The Rejected Times

[Killer Kitty]

I'm a little disappointed Balder doesn't believe in having a dialogue with us directly here. I'd love to hear out their genuine complaints.

You might, but considering how your fellow citizens and Officers have reacted to my observations, I can only imagine how'd they'd react to Balder's complaints.

In fact, what made you think it was acceptable to trash another GCR in the first place? Were you trying to bait Balder or did you just figure they'd not react?

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

The Invasion of Westphalia: Raider Victory over SWORD
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Intern Relfa | EDITED BY Senior Journalist Glacikaldr

Westphalian natives woke up on January 26, 2018 as if it was a normal day like any other. Everything was fine, conversations and games were happening in the Regional Message Board and Delegate Rigia was working on his project to rebuild Westphalia. Rigia had his delegacy ensured by 29 endorsements and the closest endogap was a relatively safe 9 endorsements, for User-Created Region (UCR) standards. Everyone went on thinking it would be just another normal day in the region, but they soon found out that they were wrong. Suddenly, 34 nations joined the region and endorsed Scrapper 142, a nation that was around for more than a month, involved in regional activities in the Regional Message Board, roleplaying games and a lot of other things. This was the moment when the day made the leap from something ordinary to a historic nightmare. The day after, when the update was over and Rigia lost his status as Delegate to Scrapper 142, pilers had secured the delegacy by reaching 100 endorsements on with more to come. It was done; one of the biggest founderless UCRs was invaded and its natives bore witness to The Black Hawks flag waving above their heads.

It seems that the operation to invade Westphalia had been prepared over a period of at least two months. This information can be deduced following a public announcement made by a turncoat that the region was on The Black Hawks' target list. The invasion was only possible with the combined strength of a huge coalition that has exposed the raiding communities' ability to cooperate for the greater bad. The attack was led by The Black Hawks, which has relied on the help of H Y D R A, The Imperium of Agia Germania, The Land of Kings and Emperors, Lone Wolves United, The Roman Empire, Unknown, The Ragerian Imperium, Armed Forces of the Enclave, The Sekhmet Legion of Osiris and, finally, The West Pacific Armed Forces. Yet, what makes this invasion such a victory to the raiders is the fact that Westphalia was a member of SWORD, a defender alliance created after the end of FORGE. Still, many of our readers may still be asking the curious question of why The West Pacific (TWP) would invade a region like Westphalia? The answer is in the past. TWP had some issues with FORGE, and, after its demise, these issues have been transferred over to its successor, SWORD. In fact, they convinced New Western Atlantic to leave FORGE in its final days. Hence, TWP were merely taking advantage of this opportunity to assault the second largest region of SWORD by helping the aforementioned invaders.

To help this coalition of evil, fascist invader regions moved nations to Westphalia to endorse Scrapper 142. Wehrmacht of the Reich and Royal Order helped in the invasion, endorsing the new Delegate and the regional officers, but the help was not much appreciated by some of the raiders. Despite the Delegate accepting and thanking the fascist help, Ludo, a regional officer, banjected some of the fascist nations stating that, "TBH doesn't work with the political side of NS." In fact, Ludo ended up ejecting them. The remaining fascist nations left Westphalia to organize other raids.

FORGE, the alliance that SWORD was born from, was an alliance created two years ago by a nation from the LCRUA named Krypton Nova. He established the constitution and other founding documents. The first three members were the LCRUA, the Superiorem Merionem Region, and the Solid Kingdom. Krypton Nova expanded the alliance overtime, however this drew criticism from the original members who felt as if this action deviated from the original plan. Nevertheless, additional regions were still admitted. FORGE had some notably successful operations, yet overall they could be counted on one hand alone. The alliance was pretty inactive and most of its members did not sufficiently compromised to the alliance, which led to respectable forces to leave, such as New Western Atlantic who were influenced by TWP in their decision to do so, The Hole to Hide In led by Lenlyvit in the decision, The Union of Democratic States and several other regions. South Asians, a LCRUA member, led the disbanding of FORGE into the creation of SWORD. Yet this most recent calls into question SWORD's leaderships, having failed to keep SWORD active and effective enough to protect their own regions. With this huge failure, it is not beyond reason to think that the Strategized World Organization for Regional Defence will face its demise in the coming months.

But what about Westphalian natives? What happened to them? The former government of Westphalia founded a new region, RHINIA. The new region has around 40 nations so far and intends to work similarly to Westphalia. They also decided to join SWORD, with a very close vote. TRT Staff asked some of the natives and SWORD members what their plans to liberate the region were, and they all reached a consensus on being realistic, informing us that, at the moment, it appears all but impossible. Their best chance was getting the Security Council resolution approved, but it failed. Right now, they recognise that they will need to form a coalition among several defender regions to even consider a liberation, but that prospect seems a long way out. So for now, Westphalia, a major founderless UCR, will probably be facing a very long domain under The Black Hawks flag.

