| The Southern Journal - January 2021 Edition |
January 2021 Edition
Table of Contents
Introduction
By Islands of unity Hello, The Southern Journal returns to present to you interviews in the Cabinet Series with the Ministers of Culture and Defense, the Regions Abroad series featuring members of The Rejected Realms: Nequedum and Bowshot, as well as election coverage in the Free Nations Region's recent Presidential election with the competing candidates Sith Assassin and Doctor Ovros, in addition to a piece analyzing one of the recent LC issues that have made its way to the High Court submitted by Hya, and a horrific piece submitted by Rabbitz.
A Message From the Delegate Hello, it is I Beepee, Your Delegate-Elect. The long and winding road to succeed Amerion as your Delegate continues. I want to thank everyone who has endorsed me so far, and remind all of you who haven't to hit that Endorse button. Please enjoy this wonderful publication by Islands and the Ministry for Media... Yours, Beepee Interviews with the Cabinet Series - Minister of Culture Swifty
By Islands of unity I had just been appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Media when during my first cabinet meeting I turned to the person seated beside me and asked:
Ok first question: Your name is swifty. How fast are you? Fast, very fast. You are the Minister of Culture, is it live culture? Is tsp at least partially yoghurt? Hmm. Um, I'd say it's more cheese than yogurt. Could you see us going back to undoing the mora split? Do you feel that the current setup is ideal or is there room for improvement in organizing the tsp gov? Personally, I feel like the current set-up is better than the old one. Yes, there is definitely, and I mean definitely room for improvement and a lot of it. This new set up helps regulate the amount of work and pressure put on the Ministers, which under MoRA, was extremely high. Under this plan, Ministers can regulate their Ministry while still having time to organize other things and come up with and plan new projects. One of the major things which will determine the success of this new plan will be whether we can maintain a high level of interest and participation within the three new ministries. Could you see us tooling around with the setup a bit more? I do agree that the advantages you've noticed are important but could you see another way of delivering that? Of course, I could see us tooling around with the current set up. There is a lot of room for improvement and we need to take advantage of that. However, I do not believe that we should be fully re-working the Ministries. We should be making it more clear the different jobs of the new Ministries and help set a precedent or an example to future Ministers on how to run the Ministry. What do you think of the proposal to change the flag? There have been some nice designs released during the discussions about it I think that change is good. I personally suck at art and graphic design so I'm probably not the best person to ask regarding the actual design but looking at what Somyrion has done with the full redesign of all the Ministry logos, whatever he feels looks good I would support. As long as it keeps our core principles at heart along with our very beautiful colors. I don't remember all the designs off the top of my head but I'd be all for any of those which have a minimalistic vibe to them. What has been your favorite part of tsp and ns so far? Of TSP: Probably the community and the general atmosphere of TSP. People around here are very kind and helpful and are usually always looking out for you and supporting you. Of NS: I'm gonna be honest, I've really enjoyed card farming actually. I find it fun and entertaining while still serving as a casual activity you can do on the side whenever you need a break from other things. The community is also very nice and it's just a cool vibe. What is the best card you have farmed? Um, I've farmed many good ones, but the best one in sheer market value is a Season Two Drasnia: https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/c...4/season=2 If you could ask the game runners to add one aspect to the game, what would it be? Like in all of ns or cards? Ns in general, But also cards if you want :stuck_out_tongue: hmm, that's a really tough question, I'd have to say to add EU servers because those in the EU are grinding with those bad page load times and I feel bad for them. lol. Do you prefer tea or coffee? Ginger Ale. Ok, with the recent controversies in the cabinet in mind: Where do you see tsp heading? Could you lay out the positives that you feel this cabinet brings? Well, personally, I just see this as a bump in the road. We've dealt with way worse and have come out fine. So I think that it will just take a few changes here and there but we'll get through this. Regarding the positives about this cabinet. Well, something I've found with this current Cabinet is that we usually work pretty well with one another. We are all mostly on the same page with the future of the region on how we want to move forward with our current plans. Furthermore, we becoming active again and have a lot of major things planned for the next 2 months which is great to see. What is your opinion on the defender alignment of tsp? wow, okay, these are some tough questions heh. Um, personally, I feel like our current defender alignment is pretty good, it could maybe use a couple of tweaks but I overall support it. However, regarding our defender alignment, I was talking about this in the Legislator Lounge but there is a whole other debate to be held. Do we want to stay as an influential region and as an important defender? Or do we want to become an influential defender, but a less influential region in all of NS? Because let's face it, do people really join tsp because we are defender? Sure some do, but if you are gonna join a region because they are defender, you are more likely to join XKI or TGW, or even Founderless which is now reborn, so if we were to become more defender, it would be at the risk of us losing influence on the overall scale of all of Nation States. Nations are born into tsp, wouldn't you think this is the driver for our population regardless of alignment? I was thinking more of regional influence and power rather than actual size. And also, yes they are but that doesn't mean that they will stay. Your avatar is from a tv show, what is a must-watch t.v. series in your opinion? Well, I'd give you an entire list but here is 5: - The Man in the High Castle - Schitt’s Creek - My Little Pony - Tiny Pretty Things - NCIS: Los Angeles What do you think tsp will be doing in 2 years? I haven't really been around for long enough to determine how much a region can change in that time. But ideally, TSP will still be defender and will have passed TNP in terms of nations and Delegate WA Endorsements as well as having a large presence at the top of the card world. Do you have a question for me? Yes. Can you please please please give all of my colleagues really long and complicated questions, please? You're talking 3 parters? no, more like 5 lol [This continued] What do you have to say to your doubters? What do you have to say to those who think highly of you? To my doubters, I have to say this. Watch. Watch me prove to you that I am not who you think I am. Watch me prove to you what I am capable of, and trust me, if you watch, you will not be disappointed. To those who think highly of me, I say this. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for trusting me, thank you for supporting me along this journey, thank you for helping me back up when I fall, thank you for everything, I am forever in debt to you all. If you were to be recalled, do you think it would be a good chance to refocus and work towards helping tsp? Honestly, I'm really trying not to focus on the recall, I'm trying more on focusing on my Ministry and its future. I'm continuing with my work in the Ministry as if nothing was happening around me. I'm trying to avoid creating unnecessary chaos inside and outside of the Ministry. I'm trying to think, if I were to get recalled, how would I want my last days in office to be remembered. Would I want to be remembered as someone who was screaming and crying and making a whole deal about it, or would I want to be remembered as someone who has good and hard-working final days in office? I think that I already am focused and working to help TSP right now so I don't think me getting recalled would change much. Thank you for agreeing to the interview it's been good And thank you for organizing it. Your questions were very tough! Interviews with the Cabinet Series - Minister of Defence Phoenix
By Islands of unity Phoenix of the Sun is currently on her second term as the South Pacific’s Minister of Defence. Her endearing personality, passion for defending, and skill at recruiting have made her a significant figure in the South Pacific, the defending community, and NationStates as a whole. Islas sits down with her today to discuss some of the things most important to her.
