What question do you want to ask AU?

[Feyrisshire]

1. What's been your favorite interaction on NS so far?
2. I really like all the links and footnotes you've put in your factbooks. What gave you the idea to do something like that?

1. Idk what this mean, but I liked a lot of interactions in NS. i liked my time in TCB with comrades there on their regional government, I liked making Factbooks and posting here on F7 and games. There are lots of people here in F7 that I have had good interactions with and I can remember, like Sanghyeok, and I can remember Kiu Ghesik's PT game, and especially you! How you would always count footnotes in my factbooks lmao

2. Wikipedia! The idea was to completely replicate Wikipedia's look, but I gave up on Desktop version and its just mobile version. I love the feel that Wikipedia provies because its a third-hand which might be biased or not and direct statings of lore like "Oh here is what we do in Country X" sometimes i feel inadequate and.. awkward. I also think that directly replicating Wikipedia's look is quite unique.

If you could save one significant piece of evidence from any Mesoamerican civilisation (which could be useful to you or fellow historians), what would you choose? I remember earlier you told us about the ph levels of soil- am I right in guessing you would choose bodies?

what anime is that gif you use for your flag from?

To @Catsfern, I'm not Sanghyeok, but I think it's long white-haired girl Naruse Shiroha from Key visual novel Summer Pockets
This is where she got the gif

---

I feel I know your style from somewhere, are you someone's puppet by any chance?
AN: What steps will you take, if any, to make NS stats accurate for your economy type again?

To Sanghyeok:

Is there a specific female anime or visual novel character Oomiya Sakura is based? I saw her picture of a green-haired twintails loli and then her other one where she wears a ponytail and kimono + parasol to the point that I think the pictures are of one character, but is it?

also, why do you like Riddle Joker, White Album and Key VNs like Summer Pockets?

[Quarvian Stellar Union]

So your nation is a sort of planetary colony with advanced tech, do you have and ideas for further developments?

I'm looking to try and make a more character driven nation, maybe, it might just fall back on my old tricks. Just trying something new.

I feel I know your style from somewhere, are you someone's puppet by any chance?

Yes, but that's a secret for another time, cookie if you get it right I guess.

Oh and /skip

[Wexas]

How did Feyrisshire's name come about, and I mean this OOCly. Was the idea of it being James Cook's misinterpretation always a thing, or did that come about later?

[Kiu Ghesik]

Why'd you let Bani Musandam CTE? Was it a lack of interest?

[Las Palmeras]

Why'd you let Bani Musandam CTE? Was it a lack of interest?

Uh, KG...what would be your advice to writing leaders that come out as morally ambiguous without being a tryhard?

[Azur Deutschland]

This is probably going to seem really lame, but...
Las Palmeras, how was your day on Thanksgiving?

[Las Palmeras]

This is probably going to seem really lame, but...
Las Palmeras, how was your day on Thanksgiving?

I've been living out of the USA for over a decade so...no fancy dinner to celebrate. It was like pretty much like any other day: daily chores and grocery. Procrastinating here when I should be working on reports. Working on reports later on. A warm bath and a bite to eat. Happy the 'Rona hasn't affected family or friends. Thanks for asking though, I really appreciate the detail; I hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable.

Oh and I'm reading Masakazu Ishiguro's other manga, Heavenly Delusion, so I count that as a big win for yersterday. /SKIP ME

[Kiu Ghesik]

Uh, KG...what would be your advice to writing leaders that come out as morally ambiguous without being a tryhard?

Well, I'm not sure, actually. The guide I always use is just "this character shouldn't be good or evil." Bertie, for example, is where he is because his life consists of nothing but fuckup after fuckup- he made the wrong choice once in his life and after that just tried to make the best of it, even when he was presented with horrid option after horrid option. Him killing Aguilar, for example, was statistically the best choice. It got him a ship, it saved his own ass, and it ultimately led to him getting off scot-free for all the shit he'd been doing up until that point. But at the same time it was pretty clearly a bad thing, and he acknowledged it as such.

Ultimately I'd just try to go about it without thinking of your characters as good or evil, if that makes sense. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. Just... have them act like a person. They can make bad decisions. They can think of bad decisions as good ones. They can be cackling evil bastards. Just remember that everyone has to have something they enjoy at the end of the day. To use another example, Paterson Smith is a corrupt bastard with ties to the arms industry and a vested interest in his father's corporation to the point he should be kept away from politics with a twenty-yard-long metal pole. But at the same time he's a fella with a genuine interest in doing good who likes to take long walks in the woods and go fishing with his son on the weekends, and who drives a twenty-year-old car because his old man always said frugal living was best and gosh-diddly-darn it, pa didn't raise no quitter. That, I think, is the crux of a morally ambiguous character. They can be genuinely bad people. Or they can be saints on earth. But at the end of the day if the audience can look at them and recognize them as people, as opposed to villains or heroes, then that makes them morally grey.

So, tl;dr, don't try to not make them good or evil, just... make them. And if you're not trying to make them into virtuous people or horrid ones then they'll likely fall somewhere in the middle-ground. I don't really think you need my advice on that, though; all of your characters seem to do that very well.

I hope that made sense.

/skip

[New Wolvers]

This is probably going to seem really lame, but...
Las Palmeras, how was your day on Thanksgiving?