Hi, a few comments/corrections to make.

While the observations that we'd been prepared to hit Westphalia for quite some time was accurate, it's worth noting that IIRC we did send in a *new* sleeper following that leak, because the operation was considered compromised despite a nation not being named.

With your list of those assisting, you should either include the full list of piling orgs, or cut it down to just those who jumped in with the initial hit, not somewhere in between. The list of those present in the initial hit can always be found in our thread.

TBH did not accept fascist help. The delegate may have absentmindedly thanked new piling nations on arrival as usual, but we quite clearly disavowed and forcibly removed fascist "help" the moment it was noted. A good way to check is to see if their name was recognized anywhere, i.e. the WFE - it was not. Let's not slant that, eh? Especially without mentioning, as noted later in the TBH thread, that SWORD considered taking Fascist help. Would appreciate proper research and balancing.

And finally, several days before this was published, Westphalia was handed off to Unknown. While understanding that this was likely written well prior, would have been neat to have a little "Edit:" note at the end summarizing events since, like the clearing out of the region and handoff, if publication is going to be thus delayed.

Defender's Digest: Iran Liberated and More
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Intern Fauxia | EDITED BY Senior Journalist Glacikaldr

It was the day of January 25, 2018. The Security Council was voting on a proposal, "Liberate Iran". The discrepancy in the voting made it clear that it would soon become SC#241, as it was on track to pass with over 90% support. Defenders, aware that its passage would leave Iran, a region devoid of actual natives, defenseless against raider forces, began to stir and planned for Iran's defense.

They would not neglect their duties. On the final day of voting, January 25th, former officer in both the 10000 Islands Treaty Organization (TITO) and former Grey Warden Commander Lenlyvit created a discord server dedicated to the defender response to the liberation, entitled "Operation Irani Freedom". Lenlyvit then began to invite defenders into the server. At the beginning, he invited SWORD operatives, notably founder South Asians and Chancellor Crystalsummer. Prior to the midnight major update and the official passage of the resolution, other defenders, such as Roavin, then of the Grey Wardens, began to join the server.

The working plan was that Grey Warden Commander Altmoras - using the nation of Fastest Man Alive in Iran - would initially take the delegacy, before handing it to Lenlyvit, who was using the nation Nightkill. The update came. The orders on the server were given to enter Iran and endorse Fastest Man Alive at the very beginning of the update, though, as Iran would be updating more than half an hour into the update, those who were actively defending decided to first wait for Iran. The happenings that update contained both a major defender loss and defender victory. According to South Asians, it was known that the raiders would either raid Iran that update, or that they would raid Westphalia, a medium-sized region and member of SWORD. After initial orders in the defender discord server Libcord to move into Iran and aid the forces there, officers redirected defenders to Westphalia, where they endorsed the native delegate. However, their numbers were inferior to the numbers of the invaders, who took the Delegacy, eventually building up more than 100 pilers and, recently, passwording the region.

While the happenings in Westphalia may have been a bit of a damper that update for defenders, they still moved on to Iran a few minutes later. The massive piling force that prioritised Westphalia is theorised as having prevented the raiders from building a coalition large enough to unseat the defender delegate in Iran. Yet, in a strange, unexplained twist, Lenlyvit, who coordinated the mission and also created a discord server for Iran, resigned from the World Assembly and left the region, leaving the delegacy to Altmoras - using Fastest Man Alive. It is unclear what the cause of this is, and The Rejected TImes was unable to reach Lenlyvit for an interview. Altmoras still holds the Delegacy at the time of this article's writing, indicating that the defenders intend to keep protecting Iran until it can protect itself, or default to some other long term goal. Attempting to gain the influence required for a refound seems a lofty goal, considering that several invading nations in Iran have far higher influence, and, while, at the time of this article, Iramerica, the former Delegate of Iran who long ago attempted to liberate the region, is near the top of the region in the World Census statistic "Influence", almost none of that number is influence in Iran. One can observe this due to how Iramerica's influence continues to drop at an increasingly dramatic rate.
According to the founder of SWORD - now AIR - South Asians, one of the first defenders contacted by Lenlyvit, the defenders do plan to withdraw at some point and hand the delegacy over to Iramerica. It is, however, unclear exactly when this will occur.

