgments about people, because I know how it feels to be marginalized. Look at me. I've spent decades with other people reacting to what I was and not who I was. Avid reader. Not a horrible cook, at least on a grill. Fantastic drummer, if I do say so myself. Expert bartender. But that's not what people saw, when they first encountered me, not for a long time. What did they see? Beholder. Monster. Abomination. -pause- Do you know when I first came to RhyDin, I spent years more or less hiding out at Ebon's house, because I was afraid of going out in public? Afraid of being pointed at, met with screams or attacks. Or both.

Ric: Obviously you found the courage to come out, as it were.

Tenballl: I did, yes, and that's a good term for it, given the common usage. That's one of the reasons I embrace and participate in Pride Week every year, because it's all about a community expressing who they are and not how they're labeled. There are others, too, who have had to live on the fringes because they don't fall into the physical and social norms. They deserve to be seen as people. People, not monsters.

Ric: You're very invested in this issue.

Tenball: Yeah, well... even after I started living out in the world again, tending at the Red Dragon and such, I still got the occasion panicked stare or point and scream. I even got told to my face that I wasn't a person because I didn't have a head, two arms, two legs. Ridiculous! -beat- The guy who said that's a bit of a jerk anyway. But his boyfriend's groovy.

-laughter from the audience, with Ric joining in-

Ric: Well, any last words before the break?

Tenball: Just remember to get out and vote while the polls are open! You've got three great candidates to choose from, so vote your heart and you won't go wrong.

Ric: Thanks for coming out tonight!

Tenball: Thanks for having me here!