What question do you want to ask AU?

[Airceltria]

Why you choose that as your flag?

1) I don't want to come off as rude, but if I can ask, do you ever regret depicting Alexandria so...sexily? Better phrased out, I mean to question, do you think it's an advantage to her characterization that it outweighs negative stereotypes that could arise? I've seen some rather disparaging commentary about her, even if it's IC.

2) How did you come up with the idea for your flag? It's very neat.

Well in truth I picked that one because I was having issues looking for the right image for her and that one was honestly the best even if the image can be consider sexual (though in my opinion it's rather tame compare to some of the other images I've seen before). So it being what it looks like was more incidental than intentional. I just wanted to find a good picture that fits her and that one was it after spending hours looking for any image that best fits her. Like the eye color changing thing was just me making something up because I found the three images that work and I didn't want a small detail to ruin my efforts. But as for the negative stereotypes I knew that would happen but I'm not gonna change how I want my characters to be. I mean the harem thing is more of a culture trait that other nations have so that is one thing to consider but everything is characterization and while her sexual aspect is a noted characteristics it isn't the only one as I have shown in IC.

The flag was made by someone else but the design I requested from the maker was to change this Wiccan flag and make it look much more simpler but still keep it cool.

This was the flag in question that inspired my flag.
/skipme

[Sengoku Americas]

I apologise if you've already been asked this question, but what were the experiences which led to you becoming interested in history- and Mesoamerican history in particular? Do you recall watching any programmes, reading books, or seeing works of art that made you think "I've found something I want to study further"?

Another question for you: if you had to choose another area of research (not Mesoamericas), which region and time period would you choose?

Of course, thanks for your book and video recommendations by the way.

---

BN: I've already created one, but I've been having some trouble writing and it's not my first priority.

[Kiu Ghesik]

Is there any possibility that you'll write a nation that a) isn't socialist and b) is actually the protagonist of their narrative world? I understand if not, but it might be interesting to try your hand at something else.

[Baizou]

.

Yo!

With all the new content on Palisade that keeps coming out, where do you recommend new readers (or old readers like me who haven't seen all the new stuff yet) begin? What are you particularly proud of?

What have been your favorite questions on the Ask the Nomad Q&A?

How'd you settle on your colored text and horizontal lines roleplaying format? It's very distinctive, and very clean!

[Kiu Ghesik]

.

Yo!

With all the new content on Palisade that keeps coming out, where do you recommend new readers (or old readers like me who haven't seen all the new stuff yet) begin? What are you particularly proud of?

What have been your favorite questions on the Ask the Nomad Q&A?

How'd you settle on your colored text and horizontal lines roleplaying format? It's very distinctive, and very clean!

1) Ooh, that's a hard one. If you look at my sig, where I say "something big coming soon," part of that something big is going to be reorganizing my hub. When that's done, I'll have an actual narrative overview beyond the notes at the top that the reader can use as a starting place to direct their interests. But there's never going to be a "real" starting place- currently, what's shaping up in terms of narrative development is more or less two big factions and a whole bunch of smaller ones being developed. Those are the Free League and the Interim Government, respectively, though the former's more of a power bloc than an actual faction. As such, I guess you could say that those two factions are going to be the "starting points", but none of them have actually been written yet, which... puts a bit of a rub in things. Right now, though, I'd just suggest going down the rabbit hole as best as you want to. There's no real order in which it's meant to be read as is, like I say, and in all honesty while I'd suggest going through the FREERANGE stuff if you want to most of the content is actually in the OOC factbooks since they've proved far easier to write than FREERANGE's drab technical writing and the Valks' clunky color scheme. (I need to fix that, but I don't know how to do it yet.) FREERANGE mentions some important stuff for the Interim Government at large but it's all tangential (the Inspector's log in Report::003) and it discusses the development of some plot points I've yet to fully elaborate on, like Rainier and Kova's relationship, and the thing the FREERANGE project found on Janus (which you can infer the identity of, it's not that secret.) I'm most proud of the future compass, actually, just because it's the most technically advanced factbook I've written so far, and despite it being sort of simple I just really like the aesthetic it has. Rainier and the history dispatch come in as close seconds.

