World Cup 100 | RP thread

by **Ko-oren** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 12:11 pm

Reintroducing: the Ko-orenite Top League

One of the nation's two biggest sports - association football has to share that title with gridiron football - has significantly overhauled the pyramid. 'Exactly twelve teams per league' was a great design principle but it meant eleven tiers, meaning in turn that climbing the ladder to a meaningful level took approximately half a player's career, and over time the geographic constraints meant that we had teams from Gahrugkothis playing teams from Leleja, meaning the former had to spend two nights on a ferry (there and back) just to play a single game, and then you'd have to do that seventeen times per year, only to end up eighth in division nine, or something.

And so the KFA set out to find a grand new system. It took a while, but it has found said system.

The Top League will henceforth have 36 members, six of which will relegate into the western and eastern Second Division(s) - which will have 24 teams each. Tier three - also east and west - has 36 teams each. Tier four - northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest - also has 36 teams each. That leaves us with just five tiers (tier five: 28 teams each, central, northeast, northwest, south, southeast, southwest) and that takes care of 468 out of the 512 professional, semi-professional, and amateur teams that together make up Ko-orenite football. The remaining 44 teams are academy and university teams, who contest their own trophies, and who play there ultimately to try to make it to the big league(s).

Thirty-six teams in the Top League and only six relegations means that being among the thirty best (and/or least terrible) teams is enough to maintain your status in the top tier. This in turn means that a lot of the rivalries that have fallen by the wayside in recent years will be reinvigorated.

To give you an idea of how the Top League formats of the past worked: first, we just had twelve teams, no relegation, who duked it out amongst themselves for decades. As you can imagine, they all hold grudges of varying intensity versus one another. Because there was no relegation, tier two had the best teams short of, effectively, a franchise top-12, and as you can imagine, these also hold grudges against each other to an extent - but because they did have to face relegation after terrible results, there was some more turnover and therefore fresh blood to build new grudges against. That format held for a long time, but then that was opened up in favour of a twelve-team Top League with relegation, and for the first time the cartel of twelve was broken up by the nouveau riche - a class of teams that had been in the Second Division for ages, biding their time, continuously spending to maintain their spot atop the pro/rel pyramid. As you can imagine, they hold some grudges against the worst of the original top 12 for holding on to their spot despite them getting upset by Second Division teams in Cup games nearly every time.

On top of that, teams hold grudges for geographic reasons. Most cities have about one team per major suburb, and while one of those usually grew out to represent the city in national competitions, at the local level that team was still equal parts beloved and hated. Beloved because if your local Ianahnu Tehreseth couldn't get anything done, you could still support your (almost) equally local Maethoru - because they were never going to meet at an equal level anyway. So you're going to get a lot of double (or even triple) fans: those that support their lower level local team, the bigger team from their city, and maybe a third team from the city they went to university in, or where their family was originally from, etcetera.

No matter the format, the Top League always aimed to make their best teams play the other good teams more often. We had two-tier formats in the past to make sure that the top six only faced the bottom six twice a year, but the other top six teams four times a year. The new format is no different.

For stage one, the thirty-six teams are sorted into four conferences based on the standings of the year before. That's nine teams, eight rounds, and at the end of that, we have one big table. The top nine teams will go to stage 2, conference 1, and so on, until we have four conferences of nine teams each once more. They play each other once, the top three and bottom three of each conference promote and relegate where applicable, and stage 3 is effectively a repeat of stage 2. At the end of stage 3, we divide the table into three conferences of twelve, with the final fourth stage of the league taking place across eleven rounds, at the end of which we have our final table, which is based only on the performances of teams during those final eleven rounds.

So for a team to stay at the top, you can falter a bit during the year, but you have to finish strong, and ideally stay halfway decent during the entire year anyway. There's almost always a way up to the top conference of that stage.

by **Soviet Kem** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 12:22 pm

By: Stravvria Cremivich

Group 14
Match Day 3:
Soviet Kem (200) v Minoptra (307)
Match Day 4:
Banija (22) v Soviet Kem (200)

3-2-2-1-2 Formation
Starting XI

GK 6 Zoinski
CB 58 Kenidky
LCB 19 Gente
RCB 17 Jent
LDM 50 Mosjow
RDM 52 Wnetia
LCM 10 Putanik (Captain)
RCM 56 Genish II
SS 29 Gligimesh
LST 23 Nort
RST 20 Fengski

Ahead of matchdays 3 & 4 Ken Stavisk mentioned in a pre-game conference, "We have two challenges ahead, our first officially ranked teams, we have been to Banija during the BoF, so we know what to expect culture and weather wise. But they are the 22nd ranked team in the multiverse, so we must fight tooth and nail to prevent any goals, even parking the bus if we have to. As for Minoptra, while they are ranked lower than us, we know they have something to prove, but we will stop them." I managed to catch Soviet Kemrainan captain, Naskin Putanik, before he left the press conference:

Cremivich: "Any worries before the next two match days?"

