Post by manson on Jan 25, 2020 18:39:43 GMT -5
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WA Delegate: Deadeye Jack
Culture Officer: PowerPAOK
Foreign Affairs Officer: Neop
Outreach Officer: The Pharcyde
Media Officer: Bormiar
Speaker of the Assembly: An_Dr_Ew
Rejectmas 2019: A Celebration to Remember
Deputy Officer Morover takes a quick nap on the floor of his apartment after a long day of cleaning Dramoon-colored stains out of the carpets of Capitol buildings.
The turn of the decade was greeted by the Rejected Realms’ annual hairy and very smooth Rejectmas Festival, flaunting a gusto that rivalled its popularity back when the event ran in conjunction with the NationStates’ World Fair. We invite you to learn more about the holiday’s traditions here or to consult our brief checklist.
With the regional holiday officially running from December 26 to January 1, our Culture Department prepared a series of ten activities for Rejectmas Festival 2019, hosted gameside, forumside and on our discord server.
Hosted Gameside, we had a poll-run popularity Unicorn Jousting tournament, where contestants came up with unique unicorns to represent their nations and competed in elimination play-offs. Congratulations to The Church of Satan whose sponsees, Rudolphon the Reindragon and Duke Christmas Goodknight, secured the title of Unicorn Jouster of 2019. The Lord of Misrule was also in full effect over on our RMB, causing what was essentially state-sanctioned chaos upon the region. Yet, do not let this description fool you, as the rules were strict and even more strictly enforced. A summary of the damage, in the form of suppressions and rule-inspired posts, as well as all the misrules throughout, can be seen here. Lastly, we also ran the Rejectmas Flag Guild.
Over on our discord server, we ran two games of Escadian Battleship. The first was played using the Classic gamemode, and was later converted into a dispatch that narrates and gives justice to the experience, found here. The second is where we tested an early version of the new expansion gamemode, which has now officially launched through The Rejected Times’ Issue LV as the Werewolf Expansion.
Turning our attention forumside, we saw the return of some old activities as well as some new and exciting additions; we saw the return of our old Rejectmas Tree, the return of Rejection Apologies, and our 3rd annual Rejectmas Chess Tournament, joined by the three new inclusions of Online Dixit, Pin the Tail uncovering the tail of the true Greymarshes’ Unicorn, and our popular group-led game of AI Dungeon. Congratulations to Outboundstagnate for becoming our 2019-2020 Rejectmas Chess Champion, usurping Delegate Dead I Jack!
Unicorn Star Treaty Ratified
In a time of prosperity, The North Pacific and The Rejected Realms have come together again in order to draft a new treaty between the two regions. On December 9, 2019, with margins significantly in favor, The Unicorn Star Treaty was ratified.
A closer relationship with The North Pacific was a goal of the leadership of The Rejected Realms for quite some time. After cooperating with each other for N-Day, for the Epic Gamer Party, and to combat the coup perpetrated against our mutual allies,The East Pacific, it ultimately came to fruition this past December. Then Delegate Kyorgia and Foreign Affairs Officer Deadeye Jack worked with their TNP counterparts to write a new treaty that included mutual defense and built on the provisions of the old, non-aggression pact, The Unicorn Star Accord. In effect, the new treaty was simply a rise in relations to a formal alliance.
In the process of ratification, the treaty was very well-received on both sides, being ratified with 17 votes in favor and no against votes or abstentions in TRR, and 27 votes in favor, 4 abstentions, and no against votes in TNP.
We at The Rejected Realms are excited about this new alliance, and we are even more excited to see where the future will take our relationship with The North Pacific.
Electoral Dysfunction
The Assembly has been abuzz with various threads this past month. But, why? I'll take “Election Season” for 1000, Alex.
Several candidates lined up for the nomination/declaration processes, the first of which was for Officer Elections and began on November 30. Manson, New Wight, Glacikaldr (PowerPAOK/Nequedum), Neop, The Pharcyde, and Bormiar all made it through this process, but the latter four were the ones to come out victorious in the Officer Elections.
Not nearly as fiercely competitive, the Delegate Election was won by Deadeye Jack in a landslide victory. Early on in the nomination process, it seemed very likely of Jack to run unopposed. However, to combat this while retaining a sense of good sportsmanship, An_Dr_Ew (Gorundu) decided to run for the position of Delegate as well for the heck of it. Despite losing, An_Dr_Ew kept their chin up. This was not the last we saw of them in the election ring.
With the Delegate Election coming to a close on December 12, the Speaker Election was not much far ahead; its nomination cycle began on December 31. Two familiar citizens announced their candidacies for Speaker. The first being An_Dr_Ew, and the second being Morover. On January 9, the voting period had come to a close. With six votes to Morover's five, An_Dr_Ew had won the tightly contested election and filled the role of Speaker.
Congratulations to our newly-elected Officers, Speaker, and Delegate.
Flag History Project Launched
We're not even sure when this flag was flown over the region… (Flag made by Cuatela/A Raptor)
Regions change over time, and as a result of this, so do their flags. As far as many people are concerned, documentation is essential to the preservation of these remnants of a time long passed. It's evident that Culture Officer Glacikaldr (also known as PowerPAOK and Nequedum) had preservation in mind when he started The Rejected Realms' very own Flag History Project.
Revealed to the public on December 12, 2019, the Flag History Project is a program dedicated to archiving and documenting each notable flag flown over the region, at one time or another. Striving for accuracy, Glacikaldr has begun to list details about the flags that some would consider unnecessary. For example, he has collected information on when the flags were first flown, when they were made, and who crafted them.
Historically, The Rejected Realms is a storied region. The Flag History Project has seemed to be a worthy cause and does well in its initial task of making citizens knowledgeable about our past as a region. Here is what a couple of citizens had to say about the program:
I believe pursuing knowledge of our historical change and continuity is essential in understanding of The Rejected Realms' culture, and that the Flag History Project, while it may be difficult, is a beneficial way of achieving this.
Vexillology is as much an artform as it is a field of study. One only need look at the continued appeal of heraldry to understand that symbols and images continue to be one of the most effective ways a person has to convey, at a distance and in a moment, who they are, and for what reason they are here. The basic rules of vexillology, well-known to any of the game's RP communities, are designed around the idea of a flag as a self-descriptive, self-contained, immediate identity-in-motion. It is no small coincidence that here on NationStates, our least-used rule is the one that 'flags must be flag-like' - they continue to be a statement more of ourselves than of the game. The Flag History Project is a groundbreaking initiative that continues on what, so long ago, was recognized by defenders - that flags are worth preserving. It recognizes the reality that a flag is, uniquely, its own interpretive context, and in continuity with each other an evocative timeline of TRR's personality and collective identity. An image is worth a thousand words, but a gallery is an entire history.
No matter where the future takes The Rejected Realms, we must not forget our past. Mementos such as flags are not the limit. However, they're an excellent place to start.
Other news
- Two horrific reanimated corpses have been found wandering around The Rejected Realms harassing citizens. Oh wait, it's just Sedge and CG!
- Popmaster has made a comeback.
- >_>!