The defenders have intended to keep the region safe, however, that has, for better or for worse, meant that a few nations who asked for change in the region's gameside leadership have been ejected and banned. While that may seem brutal to the casual onlooker, perhaps it is necessary to keep the defenders in power, as a lapse in security could cause a raid, especially with the raid in Westphalia clearing up.

Now, of course, one might argue that logistically speaking, the liberation of Iran was not really worth anything. Many liberated regions have, following their liberations, fallen away from any spotlight at all in gameplay, caught in the chaotic depths of inactivity and irrelevance. Furthermore, Greece was a region liberated by the Security Council, and the "Liberate Iran" resolution acknowledges many parallels between the invasion of that region and the invasion of Iran. Greece was refounded by defenders last year. Yet, even now, with an experienced defender - Tim-Opolis - as the stable founder it was said Greece needed, the region contains only 27 nations. Its World Factbook Entry links to a forum with only seven total posts on it in more than three months. Its regional message board is fairly inactive. Greece is, measurably, inactive. If Iran, then, is so similar, will it be different in activity levels? Did defenders just deploy valuable piling units to a region with only one known native, only to see the region sink into the depths of inactivity?

Only time will tell these things. When the defenders withdraw, it will be interesting to see what happens in Iran. Until then, we'll have to wait in suspense.

"They would not neglect their duties."

"perhaps it is necessary to keep the defenders in power, as a lapse in security could cause a raid, especially with the raid in Westphalia clearing up."

"Until then, we'll have to wait in suspense."

This article aged well

[Glacikaldr]

Trash another GCR? Could you please quote the specific sections and which articles you're referring to EW? I believe Balder is indirectly complaining that we quoted them in the Sinkerism article.

If the suggestion I'm meant to take from that is, "don't quote me saying things I don't want you to point out I said"... Well then. Now that's what I call free press!

I hope they decide to address their concerns to me directly.

Edit: Just saw your reply now Ever-Wandering Souls: the Iran article certainly didn't age well for long.

I don't really see a way around this, and as for referencing names directly, that was not done by me. I wasn't the one to undertake the extensive research that both Relfa and Fauxia did, so it would be unfair for me to edit their articles further.

However, I believe a good way TRT can address these concerns shared by both of us is to do more follow-up articles. For example, this is already the second article written on Iran, and, as you indirectly point out, there is still interest for even more coverage. I will do my best to predict and meet expectations of readers, but feedback like yours is always a great indication. Thank you for your comments, they're very much appreciated.

[The Church of Satan]

You might, but considering how your fellow citizens and Officers have reacted to my observations, I can only imagine how'd they'd react to Balder's complaints.

In fact, what made you think it was acceptable to trash another GCR in the first place? Were you trying to bait Balder or did you just figure they'd not react?

Since when did you even care about Balder? Isn't your attention supposed to be on your dead UCR and your illegitimate government in Lazarus? Maybe you're just such an opportunist that a chance to pretend like Balder means something to you just so you can trash TRR for your petty years old grudge that we both know you still hold?

[Ikania]

That's why I find it pretty ironic that TRR and TSP consider TRR to be the top of the "Acceptance and Tolerance" list. You guys are throwing a fit and dreaming about the "good old days" of a Defender dictatorship in Lazarus because your TRR and TSP backed coup attempt against the Lazarus Government didn't work.

Sure doesn't hold a candle to throwing such a fit over unpopularity that you destroy a democracy, eliminate all dissenting voices and then desperately try to throw shade at free, liberal republics that are much more active and prosperous because people who defy their hivemind tend to get voted down and quit of their own volition. Instead of, of course, being violently ejected and completely stamped out without the chance to voice protest like you do back home.

TRR is a bright and prosperous democracy with a happy future consorting with likeminded fellows. The malignant backwater of sinker dictators and imperialist cabals are banging their pots as loud as they can in faux protest. That's how you know you're doing it right.

[Killer Kitty]

Since when did you even care about Balder?

You do realize Lazarus and Balder are allies, correct?

[Linkinson]

Trash another GCR? Could you please quote the specific sections and which articles you're referring to EW? I believe Balder is indirectly complaining that we quoted them in the Sinkerism article.

Take a look at the following sections:

Yet with Balder, which claims to just be one realm as opposed to the Rejected Realms being multiple, a politically motivated stance is exerted in their welcoming dispatch. Balder portrays the Sinker tag in a way that excludes the Rejected Realms by defining Sinker as meaning, "nations that are refounded automatically join this region, or one of the other sinkers. (The others are Osiris and Lazarus.)" Not only does this definition exclude the Rejected Realms, but Balder also intentionally excludes the Rejected Realms in their list of the supposed "others". This can easily be determined as offensive to the intelligence of NationStates players, who can rather easily just click on the Sinker tag and observe the Rejected Realms being present on the list. While this could simply be a powerplay in an attempt to manipulate players who do not yet understand the mechanisms behind NationStates, it would also be unfair to assume this motivation to mislead does not stem from another source as well. To understand what TRT Staff mean by this, we must first expose those readers who are as of yet still unaware of this contentious issue in the NationStates community; we must delve into how different factions and allegiances have and are attempting to define the Sinkerism ideology.