What does the defender movement mean to you? So, I see the Defender Movement as a very big positive force in NationStates as a whole. To me personally, it means that we are becoming stronger as a faction, and more dedicated to the cause of defending the rights of regions to remain sovereign. There is more fire beneath our wings, so to speak. We are continuing to grow in this direction and I love to see it continue to happen. After all, I do believe that regions have the right to remain sovereign, they have the right to exist as they wish to without interference from the outside. What was your opinion on the Drewpocalypse? When the YouTuber visited us. So, the entire Drewpocalypse scenario, I think, was a test on how our institutions can handle a sudden influx of curious players and retain them to the game, aside from the widespread chaos that was caused as a result. Despite the chaos that was presented with it, I think we handled it well for TSP and gained some amazing new friends who are rising as the next leaders of TSP in due time. Of course, we could always do better, refine how we interact with the new players, and help them become regular members of our community and teach them to be the next leaders, that is something that must always be improved on. But overall I think the Drewpocalypse was a net positive in NationStates. What is your favorite part of ns? There are so many favorite parts of NS lol... but if I had to choose, it's the storytelling potential in Gameplay. The politics are so much fun and fairly diverse, there is so much you can do to tell a story. You can play a character, fight for your beliefs with others, and it is endearing, whether the eternal fight for defending regions from others exerting their powers over other regions, or whether you strongly believe that a Democratic system is superior to a Meritocratic one, whether it's better to be isolationist or cosmopolitan, or millions of other facets of NS politics that can be hard to understand at first, but once you do, you have so much storytelling potential. Maybe you start out as a raider-aligned player but decide you want to be a defender, and you can slowly roleplay out the change in beliefs. Or maybe you start out defender-aligned, but maybe you want to roleplay a "descent into madness" type of deal and go raider. The options are endless and I think that it's my favorite part of the game. The recent additions of cards to gameplay has me wondering: what is the next big thing that ns will add to the game? What do you think? Hm. There are basically endless possibilities to that question, and I can't really think of anything :sweat_smile: but anything that comes out would be extremely cool! What is a song that everybody should listen to? Ok, so a new song I've been listening to a lot that is wildly different from my normal listens is a song that I will link bc I don't have a Japanese keyboard lol. It's The song and despite not being something I normally listen to, I've been enjoying it a lot. Do you find yourself less trusting of the NFL team the raiders because of r/d? LOL, No, but I am not a fan of the NFL Raiders even before I knew what NationStates was, much less R/D. What do you think max barry is doing rn? Well isn't it nighttime in Australia? Max Barry is probably sleeping. Or maybe he's an insomniac and he's lurking in the NS forums and shaking his head at all of us lol Much like an unknowable looming eye, max barry watches us xD What do you think of the proposal to change the flag? I am personally all for a change in the flag. I love our current region flag of course, but the TSP I joined is different from the current TSP, which is even more different from the TSP of even further into the past. I would not mind a new flag, a new banner to carry into this new era that I strongly believe is happening. But whatever the flag ends up being, it still needs to respect our regional culture and symbolism, which is a tall order to fill. But it's doable. Do you have any comment on the raiders’ harmful usage of game mechanics against defenders like in the sp liberation? So, my beliefs on the raiders' tactics employed during the South Pacific occupation were very powerful. Devastatingly powerful, in fact. Creating regions to ensure that they can continue infringing on the rights of the resident nations in South Pacific despite our best efforts is something I strongly stand against, and I am willing to say that we are much more on the lookout for more instances of this occurring in each subsequent liberation attempt. And I believe that we will become better equipped to deal with this strategy and overcome it should it happen again. We have to, it is our mission to do so, for all the nations in NationStates who fulfill various roles across all the regions there are, whether foundered or founderless, Feeder or Sinker, whether these regions identify as autocratic or meritocratic or democratic, whether they identify as raider, defender, independent, imperialist, roleplaying or gameplaying, and any NS identities in between. Why do you think the people who run the game are ok with allowing them to get away with stuff like this? Why do you think they've placed the impetus on defenders? As a preface to this entire section, which can be very controversial but I ask that you remember that I am speaking on a purely out-of-character level here, this does not reflect my in-character beliefs. And I think that the distinction is extremely important as well, as the line has been historically blurred... Mechanically there's not really anything the people who run the game can do without destroying some of the best parts of the game. The most they can do is balance the game so that both sides have the chance to win from strategy and inevitably the RNG overlords. The job of stopping the raiders sort of has to be left to the defenders. And, you can argue that raiding is a net positive on the game from the OOC perspective. The rise of raiding gave way for people to actually play the villains of the game, or take over regions to exert their own region's influence as a political tool. And it gave rise to the ability for Defenders to rise and stand against these things with our own political stance, and the ability to put actions behind our words. It is arguably one of the biggest political alignments. Arguably the game would be so much less interesting if everyone didn't have access to these mechanics. This game is a political simulator, these mechanics that R/D takes advantage of is inevitably part of this political process, it's an alignment axis that arose, and that is a good thing. Of course, back to the fun In-Character perspective... it is a travesty that the raiders continually find new ways to exert their influence on other, sovereign regions, and it is up to the defenders to stop it whenever we can, as the people who run this game can't really do anything without destroying the other intricacies of this game. What do you think the region will be dealing with in 2 years? It is hard to say what the region could deal with in 2 years. Many things can happen in a span of even a month. But I could maybe see us dealing more with regional culture stuff perhaps? Culture is quite a bit of fun, and quite important to regional identity, the identity of any organization, so I can see us putting a heavier emphasis on cultural things over the next 2 years. Your character is based on a mythological creature, what is your favorite mythological story? My favorite