Putanik: "I believe we can hold off Banija, but I am worried that we might not be able to get even a single goal. You can't be the 22nd ranked national team without knowing how to defend."

Cremivich: "How is the moral at the camp after the first win?"

Putanik: "The moral is high, but we are not getting overconfident. We won 1-0 over an unranked team, what does this mean for our next two games, we are going against an admittedly lower ranked team, but we are training for Banija, due to their 4-3 win over Kandorith. Thank you for the questions but I must really go train, have a good day."

by **Of the Golden Harp** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 12:24 pm

The Dublin Grand Harp was alive with noise on the opening game for the Holy Harps in World Cup 100 against Legalese. The first fans started pouring in two hours before kickoff. All 92000 seats were sold out within minutes of being opened. The festivities started early as Garbhan scored from 35 yards away in warm ups. Perhaps a sign of what was to come. Five minutes before the match the players were lining up on the field to sing the anthem. One minute before kickoff the players were on the field and the stadium was silent. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... kickoff! The game started with Paul Johnson kicking the ball to Conall Buchanan who passed back to Garbhan. Garbhan lobbed the ball to Evan Kelleher, but he slipped on the fresh grass. The ball was taken by Hill Adams of Legalese who dribbled forward. Hill Adams met Hugo Lennon right outside of the 18 yard box. Lennon managed to kick it away, to Byrn Hefferman who went to kick it forward, but was blocked by Leo Hill-Tanner of Legalese, who managed to get the ball under control before O'Finnegan could arrive to grab it. The shot was a chip, which went over the head of O'Finnegan, right into the goal, bringing the score to 0-1 in the first minute. At kickoff Johnson sent the ball all the way back to Sloan Mondy, who dribbled forward and passed to Garbhan. Garbhan kicked a through ball to Conall Buchanan, who shot from 16 yards out. The ball went right to Legalese's keeper who secured it. The game was largely dominated by the powerful Legalese offense, who in the first 15 minutes had nine shots compared to the Holy Harp's two. It was the seventeenth minute when Hefferman attempted a tackle on Hill-Tanner of Legalese, but missed. Seeing the opportunity he ran to the goal, but was blocked by O'Finnegan. He passed to Thomas Toal who passed the ball into the goal. The Holy Harps thought they went two nil down, but luckily for them the assistants flag was up. Offsides. A breakthrough finally came for the Golden Harp in the 47th minute when Garbhan had passed the ball to Steed, who had been subbed on for Johnson. The 21 year old looked around, but there was no way past the five defenders of Legalese. He heard Garbhan shout "Steed!" as he ran past him. Without thinking he passed the ball past the defense. George attempted a tackle on Garbhan who had gained possession, but Garbhan was simply too fast. He rushed forward, and shot over the charging keeper. The ball flew through the air, it was high up, but coming down. Just as it was about to clear the goaline, it hit the post. Steed and Ulyatt both were running for the ball. Ulyatt was about to reach the ball, but Steed got his toe on it, and sent it into the goal. The crowd erupted like a volcano. The almost 90000 Golden Harpian fans were all screaming in joy. The twenty-one year old wonderkid who emerged as a rising star in the previous tournament,had gotten the Holy Harp's first goal of the tournament. Play restarted with Legalese who continued dominating possession, and shots. Disaster appeared to strike when Hill-Tanner found a gap in the defense, but the faulty defending of The Golden Harp was covered by an excellent save from O'Finnegan. Now a corner. Legalese had nine in the box. The Holy Harps had eight. The ball arced through the air, and landed at the feet of Hill Adams, who shot it. It went straight to O'Finnegan who as soon as he could kicked the ball to Garbhan. The Holy Harp's now had a two-on-one with Garbhan and Steed against the lone defender of Legalese. Garbhan received it without trouble, and lobbed the ball toward the goal. Steed was in another foot race to the goal. He reached the ball before George, who fell with the effort. Steed fell too, but got back up. He sprinted at the goal, alone, with a brace on his mind. He reached the box, took one dribble, and kicked the ball. It flew through the air, past the glove of Ulyatt, off the post, in the goal. 2-1. The passionate, nationalistic fans lost their mind. Play restarted soon as Legalese threw everything they could at the Holy Harp's defense. Keane and the rest of the defenders held strong, with the aid of O'Finnegan in the back. In the 91st minute Legalese had a corner. Two minutes of stoppage time. One opportunity. The ball curved to O'Finnegan who grabbed it easily. With all eleven of their players back Legalese was defenseless. O'Finnegan kicked it to Garbhan who controlled it with ease. Garbhan lobbed it as far as he could over the last defender, Steed ran through the defenders to get to the ball. Using his speed he reached it before Hobbes could. He ran 60 yards, and up reaching the box, he stopped, and shot the ball. It went in the open goal. The whistle blew. Holy Harps three. Legalese one. A hat trick for Steed, and a hat trick of assists for Garbhan. The crowd went wild.