2) The one about Oloughin's teaching methods or Ari's trauma. They both helped to seriously develop her character- at least, the character that exists on the forums. The one in her factbook is just a little outdated, its content needs a bit of bulking, and its presentation style could be much improved. Then there's this one from Wuchu, which is just so sweet since it's more or less just a check-up call and that concept is great (not to mention Yaniv and Ari have a nice banter, and I got to write Vhi, who probably won't ever get a factbook, which is a shame.) You and Hamatu ask really great questions as well, of course, and I enjoy them immensely, but this response is far too long as it is and I don't really have the time to dig up every question from the Q&A that made me feel warm. Needless to say I liked most of them.

3) Well, it's more or less a modification of my original box format I used for Ari after I got tired of the basic "text with a name attached" style. The point of that style was originally to separate the text from its surroundings and put a bit of visual separation there, but I always felt like the box cluttered things a little bit, and made it harder to work in "conversational" style pieces. With the current style, the horizontal lines are there to provide that vertical differentiation, the blocktext provides the horizontal differentiation, and by removing the box I've found that the color pops more since it's against an off-white or off-black background instead of a greyish one. It broadens my choice of color palette, I've found. And thanks! I like it much more than the previous one, so it's good to hear it looks just as great to other people as it does to me!

/skipadee-doo-da

[Velvets Realm]

1. While it would be a difficult question to handle since my nation follows more of a story-esque format and Velvet never appears directly in person. What could you further extrapolate from my signature and factbooks about Velvet's character and the people who supports her?

2. Which one of your prominent figures do you think survive Vacuo for more than a week? What do you think they'll be like after being thrown to such hellish conditions? Will they be more radicalized or just rendered a broken husk of their former selves?

---

BN note: Ask me something else other than the flag, anime, and other shiny things.

[Las Palmeras]

I apologise if you've already been asked this question, but what were the experiences which led to you becoming interested in history- and Mesoamerican history in particular? Do you recall watching any programmes, reading books, or seeing works of art that made you think "I've found something I want to study further"?

Another question for you: if you had to choose another area of research (not Mesoamericas), which region and time period would you choose?

Of course, thanks for your book and video recommendations by the way.

---

BN: I've already created one, but I've been having some trouble writing and it's not my first priority.

I believe that you have asked me this before, Sengoku Americas. Fortunately, I've got a terrible memory.

1) The choice came easy to me, I'm fairly used to reading a lot...and I'm bad at math. I think abstractly too, quite a bit too easily, a professor of mine tells me. Where I currently live, it's also fairly easy to get an access to Mesoamerican history, which I found endearing because it's "exotic", that is, not Western despite the temptation I sometimes feel at calling it my history. It has the added bonus that none of it's city-States are around anymore even if contemporary anthropology and research on today's indigenous groups can at times be used as a source, I like challenges.

It sounds silly, but also , a book I read about Frederick Catherwood (an English traveler that illustrated Maya and Egyptian ruins) in my childhood and Indiana Jones movies made me think that archeology is glamorous, though I'm no archaeologist. A teacher of mine is actually an archaeologist and they're a very cool person.

Also if I had to pick another place and time period to pick from, it'd be Japan, from Meiji to Early Shōwa. Not just because of my weeb tendencies, as bad as imperialism is, I've got a morbid fascination with how the Japanese State managed to modernize the way it did and then pull a Uno Reverse card on the West.

/SKIP ME DO VELVETS REALM

[Surrealist Patagonia]

1. While it would be a difficult question to handle since my nation follows more of a story-esque format and Velvet never appears directly in person. What could you further extrapolate from my signature and factbooks about Velvet's character and the people who supports her?

2. Which one of your prominent figures do you think survive Vacuo for more than a week? What do you think they'll be like after being thrown to such hellish conditions? Will they be more radicalized or just rendered a broken husk of their former selves?

---

BN note: Ask me something else other than the flag, anime, and other shiny things.