mythological story might be the story of the Phoenix, my namesake lol. A bird that dies then rises from its ashes as a new bird is a concept that has interested me since I really learned about the story and took on the nickname many years ago, even if I hadn't undergone the metamorphosis that I underwent later on. To me, it's like the past, all the negative things, bad memories, all of it dying in a fire and rising once again, with hope for the future, rebirthed with a positive view of the future, no longer bogged down by the weight of the old and ready to take on a new future. It's the same sort of symbolism I find in the Autumn and Spring, where the leaves and trees all die away to make room for the new life that is to come in the Spring. At the core of these stories to me is Hope. What do you want everybody reading this to know? I want everyone to know that NationStates is what you make of it. Whether you like politicking and GP, or nation roleplay, or hanging out, or stats, or whatever, it is ultimately what you make of it. How have you enjoyed the new year so far? So far it's been good! Been fairly relaxed for the most part, though I have a plan of attack for this year to make the absolute most of it. How are you going to seize the year? It's going to sound cheesy :sweat_smile: but I want to do everything I can to help other people out, cheer sad people up, encourage discouraged people, etc. I am going outside more and hiking, exploring the great outdoors. Work on putting knowledge and action behind advocacy. Learn things I want to without being lazy about it. Like, I'm making myself learn German. I'm also refining my skills. I'm sure you can do it if you really want to! The recent recall attempt on swifty has failed, do you have any words of encouragement for the embattled minister? For Swifty, I will say what I've said before. Adapt and overcome. Whatever happens in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter. The past is moot, what matters is the future, so make it better. There have been a lot of people expressing concern in the cabinet, do you have anything to say to reassure them? Yes, we have been fairly quiet with the holidays and exciting things. But now that the new year is here, and yes, that SPINN article sure brought some sense of accountability, I'm sure that South Pacificans will be very happy with what's left of the term. The readers demand to know: what should I have for lunch today? hm. Arroz con picadillo? Where do you see the ministry heading? I see the Ministry of Defense heading towards developing more and more experienced soldiers and officers. I see us becoming larger and larger of a force to be reckoned with, and closer, too. Do you think we may have to continue with the reorganization efforts? Or do you think we need more time as is? So, with the split of MoRA, it might take a little while longer to get into a stable place. We need more time to build up the staff in these ministries, and that, I think, is what's going on now. This is the first term for these ministries and the ministers have been working hard to build something from the ground-up, but these efforts might not be realized until next term. I consider this term more foundational than anything. What idea would you pitch to me for MoM rn? Oh hmm. Well, media stuff is probably my weakest link here actually :sweat_smile: I know a lot of people were saying they'd like to see real-time revived, which would be cool. I would maybe say we could stand to see some more humorous articles, and maybe just kinda articles about different various cultural things and such, but these all require willing worker bees Thank you for doing the interview! Thanks for interviewing me! (Editor's note: Islas wants to assure you that they did not end the interview early because Phoenix had mentioned Bees, but also strongly suggests that they not be stung by members of the local hive.) Regions Abroad Series - Interview with Nequedum
By Islands of unity I had arrived in TRR for the Regions Abroad Series on a very rainy and stormy night, and Neq was kind enough to bring me inside to speak.
What do you think TRR looks like? As in physically? I fear I have far too much to say on that. I believe there was some work put into the Rejected Realms being imagined as Dante's Nine Circles of Hell but I prefer imagining the region as nations in a cloud-like limbo, with each cloud acting as a floating platform and possibly carrying landmasses. Our regional forum also names many of our public spaces, such as Kandarin's BBQ & Grill in Gettersburg Market. I believe prior Rejectmas festivals (celebrated during the holiday period) also referenced our seat of government as the Rejected Palace, a remnant of the ye olde days. Because it's 1 am here I'm about to go to sleep. What do you think I will dream about? [12 hours later, Islas continued] I've obviously dreamt about the future of tsp-trr relations! Where do you think we will be heading as two regions? TSP-TRR relationships are currently recognized through two treaties, the TRR-TSP Treaty of Peace and Amity (2014) and The January Accords (2018) with The East Pacific as well. These treaties formally outline our diplomatic, cultural, mutual defense, and military relations, all of which share very close bonds. Informally, our interregional relationship continues to grow. Following another very successful Harry Potter and the Festival of Friends, this time also involving TRR as a hosting region, our cultural ties are on the up-and-up. Similarly, we are in the process of creating a Security Council campaigns Bloc, dubbed the Partnership for Sovereignty, whose primary purpose is to provide us with the structural framework to more consistently run quick and successful joint campaigns for liberations and commendations by having delegations vote on the same recommendation and statement to feature in our WFE. Although its Charter respects if one of the member regions wants to have their Delegate vote and even campaign differently, the idea is that we typically vote the same and can better encourage more nations to vote our way as well through operating this Bloc. On TRR's side, our recent embassy overhaul and new expectations for our own ambassadors mean we are going to be doing a better job at inviting TSP to come to join us in celebrating our regional holidays as well as participate in our monthly cultural calendars and interregional programs, such as The Rejected Times' Outlander Program. I'm glad you brought up the Partnership for Sovereignty, what do you think the effect will be on the WA and r/d? I believe the Partnership of Sovereignty has come about out of a perceived necessity by primary defenders to be better organized in SC liberation campaigns. This is a necessity I also expressed during my campaign in TRR's December 2020 Officer Election. Its name comes from our shared concern for natives of regions targeted by raiders. Once operating, the Partnership will help provide us with the structural framework to run joint campaigns utilizing rich and uniform messaging on time. Additionally, the Partnership encourages us to pool resources, such as telegram stamps, and be strategically surrounding our campaigning strengths and interregional relations. Hopefully, in playing out these purposes, the Partnership's effect will be tangible in winning over swing vote Delegates. I look forward to playing a role in helping the Partnership grow in member regions and regional support once operating so we can achieve