by **Flavovespia** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 12:37 pm

World Cup 84: Retrospective

Squornshelan Remnant States (A) 0-0,
Ziwana (H) 4-4, Coleman 5' 43', Barkes 17', Holt 91'
Mitra and Soma (A) 3-2, Coleman 17', Hall 83' Coleman 45' Gardner 77'
Mustardy (H) 3-3, Maddox 59', Barkes 80', Daley 91'
Vakolicci Haven and Celeria (A) 0-1, Barkes 28'
South Covello (H) 0-1,
Qasden (A) 3-0,
Filindostan (H) 1-2, Daley 16'
Furby Island (A) 1-2, Own Goal 19', Michael 70'
Bliuji (H) 2-1, Sharratt 32', Hall 51'
Squornshelan Remnant States (H) 1-2, Coleman 84'
Ziwana (A) 3-2, King 18', Coleman 54'
Mitra and Soma (H) 2-3, Coleman 16', Hall 76'
Mustardy (A) 3-4, Humphries 20', Daley 23', Hall 60' Coleman 82'
Vakolicci Haven and Celeria (H) 3-4, Coleman 35,' Hall 40', Daley 70'
South Covello (A) 1-0,
Qasden (H) 0-1,
Filindostan (A) 3-4, Gardner 38', Hall 63', Wolfson 90', Sharratt 92'
Furby Island (H) 2-2, Barkes 19', Hall 24'
Bliuji (A) 4-2, Feld 23' Hall 68'

Code: Select all: Group 8 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 [color=#00BF00]South Covello [/color] 20 14 3 3 44 16 +28 45 2 [color=#0040FF]Qasden[/color] 20 12 5 3 49 36 +13 41 3 Ziwana 20 10 7 3 47 37 +10 37 4 Squornshelan Remnant States 20 7 9 4 37 26 +11 30 5 Filindostan 20 7 7 6 36 31 +5 28 6 Vakolicci Haven and Celeria 20 7 6 7 43 45 −2 27 7 Bliuji 20 8 3 9 42 41 +1 27 8 Mitra and Soma 20 7 5 8 37 43 −6 26 9 Flavovespia 20 5 4 11 35 44 −9 19 10 Mustardy 20 3 7 10 36 52 −16 16 11 Furby Island 20 0 4 16 25 60 −35 4

Mercedini (N) 1-1, Coleman 90'
Mkabia (N) 3-3, Hall 29' Coleman 35', 59'
Tamgu (N) 1-1, Own Goal 44'
Balqia (N) 0-0,
Mattijana (N)1-2, King 52', Sharratt 92'

Group D                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Mercedini                 5   2  3  0   11   7  +4    9
2 Balqia                    5   2  2  1   11  11   0    8
3 Tamgu                     5   1  4  0   14  13  +1    7
4 Flavovespia               5   1  4  0    7   6  +1    7
5 Mattijana                 5   1  1  3    5   8  −3    4
6 Mkabia                    5   0  2  3   10  13  −3    2

If an international team could have “second system syndrome”, a phenomenon where a side who does well on debut, usually after promotion, falters the next time out, then Flavovespia seemed to be hit by this in World Cup 84 Qualifiers. Now ranked #146, Flavovespia knew qualifying in an 11 team group with just 2 automatic spots and no playoffs would be tough. However, Flavovespia would underperform from the start. Whilst a goalless draw against Squornshelan Remnant States was hard to fault, Flavovespia failed to win in their opening 4 games. An ugly 3-2 loss at Mitra and Soma saw Scott Coleman injured, and Tony Gardner sent off in one of many incidents of ill-discipline in the early games. A late show saw Flavovepsia get an injury time winner, only to then concede a penalty in the last minute to draw 3-3 against Mustardy. 4 games down, and Nick Cole was sacked.

