[SUBMITTED] A Permanent Stain

[Jutsa]

Huh. Turns out I only have one active draft up that isn't in need of some writing.
Time to upload another draft, I suppose.

So this is a draft I made to reverse full government transparency,
although I do intend to write an issue about this involving other nations.
(Unless someone else really wants to write about it)

Title: A Permanent Stain
The Issue: Following your decision to enact full disclosure and government transparency, documents from nearly a century ago have been released to the public - including information about Project @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega, a top-secret operation to kidnap and test @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ for the "greater good". Many who have trusted the government are disgusted and outraged, while those who have always been cynical believe that this is a coverup for something much worse.
Validity: Nation has full disclosure/transparency

Option 1: "Was full government transparency really worth this?" whines your Press Secretary, who's been moping around your office for the last half hour. "It's just made everyone hate us! It's obvious that our attempts to be open and honest have just lead to horrible consequences, and always will. From this point onwards, we need to keep any government tasks kept secret from the public."
[effect] bureaucrats' orders at restaurants are incinerated to "keep confidential information secret"

Option 2: "Have you even considered that everyone might be right?" sputters your Overseer of Full Disclosure, who's been sitting in your office for the past hour and a half. "Disclosure has revealed the terrible truth that has plagued our fair nation — corruption! To gain our citizens' complete and total trust, we need to boot out any and everyone who has been involved with this project, and from here-on out give anyone caught doing anything unethical, or against the law, the boot. Only then will things be right!"
[effect] victorious politicians are immediately forced to resign for lying

Option 3: "You know, we could just pretend to be transparent," schemes your Minister of Propaganda, who's only been in your office for about a minute. "We'll pretend to leak information that only makes us look good. It's the only way we can recover from this. We'll claim that @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega never actually happened, arrest some random people, claim they spread these rumors, and then resume our research on them. What? We might as well start it up again."
[effect] even conspiracy theorists struggle to explain the government's contradictory coverups

Validity: Nation is capable of tv or whotube
Option 4: "Hey, if anything, the government should be making up more scandals!" excitedly proposes @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a camera up to your face and showcasing all of your less attractive features. "Think of the drama, the ratings — the earnings we'd make! If we assigned every official a camera crew and get some actors to get them involved with some fake scandals, we could edit together the best darn reality show in @@REGION@@!"
[effect] "The Corrupt Government" is the most cringe worthy reality show

Title: A Permanent Stain
The Issue: Following your decision to enact full disclosure and government transparency, documents from nearly a century ago have been released to the public - including information about Project @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega, a top-secret operation to kidnap and test @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ for the "greater good". Many who have trusted the government are disgusted and outraged, while those who have always been cynical believe that this is a coverup for something much worse.
Validity: Nation has full disclosure/transparency

Option 1: "Was full government transparency really worth this?" whines your Press Secretary, who's been moping around your office for the last half hour. "It's just made everyone hate us! It's obvious that our attempts to be open and honest have just lead to horrible consequences. From this point onwards, we need to keep any government tasks kept secret from the public. "
[effect] little trust remains for the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government

Option 2: "Have you even considered that everyone might be right?" sputters your Overseer of Full Disclosure, who's been sitting in your office for the past hour and a half. "Disclosure has revealed the terrible truth that has plagued our fair nation - corruption! To gain full trust, we need to boot out any and everyone who has been involved with this project, and here-on out give anyone caught doing anything unethical, or against the law, the boot. Only then will things be right!"
[effect] government officials are relieved of duty for technically being unethical without knowing it

Option 3: "You know, we could just pretend to be transparent," schemes your Minister of Propaganda, who's only been in your office for about a minute. "We must pretend to leak information that only makes us look good. It's the only way we can recover from this. We'll claim that @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega never actually happened, arrest some random people, claim they spread these rumors, and then resume our research on them. What? We might as well start it up again."
[effect] government coverups contradicting each other have horribly damaged its reputation

Validity: Nation is capable of tv or whotube
Option 4: "Hey, if anything, the government should be making up more scandals!" excitedly proposes @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a camera up to your face, showcasing all of your less attractive features. "Think of the drama! If we assigned every official a camera crew, and get some actors to get them involved with some fake scandals, we could edit together the best darn reality show in @@REGION@@!"
[effect] "The Corrupt Government" is the most cringe worthy reality show

Title: A Permanent Stain
The Issue: Several controversial acts previously done by the government have been released to the public in accordance with its full disclosure and transparency policies. Rather than gaining trust, influential citizens defending the government have begun to turn the other cheek while skeptics are certain that the entire act is covering up something far more sinister, resulting in record-low approval ratings of the government.
Validity: Nation has full disclosure/transparency

Option 1: "Was full government transparency really worth this?" whines your Press Secretary, who's been moping around your office for the last half hour. "It's just made everyone hate us! It's obvious that our attempts to be open and honest have just lead to horrible consequences. We need to end full disclosure and go back to how things used to be."
[effect] little trust remains for the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government

