What question do you want to ask AU?

[Crabaiaia]

Just an off-politics and off-history question but how do wedding customs work in the land of Valentine Z?

[Atheara]

Do you plan on expanding the lore of Crabaiaia? And to what extent?

[Crabaiaia]

Do you plan on expanding the lore of Crabaiaia? And to what extent?

I could expand the lore of Crabaiaia beyond Reddit and into typical 14-yo girl romance book shit, as I am doing right now.

/skipme

[Novia Xeneia]

Did you create Cem Pike with Yeltsin in mind and why is the Communist Party still legalized in your country.

Not really,I didn't even knew who Yeltsin was until I got to know they were pretty similar.And the Communist Party is still legal because the Supreme Socialist council apologised for their actions before dissolving the NSR and also because the first leader of the Republic of Novia Xeneia thought it could serve as a good opposition party.
/skip

[Darlingtown]

For Atheara: What aspect(s) of NS do you enjoy the most? Which do you enjoy the least?
BONUS: Aside from everyone's favorite blue-haired Suicopath, who is your second favorite member of HL?

---

Answer for KG: There's a link for both the Secret Page and the Letter, you'll just have to search a little harder! (~ w Ơ )
Answer for Atheara: I found out about NS during the Drewpocalypse, so that's how and when I joined. Also, I fell down the rabbit hole late 2020, so you've definitely been in it longer than I have!

[Kiu Ghesik]

is there a link to the secret page in any of the factbooks or is it just accessible through the dispatch list? i've looked but i haven't found any.

[Insaanistan]

Hi Baizou!
I remember reading your post regarding "if you could meet anyone from history", and was wondering if there was anyone who were not on that list due to the limitation of seven persons. If so, how did you make the choices, and who did you leave behind?

In addition, I wanted to ask what political participation is like in Baizou. Almost all of Baizou's famous figures seem to be rather young, which I found to be interesting given how confusing and difficult Baizou's political system is. How does Baizou manage to avoid political apathy amongst its citizens?

Ending with a more silly question, what's your favourite era name from East Asian history?

Hiya!

1. There were indeed folks I left out of the list, though I do think the seven I picked are quite comfortably my top choices, so it wasn't too close. I tried to avoid overlap in 'topic area,' so to speak, as I thought about my choices kind of in terms of history. So I thought about inviting Sima Qian, the ancient Chinese historian, but I already really wanted Ienaga Saburō and Karl Marx, two other historians (albeit from much more recent history than Sima Qian), so I ended up leaving him out. Likewise, I considered other figures from religious history (the Buddha, Joseph Smith Jr.), but I already had Joan of Arc and Ida Hunt representing the fields of religious history, and I felt more curious about the experience of practitioners than of faith founders. (Who have typically been thoroughly tread in existing scholarship. Though given the many different traditions about Siddhārtha Gautama's life, it would be very nice to get to just ask him...)

Another way I made choices was that I wanted a balance of "famous" and "obscure" people, hence having both Joan of Arc and Ida Hunt, both Karl Marx and Ienaga Saburō (who is famous in Japanese history circles, but is not world famous the way Marx is), both Malcolm X and Jigonhsasee. So that meant leaving out some more famous names that I was curious about but figured I could read about in books and articles more easily.

One other reason I used to leave some folks out was just trying to decide who I thought might be good conversation. I think I considered one of the modern Japanese emperors — I don't remember if I was thinking of the Meiji, Taisho, or Showa Emperor, but I am in general quite curious about their experiences and their periods of history — but I ended up deciding my feelings toward them were too mixed, and I'd rather have someone at the dinner table I felt more prepared to feel friendly toward.

Unfortunately, I don't remember who I specifically left out aside from the few I aforementioned—I just remember the reasons. Oh, wait, I do remember one more — Eleanor Hadley. She was an economist who worked in disaggregating the zaibatsu in postwar Japan. I wanted to invite her on account of there being virtually no scholarly historical record about her. She has a memoir, and no one else seems to have written hardly a word about her, so she's someone who it'd be nice to get to just ask about. I don't quite recall why I left her out, though. Probably just because I was more curious about the lives and times of others on the list.