1. Who was the real-life or literary inspiration for Premier Livi. Your most liked factbook is the one that features him prominently. His "dubious centrism" probably reminded me of Joe and the "Tony Stark wannabe" definitely reminded me of a certain Musk. But I like to hear what you think about it.
2. What compelled you to write all of this in a neat, short-story narrative way instead of the usual wiki-style factual factbook. I thought it was quite unique and gave the nation a lot of character and made it more memorable.

[Velvets Realm]

1. He is primarily inspired by Boris Yeltsin with a bit of Musk sprinkled around here and there with being him responsible for pushing the SFSR's space tech to towering heights. This feat is mentioned on my WIP factbook, which is probably gonna get scrapped because I like giving people hell. Yeah, Premier Livi did one good thing apparently.

2. There was one simple reason and another complex one.

-I was messing around with templates and found one I really liked.

-I didn't like giving people easy answers, since I was mostly graced by effort posters on my previous nations. I was misguided to believe it was the norm to read in F7 and decided if someone was gonna bother doing it for me, may as well make it intriguing and unothrodox as possible. As it turns out only a few could do that and a certain Bonnie Blue kept referring to me as Neo only. I find it funny they get angry when I turn it back on them and only refer to their nation as the literal CSA.

---

/SKIP ME and do Surrealist Patagonia.

[Zeffar]

1. While it would be a difficult question to handle since my nation follows more of a story-esque format and Velvet never appears directly in person. What could you further extrapolate from my signature and factbooks about Velvet's character and the people who supports her?

2. Which one of your prominent figures do you think survive Vacuo for more than a week? What do you think they'll be like after being thrown to such hellish conditions? Will they be more radicalized or just rendered a broken husk of their former selves?

---

BN note: Ask me something else other than the flag, anime, and other shiny things.

1. Who was the real-life or literary inspiration for Premier Livi. Your most liked factbook is the one that features him prominently. His "dubious centrism" probably reminded me of Joe and the "Tony Stark wannabe" definitely reminded me of a certain Musk. But I like to hear what you think about it.
2. What compelled you to write all of this in a neat, short-story narrative way instead of the usual wiki-style factual factbook. I thought it was quite unique and gave the nation a lot of character and made it more memorable.

Do you ever plan on doing a nation that is the complete opposite of Surrealist Patagonia?

[Atheara]

Why are some Nations pissed about your OOC stuff?

[Kiu Ghesik]

1) Are you aware that there's a typo in your sig? "Boardcasting", not "Broadcasting".
2) Do you make your own templates? If so, they're pretty good, even though I can spot a bit of borked bbcode with most of them.

an:
Do you have any ambitious projects in the works, or no?

[Miku the Based]

Is your nation serious or ironic?

[Surrealist Patagonia]

1. Who was the real-life or literary inspiration for Premier Livi. Your most liked factbook is the one that features him prominently. His "dubious centrism" probably reminded me of Joe and the "Tony Stark wannabe" definitely reminded me of a certain Musk. But I like to hear what you think about it.
2. What compelled you to write all of this in a neat, short-story narrative way instead of the usual wiki-style factual factbook. I thought it was quite unique and gave the nation a lot of character and made it more memorable.

Do you ever plan on doing a nation that is the complete opposite of Surrealist Patagonia?

99% of NS' liberal MT democracies and prude theocracies already got you covered on that. It would be more of a surprise for you to write a sane liberal democracy lmao.
/skip

[Free Ravensburg]

Why are you "based"?

[Koinonia Poleis]

1) Are you aware that there's a typo in your sig? "Boardcasting", not "Broadcasting".
2) Do you make your own templates? If so, they're pretty good, even though I can spot a bit of borked bbcode with most of them.

an:
Do you have any ambitious projects in the works, or no?

1. What would you say is the most unique aspect of Ghesik culture? That might sound like an odd question, but I am curious to see if you have anything that you just thought sounded cool.
2. Perhaps a big generic, but what was the inspiration for Berghi's flag? Sun be cool.
3. How does the 'regular' flooding of Berghi's river affect its culture?

darn

AN: 1. Who in God's great name would lewd a raven?
2. Unless "Siege the Castle" is virtual or is less bloody than the factbook makes it out to be (Like Airsoft), how do you explain its maintenance in a modern culture? (It's cool if it's just "Rule of Cool")
3. y u back? a

[Zeffar]

Why are some Nations pissed about your OOC stuff?