TRR Times is so eager to attack Balder that it spins the innocuous wording of a welcome dispatch into a statement of "sinkerist" ideology intended to mislead.

While Lazarus has been devoid of friends and allies in the wake of the region's latest coup, Balder, on the other hand, boasts a well-established network of mature alliances. Their problem isn't so much their portfolio but a longstanding reputation filled to the brim with betrayal and cattiness.

Osiris and Balder have also taken a similar hit in terms of activity of which should perhaps have been expected. The Osiris Fraternal Order (OFO) is no longer a new regime in the throes of a war and Balder is currently celebrating being the second most boring region ever.

The responses themselves tell us more about the opinions of the self-selecting group who took the survey than underlying reality. But the real problem here isn't the inclusion of the survey data. It's the entirely unnecessary accompanying adverse commentary (which has no foundation other than speculation). The comments in the above quotes are reflective of animus against Balder.

It is self-evident why the quoted sections would cause offence to Balder. If the Editor-in-Chief of TRR Times genuinely can't see that, then that shows poor editorial judgment.

[Libetarian Republics]

I'll keep in mind when excluding the Rejected Realms from your list of Sinker regions in the Welcoming Dispatch was definitely "innocuous wording."

[Lord Dominator]

"They would not neglect their duties."

"perhaps it is necessary to keep the defenders in power, as a lapse in security could cause a raid, especially with the raid in Westphalia clearing up."

"Until then, we'll have to wait in suspense."

This article aged well

I recall another claim in there that made the article 0/4.
Very well aged

[The Church of Satan]

Since when did you even care about Balder?

You do realize Lazarus and Balder are allies, correct?

That may be but your history proves such things mean nothing to you. So why should it matter to you now after you aided in gutting Lazarus for personal gain? I have the utmost respect for the government of Balder. They are legitimate and actually place their community above themselves. They're free to choose their allies and govern themselves as they please just like any legitimate government should be without facing the threat of civil war by those such as you.

[Glacikaldr]

Yet with Balder, which claims to just be one realm as opposed to the Rejected Realms being multiple, a politically motivated stance is exerted in their welcoming dispatch. Balder portrays the Sinker tag in a way that excludes the Rejected Realms by defining Sinker as meaning, "nations that are refounded automatically join this region, or one of the other sinkers. (The others are Osiris and Lazarus.)" Not only does this definition exclude the Rejected Realms, but Balder also intentionally excludes the Rejected Realms in their list of the supposed "others". This can easily be determined as offensive to the intelligence of NationStates players, who can rather easily just click on the Sinker tag and observe the Rejected Realms being present on the list. While this could simply be a powerplay in an attempt to manipulate players who do not yet understand the mechanisms behind NationStates, it would also be unfair to assume this motivation to mislead does not stem from another source as well. To understand what TRT Staff mean by this, we must first expose those readers who are as of yet still unaware of this contentious issue in the NationStates community; we must delve into how different factions and allegiances have and are attempting to define the Sinkerism ideology.

TRR Times is so eager to attack Balder that it spins the innocuous wording of a welcome dispatch into a statement of "sinkerist" ideology intended to mislead.

I share LR's sentiment here. You can claim that the statement Balder has publicly displayed means whatever you want, but it'd be hypocritical for you to claim that we shouldn't read into something Balder publicly displays and instead should only interpret it the way you want us to. That's exactly what you're trying to accuse me of, and it's a terrible hill for you to die on with this context in mind.

While Lazarus has been devoid of friends and allies in the wake of the region's latest coup, Balder, on the other hand, boasts a well-established network of mature alliances. Their problem isn't so much their portfolio but a longstanding reputation filled to the brim with betrayal and cattiness."

"Osiris and Balder have also taken a similar hit in terms of activity of which should perhaps have been expected. The Osiris Fraternal Order (OFO) is no longer a new regime in the throes of a war and Balder is currently celebrating being the second most boring region ever."

The responses themselves tell us more about the opinions of the self-selecting group who took the survey than underlying reality. But the real problem here isn't the inclusion of the survey data. It's the entirely unnecessary accompanying adverse commentary (which has no foundation other than speculation). The comments in the above quotes are reflective of animus against Balder.