2. Political participation is relatively active, which admittedly indeed is a bit of a feat with Baizou's bureaucratic politics. There are a couple of factors that help stave off political apathy.

First, there's easy access to the vote. Universal citizen suffrage has been part of law since the postwar occupation reforms, and ballot access is a very strongly guarded right. By making the vote straightforward, people can tolerate voting often.

Second, term limits provide a strong incentive for parties to court new votes and new talent. Incumbency in a parliament or council seat is guaranteed to be temporary, and even with shuffling people between municipal, prefectural, and national elections, there's only so many people to go around. Staying in touch with voters to keep up trust between voters and new candidates becomes essential, and finding new candidates is just as important. Since policymaker isn't a lifelong career, one is less likely to see very old politicians who have been in a seat their whole life.

Third, in a weird way, the byzantine policymaking systems also create incentives for political participation. While the ability for unreasonably-specifically-defined pluralities to force issues through byzantine procedure is rather a negative on value of a vote, it does heighten the value of every political office. Every seat really counts, and parties and party coalitions are never quite satisfied with their majorities, nor opposition parties is ever resigned to their minorities. The Green Party doesn't have to hope to win a majority it can't reach — if it can just get one more seat, it might be able to get one more thing done or undone. And the Grand Coalition can't sit pretty with its plurality — every seat it doesn't win is a chess piece with unimaginable power. (Unimaginable not because of vastness, but because it's just very complicated). Participating feels like it has great potential to be meaningful, and parties are highly incentivized to make invite participation and recruit new blood.

Fourth... for Baizou's leading figures to be so young, the OOC reason is that there are very few old characters in Umineko, my source for their sprites, and which I try to exclusively draw from in order to keep the art style consistent. ^^; But still! That being the OOC reason doesn't mean there aren't IC reasons. Coming up with justifications for

3. Ooh, an interesting question. Hm, I wish I knew more continental era names so I could better consider those as well... but I think I'll pick Taishō (大正). The characters it uses are simpler than some other era names, an I like its meaning: "Great Rightness." In sharing a character with words like justice, it feels optimistic. The irony of history does not necessarily bear out that meaning... but as a name, I quite like it.

---

(Did I get skipped?)

Looks like you did; Nacrad directed a question to Crabaiaia, missing you. I'll ask you a question.

I'm still a little unfamiliar with Insaanistan. What would Insaanistan's elevator pitch be? Also, in Princess Nura Khan's profile — you drew that yourself? Neat! Do you do much art? If so, how did you get into art?

?

The gods and emanations in Maleficism — the names and language reminds me a little of tarot. Is there any tarot inspiration there? Or is the inspiration from something different? Or is there no specific inspiration?

Elevator Pitch:
Insaanistan is a nation from Senegambia in the West to Somalia and parts of Yemen to the east, Spain in the north and Chad to the south. The nation is majority Muslim but has a large Christian minority as well as other religions. Most Muslims are practicing and devout, but they also hold the view being a conservative Muslim correlates with being politically liberal. While some are against the liberal policies of the nation, a majority are happy with it. Normally a democratic-republic, we temporarily are a sultanate due to a crisis in and around the nation. We also have the world’s second largest GDP after the US.
(My reasoning was to create a nation that countered the narrative of a Muslim nation that either barely cared about religion or interpreted Islam in a way that made them violent and oppressive. Same thing with the Insaani Royal Family: they have differing opinions, many don’t understand Arabic, some are hijabis, some are not, some are part Arab, or Turkish, or Hausa African, or Berber. They say “As-salaamu Ālaykum” differently. Some have British accents, or Scottish accents, or American accents, or African Accents, or South Asian ones. Some of them are racist (even some of the black ones). Nura is bi-sexual while Mustafa’s dad is homophobic.)