Huh? Care to elaborate.

1) Are you aware that there's a typo in your sig? "Boardcasting", not "Broadcasting".
2) Do you make your own templates? If so, they're pretty good, even though I can spot a bit of borked bbcode with most of them.

an:
Do you have any ambitious projects in the works, or no?

1) I am now.

2) Nope. The only template that I "made" is what you see with Emperor Ferrios Von Stein's factbook template being an advanced version of the original I'm using for Charles Vanderbilt. If you want an advanced version head over to Alkdor's dispatch and scroll down and click raw at the bottom right to access the code.
/skip

[Atheara]

1) Are you aware that there's a typo in your sig? "Boardcasting", not "Broadcasting".
2) Do you make your own templates? If so, they're pretty good, even though I can spot a bit of borked bbcode with most of them.

an:
Do you have any ambitious projects in the works, or no?

I currently have no ambitious projects, but i do plan on writing a simple overview on some stuff.
Most likely about eSports, the Athearan Space Organization, and likely rework my Squad Zero factbook.

/skip do AN

[Free Ravensburg]

1) Are you aware that there's a typo in your sig? "Boardcasting", not "Broadcasting".
2) Do you make your own templates? If so, they're pretty good, even though I can spot a bit of borked bbcode with most of them.

an:
Do you have any ambitious projects in the works, or no?

1. What would you say is the most unique aspect of Ghesik culture? That might sound like an odd question, but I am curious to see if you have anything that you just thought sounded cool.
2. Perhaps a big generic, but what was the inspiration for Berghi's flag? Sun be cool.
3. How does the 'regular' flooding of Berghi's river affect its culture?

darn

AN: 1. Who in God's great name would lewd a raven?
2. Unless "Siege the Castle" is virtual or is less bloody than the factbook makes it out to be (Like Airsoft), how do you explain its maintenance in a modern culture? (It's cool if it's just "Rule of Cool")
3. y u back? a

1: Rule 34 artists
2: extreme larping or the fucking gladiatorial games style
3: I never left

/skip

[Tohorin]

*snip*

1) With Roman monopoly over the East Mediterranean thwarted, how do you envision the future of Europe in your setting?
2) Will the KP-Egyptian tag-team of convenience be long-term due to enemy encroachment?
3) Ya like Greek pottery? If so, you recommend a book or something on the matter?

[Drongonia]

Alt-history New Zealand.


Are you Australian irl?

Do you live in New Zealand, and if so is it true that people will swerve to hit opossums down there?

Yes I do, and yes (but not too often). Possums are a pest, and those who have guns at home will often shoot them. Most of the time only people with bull-bars will hit them intentionally, due to the potential for damage to their car.

/skip

[Baizou]

1. While it would be a difficult question to handle since my nation follows more of a story-esque format and Velvet never appears directly in person. What could you further extrapolate from my signature and factbooks about Velvet's character and the people who supports her?

2. Which one of your prominent figures do you think survive Vacuo for more than a week? What do you think they'll be like after being thrown to such hellish conditions? Will they be more radicalized or just rendered a broken husk of their former selves?

I hope you'll pardon the wait; I was rereading your dispatches.

1. I don't know if I could really extrapolate anything. As you said, she doesn't appear in person at all, and despite reading your factbooks, I didn't see any references to Velvet except in "The Devil of Vacuo." Like, I guess I can extrapolate that she's ruthless and takes advantage of discontent against the status quo to demagogically attain power for herself. Maybe she hates the rich and powerful? But if I'm understanding this right she also exploits the starving poor to work as her soldiers, so it feels like she herself is kinda among the rich and powerful? Like I said, there seems to not be much at all in the way of details. The only thing I know for sure about her is that she's snarky about Vacuo's environmental devastation and that she's been inaugurated as Premier of the SFSR, and it took me a lot longer than I expected figure out that means the Sovereign Federated States of Remnant (the full title and acronym never appear in the same dispatch; related to that, I still don't know what the SDC is).