Option 2: "Have you even considered that everyone might be right?" sputters your Overseer of Full Disclosure, who's been sitting in your office for the past hour and a half. "Disclosure has revealed the terrible truth that has plagued our fair nation - corruption! To gain full trust, we need to boot out any and everyone who has been caught breaking the law. Only then will things be right!"
[effect] government officials are relieved of duty for technically breaking the law without knowing it

Option 3: "You know, we could just pretend to be transparent," schemes your Minister of Propaganda, who's only been in your office for about a minute. "We'll have a fake purge, kicking out nobodies who we can pin the blame on, and only leak information that makes us look good. It's the only way we can recover from this."
[effect] government coverups contradicting each other have horribly damaged its reputation

Validity: Nation is capable of tv
Option 4: "Hey, if anything, the government should be making up more scandals!" excitedly proposes @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a camera up to your face, showcasing all of your less attractive features. "Think of the drama! If we assigned every official a camera crew, and add a few fake scandals, we could edit together the best darn reality show in @@REGION@@!"
[effect] "The Corrupt Government" is the most cringe worthy reality show

[Fauxia]

Option 1 fallout is a bit boring... could be something about politicians being afraid to leave the Parliament building bc of all the riots.

[Feria-Alkaline]

Huh. Turns out I only have one active draft up that isn't in need of some writing.
Time to upload another draft, I suppose.

So this is a draft I made to reverse full government transparency,
although I do intend to write an issue about this involving other nations.
(Unless someone else really wants to write about it)

Title: A Permanent Stain
The Issue: Several controversial acts previously done by the government have been released to the public in accordance with its full disclosure and transparency policies. Rather than gaining trust, influential citizens defending the government have begun to turn the other cheek while skeptics are certain that the entire act is covering up something far more sinister, resulting in record-low approval ratings of the government.
Validity: Nation has full disclosure/transparency

Option 1: "Was full government transparency really worth this?" whines your Press Secretary, who's been moping around your office for the last half hour. "It's just made everyone hate us! It's obvious that our attempts to be open and honest have just lead to horrible consequences. We need to end full disclosure and go back to how things used to be."
[effect] little trust remains for the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government

Option 2: "Have you even considered that everyone might be right?" sputters your Overseer of Full Disclosure, who's been sitting in your office for the past hour and a half. "Disclosure has revealed the terrible truth that has plagued our fair nation - corruption! To gain full trust, we need to boot out any and everyone who has been caught breaking the law. Only then will things be right!"
[effect] government officials are relieved of duty for technically breaking the law without knowing it

Option 3: "You know, we could just pretend to be transparent," schemes your Minister of Propaganda, who's only been in your office for about a minute. "We'll have a fake purge, kicking out nobodies who we can pin the blame on, and only leak information that makes us look good. It's the only way we can recover from this."
[effect] government coverups contradicting each other have horribly damaged its reputation

Validity: Nation is capable of tv
Option 4: "Hey, if anything, the government should be making up more scandals!" excitedly proposes @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a camera up to your face, showcasing all of your less attractive features. "Think of the drama! If we assigned every official a camera crew, and add a few fake scandals, we could edit together the best darn reality show in @@REGION@@!"
[effect] "The Corrupt Government" is the most cringe worthy reality show

How about this fallout for Number 4? (Heads-up: probably not the best)

4: "Keeping up with @@NAME@@" has now become an obsession among the populace.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

The Issue: Several controversial acts previously done by the government have been released to the public in accordance with its full disclosure and transparency policies. Rather than gaining trust, influential citizens defending the government have begun to turn the other cheek while skeptics are certain that the entire act is covering up something far more sinister, resulting in record-low approval ratings of the government.

I've read this three times and I still have no idea what the issue is about. Can you make it clearer?

[Jutsa]

I couldn't really think of a great premise for this one other than "now surprisingly few people trust your government because of your full disclosure".
I also couldn't really think of a great way of phrasing/explaining it.

I've legitimately tried working on some better premises, but it just so happened that "people are unsatisfied" was the one issue at the top of my list.
Do you think this could work, with a bit of reordering, or do you think something else should be involved?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Apologies, I really don't understand what the issue is about, so I can't really answer your question.

[Jutsa]

Er, it's about how people who trusted your government are now suspicious since controversial actions have been released to the public,
while those suspicious of it are still so because, well, why should they believe what the government has to say.

I can't really think of anything more engaging for the issue I had, tbh, since a lot of times full disclosure involved public trust to begin with,
and it's supposed to show that being so integral may have actually hurt everyone's opinion on your integrity.

[Fauxia]

I think it’s a bit too general right now. You could make it about a few incidents, or vaguely reference some things that would usually be very top secret.