Marcus McCormick, the assistant manager of Nick Cole, came in for a 4 game interim stint. A win against Vakolicci Haven and Celeria was a highlight, unfortunately the only one as he lost his next 3. In came Richard Crawford, to see out the rest of the Qualifiers. Flavovespia would pick up another 4 wins under Richard Crawford, but the damage had been done. Only 19 points and 9th in the group, and underperformance on both their seeding and a points per game. Nevertheless, Richard Crawford seemed to have steadied the ship. Some players came in and made an impact, promise was shown by young right back David Blythe, and Jonathan Feld proved his utility and skill as a left midfielder. Flavovespia’s challenge was finidng players to complement their stars. Alongside James King in midfield, Alan Holt was a so-so performer, but neither Jordaan Wolfson nor Nigel Humphries could displace him. In attack, there was a lot of rotation alongside Scott Coleman, with Terence Daley, Edward Barkes, Marc Sharratt and David Michael all used in attack. Some teething issues and squad selection quibbles needed working out.

Cup of Harmony 76 saw 42 teams compete, including Flavovespia, a more expanded tournament in that cycle. Pot 5 of a 6 team group, Flavovespia knew a knockout appearance would be a struggle, and indeed they were out in the group stages in 4th. Flavovespia experienced the high and lows with a last minute equaliser vs Mercedini, before conceding one to Mkabia. Draws to Tamgu and Balqia left Flavovespia a slither of a chance of a knockout appearance. Marc Sharratt’s late, late header gave Flavovespia a first Cup of Harmony victory, but permutations elsewhere sent them home. Nevertheless, it was an unbeaten Cup of Harmony, showing Flavovespia could put in some consistent performances.

Despite the early struggles, Flavovespia began to build up a more confident team that was settling into the international landscape. Players who’d make up the future of Flavovespia in the coming cycles such as Scott Coleman, Steven Hall, James King, Tony Gardner and David Meehan were very present. Ronald Maddox, Jonathan Feld and David Blythe all debuted here, players who’d feature plenty in the future. This was a cycle of some of the more obscure names for Flavovespia, Nigel Humphries and Edward Barkes were a bit of a flash in the pan, and promising youngster Joseph Pitchford would fade away. In the goalkeeping ranks, Andrew Bullivant, Robert Jones and Richard Hartwell were all present, but none would establish themselves.

by **Mertagne** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 12:48 pm

THE EOT QUESTION: Negotiating Change in an Era of Uncertainty

The Euran Oceania Territories, formerly known as The Inevitable Syndicate of Fligsive and Magnaeus, is nowadays a quasi-national Euran colonial entity found within the vicinity of Mertagne. The ancestral home to many Mertagnians, the Syndicate was formerly the hotbed of the Corvidae Crisis, and gave rise to the fascist dictator Lex Crowley, who waged a war across Calania and the region of Esportiva to further an evil ideology. A coalition of nations, including the Rushmori powerhouse of Eura, defeated the Corvidae threat, and for a time after the Crisis the Syndicate was administered by Mertagne in a short-lived federation known as the 'Calanian Union'.

In order to raise funds for continued Mertagnian infrastructure development, administration of the Syndicate was leased to Eura for 99 years in an agreement known as the Igharsee Purchase. While many on both sides at the time of signing the agreement never believed the term would end, Mertagne and the EOT have grown side by side in Anaia, and now in Mertagne, 90 years have passed without anyone officially addressing the agreement. With just 9 years to go until the territory defaults back to Mertagnian control, and with increasingly isolationist Eura in the wake of a growing internal debt crisis, markets and administrators within the region are wondering - what's next for the EOT? Desmond Sovell investigates.

Just north of the city of Fligsive is a small beach known as Brint Sands. The beach is home to a small car park with a war memorial next to it, and as you look towards the ocean you can see a sand dune community that is typical of this section of the coast. Clinging to the sand dunes are a variety of species of what are known as 'pioneer plants' - vegetation that has acclimatised to living in a turbulent environment at the behest of other species, and that in time lays the roots for further species of plant to move in and lay their own foundations. This rarely visited area exemplifies the Euran Oceania Territories as a whole - a land that time mainly remembered for an ancient conflict, yet is consistently undergoing an understated process of growth even in a perceived climate of hardship.

Brint Sands is, like the EOT, also known internationally, however, due to it being one of the first places that Euran troops touched down on during the invasion of Fligsive at the peak of the Corvidae Crisis. When the nation was orchestrating a lofty war plan abroad that saw most of Esportiva under its thumb, The Eurans were able to take advantage of a politically neutral Starblaydia and a diminished Covidae defence presence after successive attacks by Hinodejin and Guayabalense forces at sea, and were able to mount an offensive alongside Mertagnian forces that eventually took them all the way to the city of Fligsive itself and demanded that Lex Crowley capitulate.