Drawing:
Yeah, I did. I drew it in pencil and colored pencil on paper, then was like “Let me digitalize it.”
I’m in 9th grade doing college classes, so I haven’t had much time to sit down and draw. In elementary school and to some exten middle school, though, I drew a lot! Finished an assignment? Draw dinosaurs in the Cretaceous. Gave me a homework pass? No way my immigrant parents would let me use it, so I’ll draw a lion in the savanna. Been drawing since I was kid when I (being the nerd that I am) drew as many dinosaurs and other animals as possible. Not sure why I started or how people realized I was good at it. The only thing I did more was read historical fiction and non-fiction books. I won some contests, got a prize or two for the drawings over the years, had many people in elementary school ask me to draw soccer players (it was a public school, so most of the kids were latinos) or animals for them. My mom as a I got older began forcing me to use colors in my drawings, as I previously refused to color them or only shaded them using my pencil (I was a weird child; still am!). As for drawing people, as a kid I always tried to do it as realistically as possible, so drawing Nura was a bit weird because I decided to try and make it more... “cartoony”. I also often haven’t been the best with tech.

It sometimes became annoying when people would ALWAYS ask me to draw stuff in elementary school, and it became a bit of a problem in middle school because I would sometimes draw when I should have been paying attention. But, I got awards for high grades in and out of school, so it was fine, I guess.

Okay, I’m done subtly bragging! Thanks for reading!

/skip

[Las Palmeras]

How were nekos made in their nation?

I should automate this reply for this specific question.

But I can tell you how they weren't made. They're not a product of natural selection, that is just plain silly. Exactly similar homologies don't tend to repeat among different animal families and there's absolutely no reason convergent evolution explains "cat" ears. They would've had to be genetically engineered by a highly technologically advanced civilization. What it was and where it's from is up to debate. Inter-dimensional travel could explain things in my RP with Catsfern, but that's not canon or extra-canonical....

I hope you enjoy von Däniken "documentaries" from the 1970s.

is there a link to the secret page in any of the factbooks or is it just accessible through the dispatch list? i've looked but i haven't found any.

Hey KG,
1)What would be the biggest obstacle to writing romance plots for you...uh...apart from the Ross x Ari in-joke?
2)What's your least favorite film/literature genre and why is that the case?

BN (Valentine Z):

Hi Val.

1)I have no plans for editing colors. I can barely shade some things, let alone color them. Considering that sometimes I try to emulate cheap manga from the 60s and 70s, maybe it's fitting.

2)How much does a catgirl maid's services cost? I never thought of it directly, but the line is meant to be a joke that counters the stereotypical Latina maids seen in US media. As housekeeping in LP can only be afforded by the super-wealthy or peers with hereditary retainers. So yeah, it was quite serious when the line implies you have to be a Lord of sorts to have them.

[Atheara]

For Atheara: What aspect(s) of NS do you enjoy the most? Which do you enjoy the least?
BONUS: Aside from everyone's favorite blue-haired Suicopath, who is your second favorite member of HL?

---

Answer for KG: There's a link for both the Secret Page and the Letter, you'll just have to search a little harder! (~ w Ơ )

Answer:
1. I say the Community is what makes this great. Having varied opinions and people around the world communicating behind a diffrent country is something never to be seen unlike any other.

The one i least enjoy? Maybe the way you have to make factbooks, the coded system is just a bit difficult for newer people to get around with.

2. I see you watch HL as well... I have a few more favourites. I only entered the rabbit hole like mid 2020 and some peaked my interest. But my 2nd favourite would be Kanatan.

If so i could fire back a question.
How did you get into NS?

/skip

[Valentine Z]

@ Las Palmeras:

- Sorry if this was asked before but I was wondering if you have plans to put and edit colours into your drawings? They do have their own charm in pencil drawings, but you can always color them a little. ^^

- How much does it cost, if any, if one can get a housekeeping service?

-----

BN:

- That is... Rather diverse. Way, way back before 2015 when I found this site, I wrote some small stories here and there, and I used to write a lot of my dreams I had with every night. Some nights much more vivid than others. So there was one. Then came 2016 or so and I pretty much had an idea for writing about an actual nation with actual characters and ideas!

- I have only played TS3 and TS4, so I would say TS3 in terms of excellent gameplay! TS4, I actually personally prefer only because I like the graphics. I only love the graphics because I use them for my characters, so... Rather than gameplay, this is the only time where I prefer graphics.

