I suppose that now I'm speaking as ubermoderator, but this post isn't an official action or request that you do something in particular. I want to share some observations and intrude some suggestions in the spirit of what's good for the Zone, so at the moment I'm inseparable from the ubermod persona, if not exercizing the authority. Herewith, my opinions...

Both of you are irascible and dogged. DL's expressed the wish that Mark would just not post to him, but then says that if Mark posts, he has no choice but to respond. And Mark posts. This disparity between what you two say and what you do sounds like a form of codependency to me. Neither of you are to blame, but guess what: That means you're both to blame. What we have here is a lack of self-discipline.

Which is all well and good, but what might you do about it? You might--in the form of an unsolicited suggestion--try harder to keep apart. Better if you build up the muscle of resistance to the temptation to fight on your own. I suppose that if you guys can't do it, the moderators could help. If you genuinely want to stop fighting but lack discipline to do it on your own, we can support you with some official ruling that you should be kept apart. It's all part of the service: Sometimes all a moderator has to do is give people official cover to do the right thing and provide a way to save face. If you want me to play the bad cop and wave my finger in your faces, hey, no problem, that's what I'm here for. Then you can tell each other what a pain in the ass I am, and everybody goes away satisfied. That's life in a village democracy. Just let me know if you want to avail yourselves of that service.

I suppose I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek here. I'd prefer it if you guys didn't spend so much time in snippiness and sniping, but it's not yet at the level where I need to care much, officially. Unofficially, I wish you'd knock it off, but that's more of an aesthetic judgment. If you can get it out of your systems over on Flame, then please, by all means do so. Or use Community if you want to try and work things out. But could you please tone down the bitchiness on other boards? Thanks, guys.