this. Do I think raiders will respond in kind? Well, I believe they are already doing a better job than defenders (in running WA campaigns with uniform messaging and in pooling resources), hence the necessity. Which do you prefer: WA or R/D? Would you be upset if I responded Media? I mean, YOU wouldn't be upset, but your readers might! Next, I'd go Culture—how insidious of me! Then R/D, followed by issue writing (just because it gave me a gameside badge), and then WA at a safe last. Listen, I have no ill will against the World Assembly, but I think it needs more types of resolutions and, for the time being, I only really care about liberation resolutions for their practical application. In TRR, we have a WA Officer (the role was also made at the expense of what was the Media Officer position, which is now just an appointed-by-election Editor-in-Chief) so I don't pay much mind to the GA in earnest—about as much as any other citizen. My WA nation moves infrequently when I defend in Libcord with the RRA/TGW or follow orders from the RRA just because I'm often on TRR's Discord and curious enough to click on the channel, and I rarely if ever votes in the GA, though I sometimes vote on how TRR's Delegate should vote and participate in the discussion both forumside and 'discordside'. What brought you to TRR? What would you tell any tsp member who would want to visit? I actually first arrived in TRR after being banjected from a passlocked region that was made as an informal classroom region for a global politics class from my girlfriend's old high school. My partner, Ann, is American, and I'm Australian, and she lived over there back then. So they had this random Australian nation in their region and eventually decided to banject me. But I first tried to organize a coup before they eventually decided what to make of my three-year-old powerful nation in their region of all new nations. This was all before I started playing NS acknowledging that regional governments are a thing and TRR was essentially the first region I've properly been involved with ever since late 2017. As for what I would tell any TSP member who wanted to visit, come and play a couple of rounds of Werewolf with us over on our regional Discord server! Just remember to kill Guy first. It's the meta. You said your favorite part of ns is media, what's your favorite thing you've created for ns so far? I have a lot of fun writing for The Rejected Times but I think the most fun I consistently have is writing the report for TRT's 'annual' Ranking the GCRs Survey. I hope to see it become more and more popular every year! But now I get to have fun putting together TRR's Foreign Updates every two months. Oh, and I also had fun putting together a lecture on Media for the NationStates Great Exhibition (NSGE) 2020, which intends to be our community's replacement for the NSWF. You can see that lecture followed by its Q&A here: https://nsge.flarum.cloud/d/49-insight-i...-landscape. I actually responded to these questions while on a holiday. We're currently on an old train heading to a gold-town-turned-tourist-trap haha! I'll send some pictures that you may want to include! :P Yeah I'd be glad to include them! But as a newspaper editor, I have to stress that they must have Spider-Man in them :stuck_out_tongue: Omg that's very nice Feel free to add in spiderman lol Oh I'm sure there are tons of spiders in these already Which of the three Neapolitan flavors for ice cream do you like the most? Listen, I used to go for vanilla—very boring, I know—and then my partner introduced me to strawberry. Then I said screw it and I finally tried that brown one. Now chocolate is my favourite (yes, with a 'u' because I speak the Queen's English! I feel like I also have to follow that by saying Australia should be a republic). I had just spent a minute trying to see where the "u" goes in chocolate In favourite haha! As a media person do you have any questions for me? I do! How do you find you're able to keep engaging with a loyal audience? Do you have any systems in place to help this occur? A subscription model or anything similar? My ministry is brand new, I took over from the first MoM, so these are things I’ll have to deal with going forward. I plan on having a team for reporting on new events and discussions in tsp and also a monthly newspaper, if these things aren't effective I’ll be finding what works, how do you do this? So we have monthly issues (8ish articles?), special releases (for breaking news), and brief news (monthly-ish) - I'll send you our index! We also have a subscription service (both TRT and the Rejected Radio together) Speaking of radio, what is a song I should listen to? You should listen to the Neon Musk soundscape by Hat Films found here: https://yogscaststudios.bandcamp.com/album/neon-musk. They made a sequel live for the Yogscast two-week-long charity event Jingle Jam 2020 over on Twitch that should be released soon. What's the point of it all anyway? Cyberpunk 2077 DLC What was the last big thing in TRR? We just celebrated another hairy and smooth Rejectmas from the 26th of December to the 1st of January. Among other things, our Lord of Misrule, this year The Church of Satan, caused absolute chaos in our RMB! You mentioned the RMB, how is it organized in TRR? In tsp, the RMB elects its own council This certainly is an interesting time to ask about our RMB! So, our elected Officers and our elected Speaker are given communications authority, but our Delegate is also free to appoint additional people with that authority whenever they wish. This all being said, TRR's current suppression practices are under internal scrutiny. You can read more about the debates surrounding this here in Aga's article: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1488753. What do you think of when you think of tsp? The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami because I arrived in Samoa the day after. :stuck_out_tongue: to help? We were actually on a cruise to Hawaii and back but the money tourists brought in must have helped at least a little. We couldn't see much foreign aid, to be honest, and in American Samoa (which we went to the day after) they kept tourists away from the destruction. Where are you on vacation to now? I can't remember if I remembered to ask. I'm in Cairns, Queensland, Australia (I'm from Australia) Do you know your cattle dogs? I have one My partner has a corgi- the one in my pfp :D And the final question: what do you have to say to the players in tsp? To the players in TSP, I'd like to say: our regions share a healthy and rich relationship but there is no better time than the present to build on that! Let's start new projects together and push at what we can achieve for our communities—just like the new Partnership for Sovereignty! Thank you for such in-depth answers! No problem! Thanks so much for this opportunity! :) Content Warning: It is not safe to travel during the continuing global pandemic with the SARS2 virus, the American CDC says: "Travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19." I spoke with him after this article was submitted for publication and he stressed that the Australian government has a variety of safety measures such as lockdowns, QR code contact tracing, social distancing, and mask mandates in place. Please do not travel. Especially to those of us who live in places where the virus is winning. -TSJ Regions Abroad Series - Interview with BowShot
By Islands of unity Ok so how is your year going so far?