The landscape of Brint Sands was changed greatly in the immediate aftermath of the Corvidae Crisis, and yet, nearly a century on in Mertagnian time, you'd be unlikely to tell that this place was the site of some great battle. The barbed wire, bullets, and explosives that likely adorned this beach are long rusted, and in their place continues waves of sand dune succession have restored this landscape back to much of its former self. While beachcombers wave their metal detectors back and forth in the landscape back from the ocean in an attempt to find a sliver of two great war machines, this beach is now simply a spot for recreation - dog walkers and kite fliers rule the day, having grown up in a nation under the administration of that ancient conflict's ardent victors - Eura.

The Euran Oceania Territories represents the peak of the concept of the 'Eurasphere', which during its inception was devised as a catch-all term to represent a series of nations, many located in Rushmore, that aligned with Eura's economic and political ideals. Over time, and especially in the wake of the Corvidae Crisis, this term took on a different meaning, with Eura experiencing a period of unprecedented growth in territory, with the acquisition of nations such the Whittorian Isles, Fligsive, Magnaeus, and Sameba. Many of these nations were gained, in part, due to war victories - others were simply annexed politically and economically, as the Euran governmental apparatus seemed to want to exert more direct control over the handling of its satellites. In recent years, however, this colonial imperative seems to have shifted, for Eurans, back out of the vogue, as new powers have emerged onto the multiversal stage in the last century and have tipped the dynamics of power not just in Anaia and Rushmore, but far beyond. The territories themselves have seen a great increase in autonomy in the last two Mertagnian decades, as the nation voted in a historic referendum to increase economic ties to the rest of Anaia, and also accepted greater autonomy in the form of free elections for the position of Governor-General. All of this has been done with central Eura's consent, and has shown that the Euran Government is willing to allow the Territories to have a greater input into their future, likely as long as they continue to generate a trade surplus to continue funding the Euran state.

And luckily, for many years the EOT has done just that. Containing a huge manufacturing base that was co-opted by the Eurans after the Igharsee Purchase, the EOT had an amazing potential for steel, chemical, and textile production, as the Corvidae Wartime economy had focused on these sectors, delegating other industries such as food production to its client states in the wake of increasing desertification due to local weather anomalies. Fligsive's port was damaged heavily in the Crisis and the ensuing Fligsive disaster, but the Eurans, by leveraging a strong economy buoyed by war bonds and a labour force of Samebans keen to climb the social hierarchy, were able to successfully rebuild the port and by extension, the war-torn city and the greater colony. By establishing a direct, tariff free shipping connection across the Blood Sea to Eura, the Territories were able to foster a positive economic relationship with mainland Eura that saw both nations grow significantly, in terms of GDP for both nations and in terms of population for the Territories. The population of the Territories has grown significantly in the last century, with many mainland Eurans making the decision to move to the Territories for its economic opportunities and closer ties to Anaia. The Euran government has done its best to prioritise economic growth in the Territories, oftentimes focussing on that economic growth at the expense of other metrics such as environmental quality, life expectancy, and culture. To experience life in the Euran Oceania Territories is ultimately transactional in nature - the citizens of the colony export goods and import culture, not just from mainland Eura but also from nearby nations such as Mertagne, which has since the end of the Insulation embarked on a pointed campaign of cultural reintegration with its former homelands. This transactional relationship has not pleased everyone, but seems to suit the modal citizen looking for economic and social opportunity in a globalist era. Eura has, for many years, underpinned such an era, being one of the SARIMEA regions’s cultural, sporting, and economic heavyweights, rivalling nations such as Electrum in Eura’s home region of Rushmore, Banija and Quebec & Shingoryeo in Arrosia, Ko-oren and Audioslavia in Anaia, and Tumbra and Sylestone in Esportiva. In this multi-polar multiverse, Eura has done well to concentrate power across its empire, providing its cultural and defensive services to any territory that is capable of providing the material to support the mainland’s two billion strong population.

But recently, markets in the EOT have seen a worrying trend downward due to three key factors, suggesting that the balance of this transactional relationship may no longer be working in the favour of either party.