It is self-evident why the quoted sections would cause offence to Balder. If the Editor-in-Chief of TRR Times genuinely can't see that, then that shows poor editorial judgment.

Animus towards behaviour or animus towards character? You personally have been criticising TRR (and now me) across a couple threads now, and I believe it's your right to do so, insofar as I believe it is The Rejected Times' right, not to mention duty to its readers, to inform them of common perceptions following a survey all about said perceptions. It is for this reason I find that issues such as these should be discussed privately with the Rejected Realms' Foreign Affairs (if you truly believe we hate Balder or something), rather than making our relations look like a disorganised comedy sketch to the common outsider... userite?... (something I was told during a discussion of this post you made).

I noticed that you removed the url hyperlink for, "Balder is currently celebrating being the second most boring region ever", and I'm unsure if that's purposeful, however it linked to the feedback Balder got from celebrating their long-sitting delegacy; specifically, how Balder chose not to include delegates such as Kandarin in the leaderboard. While it was justified as being based on NS's data, it was still criticised, and even pointed out that a delegate with an exceptionally long-term time in office is not a sign of a healthy region - in fact, anecdotal evidence suggests it's the opposite (again, we could discuss the state of TRR under Kandy as his term progressed). Cormac raised a far longer and more thoughtful argument in this regard that taps into what I am getting at, found here.

Additionally, I've repeated this a couple times but I understand if you have not seen it yet. The participants for the survey were by no means 'self-selected'; the GCRs Survey was advertised here, on the NS gameplay subforum, received 51 replies after being sent around by people at their own leisure and was closed after 5 days of immense popularity (compared to earlier surveys conducted by TRT). Yes, we should have probably sent it to GCRs directly, as I recognised in this post, but that also creates issues with external advertisement (which is the reason why I chose not to do it). In the future, I will request the Rejected Times' Foreign Affairs Department handle its distribution to avoid these feelings of unrest with regions that are not as active in this part of the forums.

Now, seeing how I like to think you came here out of good faith, would you be happy if, in the future, we pursued sending the surveys to GCRs directly as well? Would you (Balder) be happy to accomodate for that, and do you believe other GCRs will as well (I will have to check with them, or the Foreign Affairs department will)? I think most feeders will be willing, but there may be some friction among the sinkers, as the facts are usually stacked against us (TRR isn't free from its issues). I will also consider no longer repeating subjective feedback the survey gets, and instead limit TRT Staff to only discussing the data analytically. While justifying said data is important, if it's going to cause this many issues for Balder and Lazarus then I will certainly be thinking twice before allowing it to be published in TRT in this form. I'd like to thank Osiris and the feeder GCRs for not exaggerating this beyond what it is: a simple survey conducted across 51 NS players involved in GCRs and interregional politics, examining where some regions are excelling and where some regions may need to look towards improving. TRT will not handle your PR, even that of the Rejected Realms, but we will point out achievements and low-points. I think the Sinkerism article is a good example of that, as it operated with the premise that TRR was initially to blame for the rise of a Sinkerism ideology. Now we can watch and see how the majority of sinkers still choose to perpetuate it and whether TRR will ever be included once again.

Let's have something positive come out of this, yeah?

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

Edit: Just saw your reply now Ever-Wandering Souls: the Iran article certainly didn't age well for long.

Query: When was that article actually written?

Trying to figure out how far ahead of time an article written by a warden noted that Iran was a likely target for raiders post-Westphalia, to better accuracy than "it was published a day before, and probably written earlier."

It's very vital to determining how astonishing it is that while pointing that out publicly, defenders thought the region would be safe from such with 17e sitting there.

[Glacikaldr]

Edit: Just saw your reply now Ever-Wandering Souls: the Iran article certainly didn't age well for long.

Query: When was that article actually written?

Trying to figure out how far ahead of time an article written by a warden noted that Iran was a likely target for raiders post-Westphalia, to better accuracy than "it was published a day before, and probably written earlier."

It's very vital to determining how astonishing it is that while pointing that out publicly, defenders thought the region would be safe from such with 17e sitting there.

I'm not exactly sure the period of time it was written as Fauxia (the puppet nation that is a citizen of TRR and wrote the article) had it assigned to him for a little less than a month (since the 9th of February). I recommend sending them a telegram (to that nation) with this question if you're genuinely curious. The article was intended as a follow up to this Special Release of the Times.

I know of a mindset that was in circulation that claimed Iran should be made to be able to support itself without defenders having to sit in there. This can be cited as one of the reasons I make sure people know my position of, "every time defenders refuse to cooperate, raiders have the advantage. Raiders have shown us time and again that they are always willing to work together (aside from with Nazis)."