[4-minutenute pause] Sorry, the power cut Anyhow It's going great, the 5 days haven't seen any scandals! Do you think the power outage had anything to do with how amazing my first question was? 100% What would you tell a newcomer to TRR? About TRR in particular or in general? In particular I'd tell them that TRR is a democracy, alongside it being a welcoming, friendly environment as well as a place of second chances. Alongside the usual welcomes and pleasantries Alongside, as part of my Outreach job, I occasionally do invite them into the various aspects of regional life How does the democratic system work in the Rejected Realms? In general? Everything government related is democratic, with the Assembly being the legislative body that all citizens can participate in, all government officials are elected or confirmed by the Assembly (minus Deputies) You said earlier that outreach was your job, are you minister there? Do you really enjoy the work? I was Officer, but I'm just a member of the Outreach Staff I enjoy the work I do in the various departments I'm part of It's always nice to help and see TRR continue to grow and evolve I have a jar here filled about halfway with jelly beans, would you take a guess as to how many there are in the jar? At least 1 Incorrect, sorry There are no jelly beans in the jar? There is no jar, what is your favorite part of ns? Cards or r/d? that makes sense Cards What is your favorite card you have had so far? hmmm S2 A Leaf on the Wind I love Sarah's flag Do you have any questions for me about tsp? Nope Where do you see the relationship between tsp and trr going as we move into 2021? Power cut..... again must've been another fab question It must have been the answer this time tbh Both regions have defender aligned militaries and are democracies, so I see the two regions becoming closer diplomatically, but we already have a treaty in place so I can't see where it'd go, I don't pay attention to regions outside of SP and TRR enough What does defenderism mean to you? protecting the regions who have been attacked by raiders, simple as that Try to lift occupations and prevent further harm to their communities How long have you been involved in r/d? Since I started joining the RRA in their libs which starting erm Properly last November However, I have done the odd thing before then Do you have any words for people who might be considering joining their regional military to help with defending? Yes Just that participating in the odd liberation will always be a massive help and doesn't require much effort or commitment on their part If they don't do much with their WA, then defending is a great use for it What is your favorite part of trr? The community What do you prefer: oranges or apples? Apples Do you feel that the phrase "comparing apples to oranges'' is a little too little of a difference for it to match what the phrase means? I feel like I just pulled off comparing them very well because they're already pretty similar Erm Yes? I don't exactly know how to answer that Since I lack intimate knowledge of apples and oranges How did you end up in trr? Cards I was seeking fratt's card (Frattastan II) and Wop suggested I ask Guy, so I joined TRR's discord and it just went from there Do you have any good cards right now? Your poker face is too good, I can't tell :thinking: I can't say :wink: Do you have anything to say to TSP readers right now? Any words from you from TRR for them? not particularly What would you like to see them add to ns? Not so much add, but remove the suppression cooldown for TRR Your profile picture is of an orca whale, how does it feel to be an apex predator? Very powerful, naturally Thank you for doing this interview! I hope your power outages stop! Fingers crossed xD I choose to believe that it's the raiders trapped with you in the dark and not the other way around anyway Regions Abroad Series - Interview with Sith Assassin
By Islands of unity The Free Nations Region is a growing defender community. Today, Islas sits down with their Vice President, Sith Assasin, to discuss the region.
What is FNR about? The Free Nations Region, or FNR for short, is a democratic region home to over 400 unique nations. As someone who's been in FNR for my entire NS career, I've seen it change and evolve quite a bit, but one thing that's always stayed the same is its strong sense of community. FNR is friendly, diverse, and welcoming to nations of all shapes and sizes. There's a place for everyone here in FNR! I've heard there's an election going on, why are you putting your name in to run? What are your goals? Indeed there is! I'm running for President in this election. I'm a very experienced NS player, especially when it comes to the regional government. Here in FNR, I've been an active member of the government for over two years, having held such positions as President, Speaker, and currently Vice President. I've decided to run for President in this election because I believe that FNR will benefit from a leader who is active, experienced, and who will continue to strengthen our region's sense of community. Our former Presidents have excelled at this, and I believe that I can continue the trend! If I'm elected, some of my major plans for this term will be to introduce a Ministry of Roleplay to our government, to revive our regional newspaper, and to organize interregional events for residents of FNR and its embassy regions to participate in. "Do you pledge to withdraw if you lose the election?" :stuck_out_tongue: What is the thing you're most proud to have helped with within your time as an FNR member? Ooh, tough question! The first thing that comes to mind would have to be the Apprenticeship Program that I created for FNR's government back in July 2020. This program aims to help newer players get acquainted with the inner workings of our government so that they have the skills required to later become full-fledged members of the government. The program was introduced via the legislature proposal found at this link: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1376410. I'm pleased to add that the program has been quite successful so far! However, I must also mention that I'm very proud of all the legislature votes I put up over the year that I served as FNR's Speaker! What do you think FNR looks like? In what way? Visually? As in, literally what I see when I look at the region page? Sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: What kind of place do you think it would be, like what would it be like? Neither of y'all got the question, I’ll just mark it down here that FNR is incomprehensible :stuck_out_tongue: Oh no! :joy: I've got to go for now; will get back to you with my answer soon. [3 hours later] Sith assassin: Under my presidency, or in general? And I apologize for burying you in questions about this one question! :joy: I was picturing that you'd be like "There's a mountain range and little shops" or something lol we'll probably skip this and move on Sith assassin: Ah, I understand now!! I think FNR would look something like a rural town with a population of a few hundred or so, where each real-life person represents one NationStates player. It'd be a peaceful, charming little town with friendly residents and lots of culture! Perhaps it would be beside a lake, too. I can smell the cool, fresh air now! Your username is Sith Assassin, is Darth Vader or the Emperor getting it first? Neither. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: The idea behind my ID is that I'm both a Sith and an assassin. Vader and the Emperor would be my allies. How important do you think R/D is to managing a community like yours? Here in FNR, we have an active Founder, a non-executive WA Delegate, and various other preventative measures in place to ensure that we are immune to raiding, so in that sense, R/D isn't all that important to the management of our region. However, it still plays a large role in our community because of our regional military, the Free Nations Defense Association. Thus, we maintain a defender ideology. Our military is committed to liberating regions that have been raided. How is your day going so far? Pretty good, you? It's been pretty chill so far What other regions are you involved in if you don't mind me asking? Just one, Strawberry Hill, which I founded. I've got two puppets there: Berry World and A Puppet of My Nation. The region isn't much, but I keep it around for sentimental reasons. What is your favorite berry? Strawberries, for sure! I think it’s sad how they make strawberries and cherries share a color, but oranges get to name the color after itself What would you say to a tsp member considering dropping in to say hello? Go right ahead! We could always use a bit of company. Say something nice about your opponent? A: If I had to pick one thing, it would definitely be how dedicated Orvos is to our region. They played a very large part in the creation of FNR's role play, and our regional map is designed and maintained entirely by them! They've also been an integral part of the regional government over the past few terms. Thank you for all your hard work, Orvos! I have heard that you are VP and that your President is your VP pick for this election, do you plan on doing like a special high five as he moves his last box of possessions from his office to yours and vice versa if you win? Of course! :joy: How is the election going? I would say that the election is going well so far. The voting period ends tomorrow, and judging by FNR's RMB, quite a few citizens have already cast their votes! Additionally, last Friday, I answered a question about my campaign from Heaveria. I haven't received all that many questions from citizens this election season, so it was nice to be able to answer one on Friday! Click here to see my answer: https://www.nationstates.net/region=the_...