Is she supposed to be a reference to Neo, from RWBY? Sorry, I never watched past the third episode of the show, so all I know are character names and nothing about them, and that's just a guess, really.

2. I mean, I guess none of them? No one in Baizou's cast is geared for subsistence farming, much less mercenary guerilla warfare. I guess Representative Meikawa and Princess Yuu are the best bets, because each of them actually grew up poor as young children, years before the present, so they would be marginally less overwhelmed, and Meikawa has personal experience organizing labor movements. I imagine they'd either be dead or just more uncomfortable and desperately hungry and tired versions of themselves. Akitamoto and Fukushima would be more convinced that authoritarian corporatism is bad. Meikawa and Miya would be more convinced that capitalism is bad. Haruto and Yuu would be more convinced that selfishness and environmental disregard are bad.

snip

Howdy! I don't think we've met.

1. I'm quite rusty on my classical studies. What do you mean that Koinonia is anachronistically classical?

2. Is this interest in Classical Greece something you also do academically, or is it something you do purely as a hobby? How'd you get into it?

3. What in your experience is folks' most common misconception about ancient Greece?

EDIT: Oop, Ninja'd; questions for Tohorin down below:

.

Hi again! I noticed Charles and Tepka seem to be making more appearances on the forums lately. Is that the case, or it just my misperception? If it is the case, what's prompted their larger presence?

I think last time I asked for recommended reading about meso-American history. This time, any reading you'd recommend in general? Like, a book or article you liked a lot?

[Kiu Ghesik]

1. What would you say is the most unique aspect of Ghesik culture? That might sound like an odd question, but I am curious to see if you have anything that you just thought sounded cool.
2. Perhaps a big generic, but what was the inspiration for Berghi's flag? Sun be cool.
3. How does the 'regular' flooding of Berghi's river affect its culture?

1) Currently... not much. I haven't gotten into the really rich, unique culture-building yet, and so right now most of the original stuff is in the theology. As such, I'm going to have to cite the fact that a nomadic society views God in the same light as a "divine engineer" as pretty unique, if a bit anachronistic. It's really quite cool, in my opinion.

2) Sun is for Amsaru, the sun-deity. Which... yeah, really original there, but I don't particularly care, it's cool nonetheless. The obelisk is more or less just cool- uh, I mean, represents the divinity of Berghi society reaching towards and out from the sun-god. The pennant design is more or less me just playing around in paint.net until I got something cool.

3) Much the same way it affected old Egypt's, since I nicked the regular flood plain idea from there- they believe, to a certain extent, in a more benevolent concept of afterlife (though it's lessened as of late with several successive L-Bs using their religious positions to co-opt the priesthood into a war footing) and in a more regular, mechanical view of the cosmos. The gods all have ordered domains and ordered rules, things move on their regular command, and the world is more or less orderly when the gods are revered. When it's not... the smelly northern foreigners start burning shit. So yeah, it's a very weird mix of Assyrian militarism and Egyptian vibes that I'm not quite sure how to reconcile and am not sure if I care to.

/skip

[Drongonia]

-snip-

Forgive me if I've asked a similar question before, but what are your future plans for Baizou? Any future major events you're working on or thinking of?

[Baizou]

Forgive me if I've asked a similar question before, but what are your future plans for Baizou? Any future major events you're working on or thinking of?

I wouldn't say I'm working on 'events' so much, but I do have writing plans in the works. I want to write another prose narratives in the vein of "A Revolutionary Compromise," maybe starring Meikawa, or maybe starring someone else from the cast. It depends on which of my current ideas gets more fleshed out in my mind first. Really, the problem is that I've got too many ideas I'm excited about but not enough decisiveness to pick one of them! ^^;

I also really want to make a future compass for Baizou! It looks like such a fun idea, and Baizou's excessive party diversity means a future compass could depict a lot of radically different directions.

Skipme; Drongonia's turn.