[Glacikaldr]

Sign up for The Rejected Times' Subscription Service here.

Special Release | March 10, 2018

Media Officer: Glacikaldr
Editor-in-Chief: Glacikaldr
Deputy Media Officer: The Church of Satan

Index

"RRA Recruitment Poster Competition" | FEATURE | WRITTEN BY Reporter Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF & RRA COMMAND
"Marilyn Manson's TRR Officer Resignation" | NEWS | WRITTEN BY Reporter Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

RRA Recruitment Poster Competition
FEATURE | WRITTEN BY Reporter Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF & RRA COMMAND


A quote from RRA Commander Wopruthien, reflecting on the modern Rejected Realms Army.

On the recommendation of those who wish to see the Rejected Realms (TRR) prosper, TRT Staff have been inspired to pay particular attention to our region's roots as of late. While brainstorming possible ideas for collaborative events, we were drawn to the appeal of doing our duty to help support the Rejected Realms Army (RRA), which plays a significant role in TRR's interregional image and can be linked all the way back to our presence in 2003. With this in mind, and through working alongside the RRA Command, the Rejected Realms' Media Department and The Rejected Times (TRT) is proud to announce that we will be facilitating a competition in creating recruitment posters for the defender-orientated army of TRR.

The competition will be run throughout the remainder of the month of March, with winners being declared over on the NationStates Gameplay subforum in TRT's thread prior to the publication of Issue XLIV (44), to ensure that the winner's recruitment poster is featured in TRT's next issue. Submissions should be sent via telegram to TRR's Media Officer, Glacikaldr, preferably in the format of a gyazo or imgur link.

The quality and respectability of the recruitment posters, as well as their approachability in terms of attracting new players, will all be under consideration during the voting process led by RRA High Commander Frattastan, RRA Commander Guy and RRA Commander Wopruthien. The best recruitment poster will be included in the next issue, Issue XLIV (44), of TRT, along with any other outstanding runner-up submissions as secondary.

Example of a basic recruitment poster:


To put this into terms that can be commonly understood across the NationStates community, our rationale will be explained using the format of a World Assembly resolution:

The Rejected Realms Army,

OBSERVING that the Rejected Realms Army was created in May 2003 as a primitive accountability measure that ensured the delegate ruled for the ruled.

RECOGNISING that, by summer of 2003, the Rejected Realms Army evolved rather naturally into an army compliant with the defenderism ideology following influences from wrongfully ejected members of the NationStates community finding a welcoming home in the Rejected Realms.

REFLECTING on how defenderism has developed implications whereby being defender-aligned now carries the weight, responsibilities and expectations of promoting peace and security among threatened regions as a moral response to raiderism.

DISTURBED by the mere existence of defenderism's contrary ideology known as raiderism.

APPALLED by the ongoing activities of those who prescribe to the raiderism ideology such as threatening, silencing, damaging and destroying sovereign regions and native actors through methods as extensive as frightening, alarming, raiding, invading, ejecting, banjecting, passlocking, puppeting and refounding.

NOTING how raiders have shown us time and again that they are always willing to work together; and hence

FURTHER NOTING how, every time defenders refuse to cooperate or communication, raiders have an advantage that they have utilised in the past.

BELIEVING that the need for a moral response to raiderism by the Rejected Realms Army among other defender-aligned sovereign regions and native actors is still just as necessary in the current gameplay climate as in the Rejected Realms Army's founding.

UNDERSTANDING that defenderism, as an ideology, cannot be bilaterally instilled or abandoned through one simple decisive battle, but instead is perpetually advanced through the process of a war that defenders fight every single day - twice in fact - with the degree of activity as the main factor that determines either internal growth or stagnation.

ADVOCATING for defenders to seize innovation with an open mind appropriate to exploring expansion of participation, networking and reach with the wider NationStates community, as the factors that determine external growth.

CONCLUDING that defenderism activities are a just response to the threatening, silencing, damaging and destroying of sovereign regions and native actors.

HEREBY WILL NEVER YIELD DEFENDERISM TO RAIDERISM.

Marilyn Manson's TRR Officer Resignation
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Reporter Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

On the 4th of March, 2018, Marilyn Manson announced his resignation in The Assembly from the position of Culture Officer in the Rejected Realms (TRR). The Assembly is recognised as the parliamentary body of TRR, consisting of all citizens as a form of direct democracy, according to its Constitution, and Article 3 section B outlines how it is the responsible organ for electing Officers, of which concerns this resignation. The resignation read as following, however exact details will not be discussed in keeping with the wishes of Marilyn Manson, who is still a prominent citizen of TRR: "Dear Rejects, I am resigning from the position of Culture Officer. Today, I received a message that reminded me I had to do this. I've not been feeling good in RL, and I probably won't really be active again until I feel better. Of course I'll login once a month to make sure my nations survive, however I won't participate in government until I feel well again. Following this message, I know an election will be held for my vacant position. I nominate Relfa, my deputy. I know they will do well as Culture Officer so I'd like them to run. Remember, this isn't because of anyone here. I'm seriously not feeling good, and I'll be gone for a while."