So, why a Germany with magic? And why such a flag? I am curious what made you inspired to create such a nation in the first place

[Kiu Ghesik]

Are you aware of the fact that the workshop link in your sig returns an error?

[Azur Deutschland]

So, why a Germany with magic? And why such a flag? I am curious what made you inspired to create such a nation in the first place

When I started getting into Flames of War, I wanted my army to stand out. Everyone goes for the historical camos and colors, which is really cool, but I wanted my models to be unique. So, because of my love for anime, like Youjo Senki and Valkyria Chronicles, I started to paint my models with the standard gray, but also with some lines, trim, and accents of blue. It gave them a more 'magical knight' vibe, especially with the rose aesthetics added in, which I loved a lot. I also started to fuck around with making some homebrewed rules for magical warfare in Flames of War.
As for the flag, it was another way to personalize my army as I wanted to make custom objective markers and other tokens, like bailed out/pinned down, foxholes, gone to ground markers.
Azur Deutschland came around after I remembered NationStates existed. I had played NS a while ago, with my first two nations being the Grineer and the Corpus from Warframe, but I've long forgotten what the hell they were called and what the passwords were.

/skipme

[New Wolvers]

Are you aware of the fact that the workshop link in your sig returns an error?

Oi thanks!

/skip

[Catsfern]

Are you aware of the fact that the workshop link in your sig returns an error?

why a nomadic Mongol like nation? was it just a historic inspiration situation?

[Hamatu]

Are you aware of the fact that the workshop link in your sig returns an error?

why a nomadic Mongol like nation? was it just a historic inspiration situation?

1. How'd you get so many cards of yourself? I'm sure you've probably mentioned it somewhere, but I haven't heard, myself.
2. What led to the idea of a newspaper?

[Tohorin]

Were non-lethal bloodletting sacrifices actually a thing in the Ancient Mid East or did you make that up?

[The United Galactic States]

Did anything give you the idea for the lore of your holy nation?

[Hamatu]

Were non-lethal bloodletting sacrifices actually a thing in the Ancient Mid East or did you make that up?

Honestly... It was probably more of a child sacrifice-type thing, but I felt that might not translate very well... So, no it wasn't a thing, but I really didn't want to make Ilitu and Hamatu entirely irredeemable for most people, and I figured bloodletting was close enough to the reality of the situation.
Skip me/

[Tohorin]

Did anything give you the idea for the lore of your holy nation?

Many things are rough drafts of ideas pertaining to the society of my main account, Las Palmeras. However it should be noted that Tohorin is a lot less Westernized...uh...culturally speaking, 'cause it's geographically placed in the American Southwest. And like I comment in my factbooks, it's also a ethnologic/archeological in-joke over some out-dated theories. I also like exploring inter-ethnic cultural exchange dynamics.

Honestly... It was probably child sacrifice, but I felt that might not translate very well... So, no it wasn't a thing, but I really didn't want to make Ilitu and Hamatu entirely irredeemable, and I figured bloodletting was close enough.
Skip me/

Lol. I came to the same conclusion when it came to opting to not include Central Mexican rain sacrifices; wartime ritual torture was A-OK though. /SKIP ME, Do the United Galactic States

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

What does the crescent on your current flag symbolise, out of curiosity?

[Cybus1]

What’s with all the random and rapidly-changing flags?

[Quarvian Stellar Union]

Did you always plan on Alistair taking such a dark turn?

Cybus, Given the extent of gaming references in you work (Prototype, Singularity, FO:NV) what's your favorite game and what are you playing now. Also is the Drakul a reference to the Dresden files or just coincidence?

[Piste-Land]

WF: It seems your mind has been slipping recently, with you venting out some political frustration...is there something wrong?

Ninja'd, editing...

QSU: Does your nation represent your views at least partially? Or is it more worldbuilding-oriented?

[The United Galactic States]

What does the crescent on your current flag symbolise, out of curiosity?

A star. The crescent shape is formed by a black planet rotating by it in view, forming the shape. I should actually make a factbook explaining the flag.

/skip

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

What’s with all the random and rapidly-changing flags?

Ight, so Shreklastair was a cursed image for Halloween. I got into Among Us in October, so in November my flag became Cyan. Then I added memes for National Absurdity Day, a picture of Zachary Taylor for like a day, and Cyan again. My most recent one is an AI-generated inspirational quote that was just painfully on point, and I like its a e s t h e t i c .

WF: It seems your mind has been slipping recently, with you venting out some political frustration...is there something wrong?

Ninja'd, editing...

Oh, that was around the US election, right? Things have calmed down? I'm hoping they've calmed down. And the things wrong are...all 2020-related.

Grrrr!!!^tm

/Skip

[Cybus1]

Did you always plan on Alistair taking such a dark turn?

Cybus, Given the extent of gaming references in you work (Prototype, Singularity, FO:NV) what's your favorite game and what are you playing now. Also is the Drakul a reference to the Dresden files or just coincidence?

Right now I’m playing Fallout 76. My favorite game varies over time; I’m a huge fan of all the Fallouts and Bioshocks.
And no, I’ve never read or heard of (beyond their name, at least) of the Dresden Files; Drakul are a reference to various vampire shows (The Strain being the primary inspiration) and games (Vampyr), fused together with some original characters like Thrax.
/skip