As for the best expansion pack, maybe the pets one for TS4. I know the worst one is the Star Wars one! I guess the best unofficial mod would be the Open World mod by this Arnie guy, or someone, that did TS4 mods. The best mods are by the community, so something is a bit wrong.

[Wuchu]

Two questions for Val:

1. Pretty generic, but what got you into writing?

2. You often use Sims in your factbooks. Which Sims game is your favourite, and which expansion pack (across all four games) do you think is best?

[The Alkdorian Empire]

Two questions for Val:

1. Pretty generic, but what got you into writing?

2. You often use Sims in your factbooks. Which Sims game is your favourite, and which expansion pack (across all four games) do you think is best?

What made you create this blog(?) nation?

[Sengoku Americas]

Some other users have referred to you being an experienced user, but I don't recognise your writing style. Are your other nations still active or do you only maintain your newest ones?

---

BN: The colour I'm using for this nation is actually not the same as for my other nations; it's "pink velvet" instead of Sanghyeok's "rose gold" or Shin-Mutsu's "crimson red", if you're curious. Meanwhile, I use a halfway colour between "crimson red" and "rose gold" for Reverberating Days. I have two other puppets in addition to those, but anyone curious enough can find them easily by seeing their region

As for your question about dessert...in California at least desserts are eaten with every meal. Most people eat all three meals for free at a local cafeteria, and their dessert depends on what meal set they want; a vegan meal set might have fruit bars while a mixed diet meal set would have ice cream. Cascadia eats more dessert as a snack, and there parfaits and crepes are more popular. As for the other parts of North America, I haven't thought through yet.

Thanks for your questions.

[Valentine Z]

- Did you stick with this colour for texts our of principle? I'm just curious because this seems like a you thing. I wonder if you would use other colours for other puppets?

- Is this your second puppet, or do you have others?

- Do your nation's populace consume a lot of dessert? What kind, usually?

-----

BN: ICly flag remains the same, but I have different flags depending on my mood.

If you could ask me anything else other than mundane questions, I would appreciate that.

-----

BBN: Oh, I hate the Rudeness. I want it pushed down as hard as possible, and I will see Rudeness die.

Ahh, but the stats show that Voorzichtigheid still has trees! Stats aside, it might be a military base, but it still has trees and nature everywhere. It might be militarized and turn into more military bases, but it's still a pretty nice place for the civilians too! As for why it's been chosen, well let's just say that the Valentians get inspiration from RL!

Autonomous regions have other characters running it. So for Alanis Star, it would be Clarissa and Adriana. Voorzichtigheid - Jamie and Mandy. Victoriaans Nederlands - Marcus and Jolyn. For Vostrov - Kendrick and Markus. They have a small degree of freedom in how they run their places, but eventually they're still under one big happy Valentian family. :3

[Atheara]

What's with the constant Flag change?

[The Alkdorian Empire]

Some other users have referred to you being an experienced user, but I don't recognise your writing style. Are your other nations still active or do you only maintain your newest ones?

I only maintain my newest ones, like this one being my main, and Zeffar being my secondary account. I've been here since 2017 aka the Golden Age of NS.

/skip

[Wexas]

-snip-

1. What is your least favorite NS stat?
2. Is there a reason why you picked the US to be the home base of Voorzichtigheid? (Also I find it kinda depressing that there are apparently no trees in America now, when cool trees are one of the best parts of America. But I digress.)
3. How exactly is an autonomous region like Vostrov run?

AN: 1. Why is Eriana Delis, a woman who is known for loving Swordfighting and Hunting, afraid of diamonds?
2. How did you come up with the symbolic meaning of the flag? It's quite interesting.

[Zitravgrad]

I know this might be cliche to ask and I could have asked you in other places, but here we go.

1) How many nations are you maintaining/still writing for?
2) Where do you get all your ideas? They are a very wide range of variety, ngl, and many of them are original and interesting too.
3) Do you prefer to have plots driven by characters or characters driven by plots?
4) Which character(s) would you say is/are your best?
5) How is your doggo doing?