#p42411713. What do you think is the biggest flaw in NS as a game? Wow, that's a tricky question! I'm not sure that NS has any large flaws at all. However, something that does come to mind is the amount of freedom and flexibility given to NS players. While not exactly a flaw — in fact, NS's flexibility is widely considered to be a good thing because it allows players to fully express their creativity — there are ways in which it can be exploited negatively. Take, for example, the fact that NS has the capacity to allow raiders to destroy functioning, healthy communities. As the founder of a small region myself, I can imagine how devastating it would be to see such a community ruined by your fellow NS players. Of course, not all raiders are like this — it's just an example I came up with off the top of my head. What do you think a tsp-fnr event would be like? I think it'd be a lot of fun! If I were to organize such an event, I'd start by polling both FNR and TSP to see what type of event they'd like to participate in. Some ideas I've come up with are a joint roleplay, a choose-your-own-adventure poll, and a weekly raffle. It would definitely require a lot of planning and cooperation between our two governments, but I'm sure it would be very worthwhile! Regions Abroad Series - Interview with Doctor Ovros
By Islands of unity Doctor Ovros is the Minister of Immigration for the Free Nations Region.
So what is FNR about? It's an NS Region, FNR form of government is a parliamentary democracy and a crowned republic which will strive to promote freedom, peace, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all it does, it has around 460 nations currently and we are an active community, in FNR you can chat, get involved in WA Matters, Roleplaying and Defending. And also participate in fun events organized by the Minister of Culture. You mentioned earlier that elections are underway, what does TSP need to know? Probably who are the Candidates and their plans for FNR I suppose, the Candidates are me, Orvos (Nation name:Doctors Orvos), and My Nation (Literally his nation name, I’m not joking), My Nation essentially want to maintain the things more or less the same except reestablishing the Ministry of Roleplaying, while I want to change quite a bit things, you can know more about what I intend to do by reading my campaign https://www.nationstates.net/nation=doct...id=1488678, the Vice President candidates are my running mate, South Asians, current Minister of Defence, and the running mate of My Nation, Sparsdan, the current President. Do you have precedent for being president? Where has your ns career taken you before now? No, this is my first time running for President, but I had and still have until the end of the election some important positions, I was the Deputy Minister of Immigration, I’m currently the Minister of Immigration (was elected for it), I’m an ambassador/diplomat of FNR to CAS, I’m an Executive of Culture and last but surely not least important I’m the RP Manager, an appointed position that was first in charge of building a new RP for FNR and then leading and managing it, though either if I win or My Nation win the Presidential Election we both plan to abolish the RP Manager and make a Minister of RP Position. What is the CAS? A region I'm an ambassador/diplomat for FNR. What do you think FNR looks like? [We clarified and figured out the question after this] Well, if it was an IRL Nation it would be a parliamentary democracy and a crowned republic which strive to promote freedom, peace, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all it does, it's very corruption-free currently, it's relatively big territorial and population-wise and the citizens engage in a lot of group activities like playing games, listening to music, etc but it had a very turbulent history but we are currently living in a period of peaceful time. What is your favorite part? What is my favorite part of FNR? Or Nationstates in general Roleplaying, but I also find it very fun working for the Government and/or the Ministries of FNR. You said that regardless of the outcome of the election that a spot for a roleplay minister had been agreed to, how important is this for the roleplay community in FNR? The RP is one of the most important and active parts of the Free Nations Region. We are planning to hold RP World Events like Olympics, International Conferences, etc. To successfully organize them having an RP representative in the Cabinet would be great. What do you think of r/d and military gameplay on ns? Admittedly I don't know much about it and I never did partake in it, but my running mate in the Presidential election, South Asians, is a very experienced R/D Player. [b]What do you think of tsp? The South Pacific is a very important region in Nationstates. I know that they are a strong defender region. FNR is grateful to have such a strong partner. If elected as the President I would work to make this relationship stronger. Hopefully, we can jointly organize a cultural event or something What are your events usually like? Tsp loves to party I’m sure we could figure something out :stuck_out_tongue: In a bit, there will be FNR’s 5th anniversary, but in the meantime, I can continue. How are yall celebrating? That sounds like a ton of fun! 5 years is no small feat and I hope your community enjoys the festivities! What is your favorite game out of the ones on the schedule? Skribble.io probably. What would a tsp-fnr event look like under you? We can have a joint music session, play Werewolf, cards against humanity, hold a joint art contest, play skribbl.io and other io games and any other pc games against each other. Winners get prizes like DLCs, stamps, etc. That sounds like fun, I’m sure we'd enjoy it! What is a song that the readers and myself should listen to? God Shattering Star. Rain version. Specifically. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WMYL6HuUoI Seems interesting, I’ll check it out How do you take your coffee? I don't drink coffee actually, never did, I only drink normal water and hot chocolate. Hot chocolate with water or milk? Milk. Ns brings people from all over the world together, how important is this feature of the game for you? Fairly important, for me it's very interesting talking to people from other countries, knowing about the cultures of other countries is great. I meet online with other people from other countries every day and we share our ideas and experiences. I think playing this game has taught me a lot of things that are going to be very valuable for me in the future. I agree with you, that it makes people more mindful and open, do you think more people should seek out to speak to people from places they've never been? Definitely yes because in this age of media fake news spreads more than real news and people usually hear bad things about other countries rather than good things, talking to people from places where we have never been actually helps us in building our own perspective. How are the other races in the elections holding up? The Ministers elections will be after the Presidential, Speaker, canceled and WA Delegate ones, regarding the current WA Delegate and Speaker elections Gufand, is running unstopped for Speaker and same for Narvatus for WA Delegate. Say something nice about your opponent? He is a very nice person to talk with. Thank you for doing the interview![/b]
Bribery, Identity Fraud, and a Competitive Local Council Election
By Purple Hyacinth The November 2020 Local Council election started like any other: the Election Commissioner, (Pencil Sharpeners 2 in this election) published a dispatch with the rules and sent out a mass telegram to everyone in the region. Several nations were nominated, with some accepting. Among the candidates were two nations that had served in the previous term as well, Drystar and Volaworand.