The first factor to contribute to the mounting economic uncertainties surrounding the Euran Oceania Territories is the growing Euran debt crisis. Eura, a key lender to nations abroad, is seemingly grappling with large amounts of internal debt due to a slowing economy and flattening population. Previous bouts of economic trouble have, quite rightly to some, been met with significant investment to divert the economy back on track, but this has had downstream effects that have left the mainland Euran government at the behest of its own creditors. Many have complained that the Euran Civil Service is bloated to the point of inefficacy, as attempts to centrally improve the welfare state for the nation’s massive population have come at great expense, with bets on industries such as the housing market not working out in the favour of the government. Because of this, successive Euran governments in the last few years have taken an increasingly protectionist and isolationist stance, while harking for the nation’s debtors to, rather unsustainably, accelerate debt repayments in an attempt to plug the growing gap between interest paid on loans from the Euran government and interest paid on loans to the Euran government.

Furthermore, the scaling back of many widespread Rushmori trading agreements in the wake of lines drawn during events such as the Nyowani Kitara conflict and the Graintfjall energy crisis have forced Eura to reflect on its internal economy, and it has found itself lacking on modernisation of many key industries, instead relying on a cheap and plentiful internal labour force to make up the shortfall. This approach doesn’t seem to cut it when there is a lack of interested national economies to export to, and as such the mainland’s economy has stagnated significantly, thus increasing the pressure on the colonies to perform amicably in more favourable market conditions in other regions such as Anaia. This in turn has seen a rise in payments from the government of the Territories back to the mainland, which has led to an increase in taxation in the Territories, driving away business, especially as the Territories are not a part of ACORN, the largest trading bloc in the Anaian region. While in recent years the multiverse has seen a cooling in collaboration, ACORN has bucked the trend significantly, much to the benefit of its constituent nations - and this has left the Territories out in the cold, much to the chagrin of its citizens. Mertagne has been luckily well insulated from this debt crisis, as debts from Mertagne to Eura were considered paid with the lease of the Territories, and the Mertagnian government has since the insulation not taken on any debt from Eura, instead looking within the region to Ko-oren and Krytenia as sources of funding.

The second factor to contribute to continued uncertainty in the Euran Oceania Territories is a cultural one. The EOT has had the freedom to elect its government for approximately 15 Mertagnian years, and in that time the democratic makeup of the various parties in the nation has settled into a more terse pattern than the formation of the initial government, a broad-stroke coalition that seemed to encompass modal views but also contained a balance from either side of the political spectrum but also alongside the AO-Anaia axis. In that 15 years, it has become crystal clear that the decision to integrate better with Anaian Markets (a decision that was made prior to the formation of ACORN) was a resounding success, as the AO bloc has all but disintegrated with the withdrawal of Vilita, the bloc’s primary nation, from multiversal trade and activity. The resulting fallout and the banding together of Arrosian nations has proved successful for them, but it is likely that the EOT would have had a harder time flourishing in such a location, especially given the colony’s ties to Mertagne, which was growing as a presence on the international stage in the wake of the Insulation. As such, the average opinion on the ‘Anaia-AO’ axis has shifted, sharply, to the Anaians, to the point where the Anaian position is simply a part of the political mainstream and a part of the pattern of everyday life in Fligsive and Magnaeus. However, in the wake of this, a previously dormant axis has thrust itself into the forefront of political activity, driven in part by concentrated efforts from Mertagne and Eura itself - that of sovereignty of the territories themselves. Since the end of the Insulation, Mertagne has consistently sought closer ties with Fligsive and Magnaeus, and has funded the growth of pro-Mertagnian groups such as the EOT political parties The Native Front and Legacy, both of which have seen a co-operative relationship with Mertagnian political parties such as the Unified Mertagne Party. While not explicitly stated in the UMP’s manifesto, the UMP have an apparent stance on Fligsive and Magnaeus, with many UMP mouthpieces claiming the territories as simply ‘administered by Eura’ - avoiding saying the quiet part of ‘but belonging to Mertagne’ outright.

The Native Front have seen growing success in the EOT’s two major elections, and are usually the kingmakers in the colony’s upper house of government, the House of Territories. Ensuring a positive relationship with the NF, and thus arguably Mertagne, is seen as necessary to effective government function in the Territories, and the party’s position to leverage a much closer nation with an arguably more vested interest in the nation’s citizens such as Mertagne is shifting attitudes away from Euran interests. For many, the main thrust of the argument to remain a colony of Eura is three-pronged, and rests on the economy, defence, and culture. Growing economic pressure without strong quality of life improvements is dissuading many Fligsivi and Magnaeans from pro-Eura political parties, and Mertagne’s handling of the Bostopian Conflict has shown that the Calanian nation is more than capable of projecting its own desires when it comes to conflict. Eura’s neutrality in the conflict was seen by an ever increasing wedge of EOT citizens as a bad move, especially as the Mertagnians have worked hard at reinvigorating cultural ties to the EOT and also acted on the behalf of the Territories by preventing the worst of a Bostopian naval blockade from affecting the port of Fligsive, a badge of honour which continues to be discussed to this day as a key part of the NF’s successes - as they were the ones who negotiated with the Mertagnian government.