[Atheara]

-snip-

1. What is your least favorite NS stat?
2. Is there a reason why you picked the US to be the home base of Voorzichtigheid? (Also I find it kinda depressing that there are apparently no trees in America now, when cool trees are one of the best parts of America. But I digress.)
3. How exactly is an autonomous region like Vostrov run?

AN: 1. Why is Eriana Delis, a woman who is known for loving Swordfighting and Hunting, afraid of diamonds?
2. How did you come up with the symbolic meaning of the flag? It's quite interesting.

1. I have a rough plan of lore as to why. Basically she almost lost one of her eyes. I still have some plans but might take a while due to me being lazy.
2. I actually don't know, i just came up with it.

/skip

[Airceltria]

I know this might be cliche to ask and I could have asked you in other places, but here we go.

1) How many nations are you maintaining/still writing for?
2) Where do you get all your ideas? They are a very wide range of variety, ngl, and many of them are original and interesting too.
3) Do you prefer to have plots driven by characters or characters driven by plots?
4) Which character(s) would you say is/are your best?
5) How is your doggo doing?

I want to know how you made the template for this factbook because it looks different from the wiki template I found.
https://www.nationstates.net/nation=zit ... id=1378007

I also want to know what inspired you to make the culture and history of your state.

[Zitravgrad]

I want to know how you made the template for this factbook because it looks different from the wiki template I found.
https://www.nationstates.net/nation=zit ... id=1378007

I also want to know what inspired you to make the culture and history of your state.

> That one is my very own template, but it is a loose format. Just a couple of sidebars to put table of contents and anchor links, and picture collages made in Photoscape. In fact, that one is built upon pictures, so making some compilations that are long enough to fit the screen would help forming said "template".

> I was aiming for an alternate planet, so history had to come from scratch and I decided that I would go for semi-realistic route. Zitravgrad's history is perhaps best defined as a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian histories. Its culture, however, is defined by its own history as much as the real-life Slavic culture. Since the period akin to the Soviet Union did not happen, I imagined that the culture overall remains heavily associated with Imperial Russian aesthetics up until the Revolution in which I decided to do Decopunk. If anything, it is meant to be Interwar decadence -- there are reasons I use pictures of 1930s Hollywood actors.

/skip

[The Alkdorian Empire]

I know this might be cliche to ask and I could have asked you in other places, but here we go.

1) How many nations are you maintaining/still writing for?
2) Where do you get all your ideas? They are a very wide range of variety, ngl, and many of them are original and interesting too.
3) Do you prefer to have plots driven by characters or characters driven by plots?
4) Which character(s) would you say is/are your best?
5) How is your doggo doing?

I want to know how you made the template for this factbook because it looks different from the wiki template I found.
https://www.nationstates.net/nation=zit ... id=1378007

I also want to know what inspired you to make the culture and history of your state.

1) Where did the inspiration from your nation come?
2) Do you ever plan to write characters for the ministries of your nation along with going into detail on how they operate?
3) What is magitech?

[Airceltria]

I want to know how you made the template for this factbook because it looks different from the wiki template I found.
https://www.nationstates.net/nation=zit ... id=1378007

I also want to know what inspired you to make the culture and history of your state.

1) Where did the inspiration from your nation come?
2) Do you ever plan to write characters for the ministries of your nation along with going into detail on how they operate?
3) What is magitech?

1. The inspiration came from a multitude of sources. Those being some past nations I played in different RPs where I played as theocratic states. I mixed some of those as well as what I glean off Bhutan and Tibet for making my new nation even though they are more cosmopolitan due to their backstory of being a bunch of refugees who migrated to the land.

2. I will go into detail on the ministries a later time but for characters I'm not to sure on those yet. I wish to do the Grand Vizier and the royal princesses in the future.

3. Magitech is the fusion of magic and mundane technology. A good example is steampunk looking robots or floppy disks that can hold as much data as a USB drive or even more.

/skipme

[Crabaiaia]

Are you gonna finish your overview anytime?

[Azur Deutschland]

Why the name 'Crabaiaia'?