A Simple Start (But Interesting Nonetheless) After the nomination period ended, the campaigning period began. As usual, many of the campaigns were creative: some full of graphics, some humorous; others struck a more serious tone. Notable campaigns include Volaworand’s campaign dispatches, of which there were ten; Saint Cinder campaign dispatches, which included edited images with humorous content; and Melicorium’s campaign, which included an animated video. The first round poll went smoothly, and Volaworand won by a large margin. As they were quite popular and an incumbent LC, they were expected to win this poll. Behind him was Melicorium in second place, Beepee in third place, and Drystar and Shangyuen tied for fourth place. Things Get Unusual and Also Illegal The second round poll started normally, with all candidates that were still in the race except Volaworand as options in the poll. However, only half a day into the second round, Philippinia, using stamps, sent out a mass telegram to almost all WA members in the region, promoting candidate Shangyuen. This caused a surge in votes for Shangyuen. Now, mass telegrams for an LC candidate, while frowned upon by some, are not illegal. However, the telegram also included a promise that Shangyuen and Philippinia would endorse anyone who voted for Shangyuen. Additionally, Philippinia sent a telegram to one nation, offering a card in exchange for a vote. Pencil Sharpeners 2, having the power to deal with election-related disputes as Election Commissioner, determined that this constituted bribery. As a result, they canceled the poll and started a new poll for round two. However, Shangyuen had already moved out of the region by then and was therefore disqualified and not included in the new round two poll. The new poll ran without any major election disputes. However, that’s not to say it wasn’t competitive. At the beginning of the poll, Drystar was leading, with Melicorium in second place and Beepee close behind. However, towards the end of the rage, Beepee overtook Melicorium. Ultimately, Drystar and Beepee were the ones who won the poll, serving as LC in the next term alongside Volaworand. High Court Cases After the bribery occurred during the original round two poll, Pencil Sharpeners 2 didn’t just stop at restarting the poll. They also filed a Criminal Complaint to the High Court, charging Philippinia with Bribery. Philippinia admitted to the actions, saying that the idea of using cards as an incentive was Shangyuen’s idea. As a result, the High Court charged Philippinia and Shangyuen with Organized Crime as well. The High Court also requested that the defendants give the High Court logs of any communication to each other regarding bribery in the election. However, because they refused to give the High Court the evidence requested, the High Court additionally charged Philippinia and Shangyuen with Contempt of Court. Ultimately, the High Court found both guilty of Contempt of Court, found Philippinia guilty of Bribery, and found both not guilty of Organized Crime. The High Court gave Philippinia a sentence of a twelve-month ban from the region, both in-game and on off-site properties. However, Shangyuen could not be sentenced yet. A new charge of Identify Fraud was brought against him, this time by Roavin, representing the Legislator Committee. Roavin stated that under the alias Schweizer Reich, the player behind Shangyuen applied for legislatorship. Not only was Shangyuen still a legislator at that time (every player is only allowed one account in the Assembly), but they failed to disclose that they were the same person. Roavin presented evidence to the High Court supporting their charge. The case is still ongoing, so we are waiting to see how the High Court will rule. Analysis The three candidates that won, Beepee, Drystar, and Volaworand, have all been Local Councillors before. Melicorium (who has not been a LCer before) was close behind Beepee, but didn’t make it by a few votes. Is the current LC an indication that people are looking for more established candidates to win? Certainly, smirk Shangyuen and Philippinia’s bribery may have caused people to turn away from newer people like them. I’d say it’s more possible that--like any other election--people who are more well-known tend to get elected (regardless of their campaign, even recent activity)--and people who have been LCs before are more likely to be well-known. Plus, being LC is a relatively easy role, simply suppressing according to the rules, and it’s difficult to screw up unless you suppress things you aren’t supposed to, are extremely inactive, or somehow have horrible behavior (in that case, it’s unlikely you’d be elected in the first place). As a result, people are less often dragged down by bad LC terms. In the most recent screenshot of the original round two poll (that has now been deleted) that I could find, Shangyuen was leading, Drystar was second, Beepee third, and Melicorium fourth. In the second round two poll (which didn’t include Shangyuen of course), the order of candidates Drystar, Beepee, and Melicorium remained the same, indicating that the bribery by Philippinia didn’t really affect the results much besides giving Shangyuen a lot of votes. Getting Shangyuen a lot of votes via a mass telegram isn’t illegal (though the use of it is uncommon). But bribery is--and that’s what got Shangyuen out of the race. The content of the mass TG, however, probably would have had the same effect without the incentive of endorsements, and the TG about cards was sent to someone who wasn’t even a Native WA member at the time (of course, the intent to bribe was still there, and that’s what matters in the High Court case). If the bribery hadn’t happened, Shangyuen almost certainly would be on the LC alongside Volaworand and Drystar. Would Shangyuen have been a good LC? I don’t know. But it’s interesting to see how something little--really not even the thing with the most impact on the race--ultimately caused Shangyuen to leave TSP (voluntarily) and therefore disqualify themselves. Circus (Part 1)
By Rabbitz Flower meadows and happy fields, the sky filled with clean air, the streams shimmering as they flow free into their woodland creeks far away, and the fluffy clouds bringing beautiful shapes to the imagination. This is a great life! Lying on my back, I try to guess the shapes the clouds make as they pass by. Ooo, a panda! Ooo, a snake! Ooo, an ocelot! Ooo, a bowl of stew! Unfortunately for my fun and me, the sun, having been covered by the poly-shaped clouds, decided to come out and reveal its bright, burning rays. As I feel it on my skin, I walk to a nearby tree, the only tree in the entire meadow, and lie down on my back again to enjoy the shade. Since the tree prohibits me from gazing at the clouds, I do the next best thing: close my eyes, breathe a sigh of relaxation, and prepare to nap the day away.