As a result of this persistent and growing force of pro-Mertagnian sentiment, it is only natural that many in the EOT are questioning the nature of their sometimes parasitic relationship with mainland Eura. While in the past, Eura provided opportunities for better education and better jobs, the reality is that nowadays these can be gained fairly readily within Mertagne and by extension within ACORN. The Mertagnian government, keen to exploit opportunities to grow closer to the EOT, offer to citizens of the EOT visa-free travel, an easier path to Mertagnian citizenship (which, when debated in the National Forum, made references to Mertagne’s jus soli approach to citizenship), and tax incentives to work for Mertagnian businesses. These are, in many cases, just as enticing to citizens if not more so than the Euran offering, especially as the Mertagnian citizenship route essentially ensures rights across most of Anaia, due to Mertagne’s presence as a member of ACORN. This cultural shift is especially present in the nation’s EOT-born youth, who have often never travelled across the Blood Sea to Eura itself, and are increasingly gaining their news and media from alternative sources than the bombardment of Eura-centric broadcasts that makeup much of the colony’s media landscape. Moreso than ever, these citizens are interacting with Anaian business and media, resulting in a cultural slump away from the Euran mainland that will only be more prevalent should the Eurans continue their isolationism.

The third and most pressing factor in this dearth of investment and growth in the Territories is the growing uncertainty of the 99 year lease itself. As of yet, nobody in the civil structure of the three legislatures involved has properly addressed this issue, as the terms of the lease have not yet been negotiated by any party. Mertagne has met with dignitaries from the government of the EOT several times, and a committee has been set up by the Minister for Anaian Affairs in preparation for future negotiations. Eura has been scant on accepting a seat at the table, likely believing that Mertagne will not push the issue lest they incur a diplomatic incident, and also, according to sources in Bastion, of the belief that any negotiations that were to occur should do so without the input of representatives from the territories themselves, believing the issue of the lease to be an issue of foreign policy, an area of governance that is exclusively reserved by the mainland government. De facto, however, Mertagne enjoys a better relationship with Fligsive than it does with Bastion, and while the Territories have no formal diplomatic presence in Mertagne, a sizable portion of the Euran Embassy in Dannin contains the “Oceania Territories International Office” - a mere formality for unofficial consulate duties between the two nations.

The lack of movement from either Eura or Mertagne to make a definitive decision on the future of the colony has led to uncertainty over its status, grinding long-term investments to a halt. Any strategic business planning that looks into the latter half of the next decade sees nothing concrete to hang future investments off of, as nobody knows whether the nation will be part of a Euran trading bloc, an Anaian trading bloc - or, economically worse - cast adrift and staring down the cannon barrel of independence. This market paralysis has in turn led to business within the EOT to become extremely risk-averse, further stymieing economic growth and forcing the Territories to be dragged into a similar economic drain of mainland Eura itself.

While there are certainly worrying signs regarding the future of the Territories, it is possible for the colony to successfully navigate its way out of tough economic waters and return to the heyday of industry as an integral part of the Eurasphere. While Mertagne is acutely keen to assume stewardship of the territory, it is not unlikely that Eura could feasibly make an additional offer to Mertagne to extend the lease for another 99 years, or even indefinitely if the offer was palatable enough to the Mertagnian government. It is naught but a stroke of luck that Mertagne, economically, is quite performant on the Anaian stage at present, despite the ongoing economic doom and gloom across the region - its key location on the Trans-Calanian Railway and strong agricultural economy make it a key market to access, for ACORN and non-ACORN members alike - and therefore Mertagne are poised to be in a good negotiating position when the time comes. That doesn’t necessarily translate into a commanding position, as the scales of the Euran economy and the Mertagnian economy are orders of magnitude in difference, but it ensures that Mertagne are not necessarily in desperate need of anything, aside from the territory, that the Euran government is in a position to provide. It is equally likely that Mertagne, learning from the cession of the Karodin Tetrarchy into its borders, simply isn’t willing to accept the risk of integrating an economy for a second time, and especially not one of a similar size and population to the nation at large itself. Integration of the EOT would be a task of an even larger magnitude to Operation Exodus, which saw the Territories break off from Mertagne during the offboarding of the Calanian Union - not just because both the Territories and Mertagne have grown significantly in the near century since then. This might be unpalatable to the Mertagnian government, thus lowering the bar to allow Eura to extend the lease.