[Jutsa]

Ah, I'll try to add a bit of a specific example in a bit, then.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

That's it, it's not specific enough. Don't just add an example, instead make the whole issue about whatever example you come up with.

[Australian rePublic]

Option 1 assumes that full disclosure wasn't always a thing

[Fauxia]

Option 1 assumes that full disclosure wasn't always a thing

It wasn’t if you had to decide it with an issue

[Jutsa]

Sorry to ask this, but I've drawn a total blank on what kind of premise could cause this
without it being its own issue. I hope that's just me not thinking hard enough and not
an indication that this might not work as its own issue, though it's hard to tell,
and I'd like to ask for some ideas on how exactly this problem might arise - if possible.

[Fauxia]

Sorry to ask this, but I've drawn a total blank on what kind of premise could cause this
without it being its own issue. I hope that's just me not thinking hard enough and not
an indication that this might not work as its own issue, though it's hard to tell,
and I'd like to ask for some ideas on how exactly this problem might arise - if possible.

Sunno... MK Ultra type stuff? There are a lot of possibilities

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Yeah, an MK Ultra thing could work.

Crazy internet sites could be good research here:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/33497/8- ... d-be-right

[Jutsa]

Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to be using this. Many thanks.

[Jutsa]

*two weeks later*

Finally! I updated it.

Idk why it took me so long, I had a lot of fun doing it. Ready for feedback and my optimism to be crushed.
(no seriously if you don't like any of the changes I made I can try again)

[Fauxia]

Might need adult validity? I'm also wondering if you should go at all more in depth.

[Jutsa]

I can if you'd like, though I don't want to add too much text... it's already a fair bit fatter than it was when I uploaded it.

[Jutsa]

Weekly bump! I honestly don't know how to fatten it, and I also don't think it needs an adult tag,
though if you strongly recommend it or someone else agrees, I'll add it.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Orange words are suggestions, orange ellipsis are removed phrases, underlined words are comments.

Title: A Permanent Stain
The Issue: Following your decision to enact full disclosure and government transparency, documents from nearly a century ago have been released to the public — including information about Project @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega, a top-secret operation to kidnap and test @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ for the "greater good". Many who have trusted the government are disgusted and outraged, while those who have always been cynical believe that this is a coverup for something much worse.
Validity: Nation has full disclosure/transparency

Option 1: "Was full government transparency really worth this?" whines your Press Secretary, who's been moping around your office for the last half hour. "It's ... made everyone hate us, instead! It's obvious that our attempts to be open and honest have just and will alwayslead to horrible consequences. From this point onwards, we need to keep any government tasks kept secret from the public, including the little things."
[effect] even bureaucrats' orders at restaurants are incinerated to "keep confidential information secret"

Option 2: "Have you even considered that everyone might be right?" sputters your Overseer of Full Disclosure, who's been sitting in your office for the past hour and a half. "Disclosure has revealed the terrible truth that has plagued our fair nation — corruption! To gain our citizens' complete and total trust, we need to remove any and everyone who has been involved with this project, and from here-on out give anyone caught doing anything unethical, or against the law, the boot. Only then will things be right!"
[effect] victorious politicians are immediately forced to resign for lying

Option 3: "You know, we could just pretend to be transparent," schemes your Minister of Propaganda, who's only been in your office for about a minute. "In other words, we'll ... pretend to leak information that only makes us look good. It's the only way we can recover from this. We'll claim that @@CURRENCYINITIALS@@@@ANIMALINITIALS@@Mega never actually happened, arrest some random people, claim they spread these rumors, and then resume our research on them. What? We might as well start it up again."
[effect] even conspiracy theorists struggle to explain contradictory government coverups ...

Validity: Nation is capable of tv or whotube
Option 4: "Hey, if anything, the government should be making up more scandals!" excitedly proposes @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a camera up to your face and showcasing all of your less attractive features. "Think of the drama and ratings! If we assigned every official a camera crew ... and get some actors to set up some fake scandals, we could edit together the best darn reality show in @@REGION@@!"
[effect] "The Corrupt Government" is the most cringe worthy reality show

[Jutsa]

Applies most of your suggestions. Many thanks.

Until now, I had no idea what the difference between -, –, and — were.

Tbh I'd love if they were all just -. Idk if the editors sometimes just use - or not, but I changed my -s to —s regardless.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Applies most of your suggestions. Many thanks.

Until now, I had no idea what the difference between -, –, and — were.

Tbh I'd love if they were all just -. Idk if the editors sometimes just use - or not, but I changed my -s to —s regardless.

See here. Not sure if the editors do care about the dash types, really.

[Jutsa]

Bump~

I'll keep the em-dashes in regardless — they add a bit of flare.

[Jutsa]

*March Ninth*

I didn't expect a draft of mine to be on page 5...

Final bump.
Edit: Unless a major suggestion/edit is made, of course