The resignation has seemingly relieved some of the pressure on Marilyn Manson who has remained active on discord and in-game, however TRT Staff did ask him how long he predicts he will be inactive for within the NationStates community if it comes to needing to take a break entirely. Marilyn Manson relieved some of our concerns by stating that, "Probably [just] until later this month," and went on to reply to our question on whether he will be remaining within the community of the Rejected Realms, to which he responded, "Hell yes, TRR for life." I with worth noting that Marilyn Manson also expressed that he will be remaining loyal to The East Pacific (TEP) too, by shortly adding, "Also, TEP [for life] too!" To conclude a short interview of Marilyn Manson, we asked the former officer who he would miss the most if were to take the break, indicated to us, and to quote him letter for letter for symbol, "Uuuuuhh, a lot of people. You [Glacikaldr], Fratt, Cat, Kandarin, Skully, Yuno, Stalker, and a ton of others I haven't named. Please don't hate me! "

During the spare time Marilyn Manson has reacquired, he has spearheaded a successful practice of R/D gameplay, establishing a constitutional monarchy in Warzone Asia, the Land of The Morning Calm, with his friend, Xanderstralia, as Delegate. Yet, this ultimately meant the fall of the People's Republic of Warzone Asia (PRWA), which was established on the 3rd of February 2014 as of the two days ago on the 8th of March, 2018. While native - perhaps a somewhat controversial term for a long-term nation within a warzone - North Campbell Nation originally objected to the invasion, he eventually came to terms with the new government and challenged them, "to try" to "do better" than the PRWA. "After all, the PRWA is democratic, and though this certainly isn't a by the book election, if the PRWA doesn't have a mandate from the masses, it's not much of a People's Republic," explained North Campbell Nation, "But [make sure you] don't badmouth those who came before you". Additionally, Warzone Europe was transferred to Marilyn Manson's possession by New Pacific Order Officer Karenus. Warzone Europe, under its new government, has now proclaimed a new theme as The Beatle Warzone. Furthermore, both Warzone Asia and Warzone Europe have been named sister regions under their respective new governments and have been looking to expand their networks to ensure regional security, or as much security as is considered even remotely possible in a warzone.

NOTE: The Rejected Times does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Rejected Realms.

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[Malphe]

Weird seeing all those fancy graphics next to that recruitment poster

[Glacikaldr]

Weird seeing all those fancy graphics next to that recruitment poster

Yeah, I made that poster a while ago for a RMB joke and it sort of inspired this whole idea. I'd love to see someone use some of the Allied forces propaganda for RRA posters.

[Escade]

Hey that pretty quote from WOP and the write up made me think, "Hey, why amn't I in the RRA" so you're message is working

Also, awesome idea for recruitment!

Hope MM's real life stuff gets better, RL > NS always.

[Pergamon]

I want to address a point real quick:

Warzone Europe was not being handed over to MM by the government of the New Pacific Order.
The NPO operatives that hit the Warzone had the simple task of stopping the embassy closure between the Warzone and the Pacifics.

The NPO troops completed the task that was given to them by the Senate. After that the region was no longer of interest for the NPO and the executing Officer, Karenus, known for his nice nature, felt free to let MM have the rather irrelevant Warzone. A friendly sentiment, nothing more.

Karenus is not Senator and not part of the Pacifican Government and Hence does not represent the Government opinions of the New Pacifican Order.

[Glacikaldr]

-snip-

I made an edit: "Additionally, Warzone Europe was transferred to Marilyn Manson's possession by New Pacific Order Officer Karenus." Let me know if it's a suitable change, but I have to go sleep now because it's 4:40 am. I'll check your reply in the morning; thanks for your understanding.

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

No Iran update?

[Glacikaldr]

No Iran update?

No one has expressed any interest in writing following TRE's adequate coverage. Unless you wanted to?

We'll probably save it for the issue as we've already written about the mess that has been Iran twice.