All of a sudden, I feel something graze my face. It doesn’t quite feel like a leaf, so I quickly brush it away to avoid any distractions from the sensation of nature. Concentrating again on my nap, I try to slip back into the cool, black silence of my mind. Then, from the depths of that blackness, I hear the faintest sound of music. It sounds happy! No, wait, lively? No, wait, spirited! No, wait . . . louder? Is it getting . . . louder? I start hearing the beating drums, the thunderous horns, and the enthusiastic piano quickly crescendoing to make my eardrums bleed from their spirit. Panicked, I try to sit up, but something is pulling me down. I try to open my eyes, but something is keeping them shut. I try to move my arms, but something has bound them to the ground. I try to scream, but my mouth is sealed. All the while I writhe and wriggle on the ground in the agony of that now-wretched music. Honk! Honk! Honk! Thump! Thump! Thump! Bang! Bang! Bang! MAKE IT STOP!!! Through each mocking beat of the drums, each dark chord the piano rips out, and each obnoxious beep of the horns I shudder and thrash as they play their sinister tune. What started as a calm background has turned into a pure, howling tune, like nails on a chalkboard. In somber desperation, I call out the most wretched scream I could form in my mind, a scream that no one will hear, a scream that no one will come to . . . No one will come to...? That sudden realization hits me like a Minié Ball; it hurts excruciatingly, and the rapid pain of isolation spreads to all my muscles. In a sullen moment, I forget I am bound, and I tense up and try to curl up into a ball for self-comfort, but to little avail. In lugubrious acknowledgment, I go limp, and I feel the water swell in my eyes as tears fall for a silent cry. In my mind, emotions of sadness, desperation, confusion, hatred, and loneliness trample over thoughts of logic and escape. No one is coming . . . Then, in an instance, over my cries and emotions, the music I hear goes from screaming white noise to full clarity, and I immediately recognize what it is: it’s carnival music. At this sudden realization, I start laughing a little bit. Not a jovial laugh, but a laugh when you have nothing else to pitch: an uneasy laugh. Although unable to smile, my ab muscles convulse and tighten, almost to the point where it hurts. Feeling my grasp on the world around me slipping as I try to make sense of what is happening, I lie in silence, delusional from a broken mind. So caught in my delusion, I didn’t even realize that I was sinking. While my existential crisis of emotion was happening, the ground was swallowing me whole. It takes me a second to realize the situation I am in, but I don’t care. With erosion occurring not only in my mind but with my body, I accept it. I don’t put up a fight; I don’t even question it. I just want it to be over; but, although things look leak, I give a smirk at the fact that I bring a whole new meaning to the phrase “six feet under”, just to have a little pride in the end. Abruptly, at what I guess is the 30ft mark, I hear a noise that sounds like a student first learning the violin: high-pitched. Assuming it’s part of the general noise, I A few seconds, I hear it again, except it’s louder, clearer, and far sharper. This time, it sounds like someone grabbed a knife and dragged it over a chalkboard in a rapid strike, rather than a quiet action with subtle self-awareness. It is far more sudden, far more noticeable, and far more menacing. So menacing, in fact, I actually feel more unsafe than I was before. How about that . . . ? I can’t bear it, and I begin crying again. I’ve broken again, and it hasn’t even been one day. Or has it? I forget . . . Wait, what’s my name again? What did my name begin with? Was it a D, or an A, or an F? I . . . I can’t . . . remember . . . I can’t . . . remember? I can’t remember? Heh, I can’t remember! Heh heh, I can’t remember!! HAHAHA, I CAN’T REMEMBER!!! Through anguish, I laugh hysterically. It’s a laugh of insanity. It’s a laugh of desperation. It’s a laugh of the broken. It’s a laugh from the face of misery. It’s a laugh to the face of misery. It’s an internal laugh. Now, I can’t stop laughing. I don’t want to stop laughing. Even though tears are rolling down my cheeks, I’m laughing. I laugh so hard that I don’t even realize that someone is laughing with me. I only stop laughing when I finally hear their laughter over mine. Their laughter is demented, mocking, menacing, and chilling. Their laughter is harsh, raspy, high- pitched, and almost sounds like . . . a cackle? I think it is a cackle . . . Are they cackling at me? It sounds like they are. I think they are. I know they are. They must be. I laugh even harder. Have I lost my mind? I think so! I really think so! I must be! I. Have. Lost. It! Yay! I laugh even harder. Hahahahahaha!!!!! I love my delusion!!!!! Woooo!!!!! Through my obscene laughter, I don’t even hear that their laughter suddenly stops, and is replaced by a single phrase: it’s time to wake up. … Oh … Sh*t. … Get Involved in TSP
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