[Glacikaldr]

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Special Release | March 16, 2018

Media Officer: Glacikaldr
Editor-in-Chief: Glacikaldr
Deputy Media Officer: The Church of Satan

The Wolfist Dominion of Lazarus Exposed
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF
First, allow me to explain the name of this here article. In July 2017, Funkadelia began evicting supporters of the Celestial Union and established the Undead Dominion within the Game-Created Region of Lazarus, naming himself as their rightful monarch at the expense of the region and those who later went on to form the resistance with aid from the defender-aligned NationStates community. Funkadelia knew his vile plans and subsequent coup would prompt a negative response from defenders and had made allies with the goal of keeping power in mind, joining Lone Wolves United prior to the coup and ultimately becoming closest with Lone Wolves United at the expense of all other raiders who have come out of this debacle unrewarded. In response to the coup, the Rejected Realms' Delegate at the time, The Church of Satan, stated that, "Due to [Lone Wolves United's] direct involvement in the coup of our oldest allies [and former sister region], Lazarus, our embassy with Lone Wolves United has been officially closed and will not be re-established."

Plainly spoken, now that Funkadelia has grown bored of banjecting natives, he has transferred the once active and respectable sinker to the User-Created Region of Lone Wolves United. Aleister's regional address three days ago as of writing pointed out how, "[Funkadelia] has decided to step down from his position after nearly a year of service and leave the region in [Aleister's] hands." This means that the Undead Dominion, later the Dominion of Lazarus, is in fact still the same entity in power, regardless of what a name like the Khanate of Lazarus - or whatever other three names they've changed to during this week alone - suggests. Instead, they are just the Dominion of Lazarus with the self-endorsed title of Wolfist added to the front to show that their agenda is no longer hidden. Indeed, this is "a transitional period" in Lazarus, as there are no longer any grounds for those who once supported Funkadelia's rule to say that the Dominion is anything but illegitimate in the face of the Celestial Union and the resistance that is still alive to this day. Needless to say to those who are well informed in this mess, this latest failed attempt at reviving Lazarus under a likewise as static and immature government points out the hypocrisy of Funkadelia et al. and should furthermore be given as hypocrisy's definition in NationStates. This claim is being made with recognition that Funkadelia et al. were the ones who were crying out 'Defender Imperialism' to defenders and even people here at the Times incessantly, all the while putting raiders who go against the grain and claim to be 'Wolfists' in power. These are the very same people who, in their very own 'Manifesto', are self-proclaimed advocates of a make-believe "Dictatorship of the Raider". With that in mind, we here at the Times find it difficult to fathom how people, even those who once believed that the Undead Dominion was not a coup, would be able to convince themselves that the Wolfist take-over of Lazarus is not an obvious example of 'Raider Imperialism'. All reasonable individuals within the NationStates community will be able to discern for themselves that Funkadelia et al. has been full of it since the beginning but, nevertheless, allow us at the Times to help you see through the deception.

Funkadelia et al. took their time, but have now moved the plans to their logical conclusion. We can all now agree that the Dominion exposed itself for what it really is: a conglomerate of raiders who believe they are special enough to make up their own special terminology, even when they have less condemnations than The Black Hawks. Those who willingly stay in Lazarus while not working for the resistance do so at the expense of prescribing to an amoral doctrine built around the terrible character of those who perpetrated the coup - or perhaps are unable to read and no longer have someone who can read out-loud for them, explaining why their nation is now stuck in a sinker like Lazarus following their nation being refounded. To support this point are some highlighted comments and replies, ranging from Lenlyvit's "this 100% validates what the exiles claimed was happening is the truth" to Marilyn Manson's "Lazarus is turning into a poorly-made Twilight movie" and Old Hope's "Some things should not be tolerated" to Roavin's well... this. Nevertheless, as pointed out by all those who are sensible enough to do so, the NationStates community now has a relatively widespread consensus that every single time Funkadelia and his cronies tried to invalidate the legitimacy of the Celestial Union and the resistance is meaningless, having been thwarted by this show of hypocrisy.

So, the question is, what now? Should we all just wait and see? Will raiders, especially those who consider that they got the raw end of the deal, try and take Lazarus for themselves? Will more nations within Lazarus cast out their ignorance and flock to the renewed cause of the resistance that is now witness to their own region being publicly advertised as raider controlled? Will defenders finally lead a successful liberation that will return Lazarus to being the sister region of the Rejected Realms under the Celestial Union once again? More likely, a mixture of all three will bring instability and ruin to the region of Lazarus, which is ultimately the saddest sight of them all seeing how this was brought about by the 'fun and games' of the childish Funkadelia et al. who have left the NationStates community and their very own region in a worse state than in which they found it. With all things considered, what is your role to play in all of this?

NOTE: The Rejected Times does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Rejected Realms.

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[Malphe]

*awooooo*

[Eseral]

this was a gutt thing

[Vulturret]

It was an article from a perspective.