Regardless of the position of external actors, it seems that those best equipped to navigate this decision are the expats, Fligsivi, and Magnaean people that live within the Territories themselves. To do so, they will likely have to lobby Bastion for representation, if they truly believe that the central Euran government will not act in their own best interests. Either way, the uncertainty that has already unfolded across the colony is likely to only increase in the next nine years if nothing is done to curtail it, but it is certain that the will to endure that is emblematic of the lands the EOT sits on will - like the sand dune community at Brint Sands - persist long after the chaos has subsided.

by **Auprussia** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 2:34 pm

AUPRUSSIA'S FIRST GREAT START

Eleo Vicard has had the national team off to a great start. Auprussia's first 4 point window to start the cycle is nothing to sneeze at. The first match away to Natanians and Nosts was a typical affair controlled all the way through with the exception of the end. Alaide Mitregasque and Huberdeau Audac both scored along with substitute Rohel Vinmirre to give Auprussia the insurmountable lead. However, Natanians and Nosts fought back at the 75th and 80th minutes to make the match a bit more uncomfortable than it should have been. Vicard was on record saying that the finish was weak and "it felt like a loss to me more so than a victory". The main issue is the disconnect in the defense., Seaxany and Aregnac-Tignon were not on the same page at the end and it felt a bit amateurish for two talented individuals. Eleo Vicard still wanted to maintain the same lineup for the home match against Khachen believing in the young defenders and noting that both are still quite young and it is just a learning lesson.

Played in The Hills of Light and Dark the match was also in Auprussia's control for the majority of the time. Huberdeau Audac scored twice as the Khachen defense could not cope with the blistering attacks Auprussia came up with. Even when the score was 2-1 off of a deflection it never felt like Auprussia was in danger in this match. The team played a bit more possession-based this time around using their superior midfield to control the ball and attack at will pivotal in this endeavor was Ingalcer "Paryday" Pardau, his physicality warded off the Khachen players. This combined with great playmaking from both Rodulf Siebault and Alaide Mitregasque allowed the Auprussians to come away with a win. Huberdeau Audac said in an interview: "It felt like an improvement, we were battling over and over to make sure we got the win. I am proud of these guys espe-" Alaide Mitregasque runs past and shouts "YEAAAAAH!". "Especially that guy". "What do you think of the next match against Boring Paradise?" "We are going to be just as ready as we were for this match".

Vicard then stated to the media: "The goal is always to get to the world cup, with this group I feel like we can do more." Some in the media think he's a bit over his head with comments like that, Auprussia had only gotten to the World Cup once and had an admirable effort but ultimately did not get out of the group stages. One journalist even commented "He has a lot more belief than every Auprussian in the country alive". With 4 points and the best start to qualifying they could have gotten it would have seen Vicard was the right one for the job albeit with Pierre Camanin's exit still weighing on everyone in the federation. A couple of the players have even said that Pierre was a "traitor" but no one could be attributed as making that quote. When Vicard got word from journalists he even just shrugged and said "I can't help how anyone feels, all I can do is get us ready for the next match". It seems he didn't really mind the talk that came with taking over for Camanin.

by **Zenic** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 2:36 pm

"Not the worst start I've seen but certainly not what we were hoping for."

Luke Killian had just received the most recent analysis of the second matchday of the World Cup 100 Qualifiers. He had placed the folder on top of the folder he had just been reviewing: the analysis for the first matchday of the World Cup 100 Qualifiers. Killian opened the file and began to review its contents as he adjust his posture while sat at his desk.

He noticed that it started off the same as the Nova Calania report: "Score did not reflect level of play." While Zenic ultimately got ran over 4-1 in Anaia, they did strike first and have multiple chances that came dangerously close to entering the net. Thankful, this new matchday report confirmed what Killian had watched last night: a hard fought 2-1 win over Bears Armed in Rushmore. Killian's memories from the previous night flooded in as he read the report. The unusual nervousness at the start of the match that remained as Maruscak struck first in the first half for the second straight game, the joy when Zenic scored again in the first 20 minutes of the second half thanks to Nakazawa, the fear when they gave up a goal to Bears Armed, and the relief when the final whistle blew to confirm the victory.

Was Killian confident that this current squad was good enough to qualify for a 5th straight World Cup trip? Absolutely. After all, he was literally the only other manager in the Empire who knew what it took to make a World Cup and this squad can do it. But the Qualifiers were a unique beast that could be unforgiving: even the slightest of slip ups could lead to a shocking elimination for even the best of nations. Being in third place after 2 matchdays thanks to a tiebreaker over the most recent opponent that they defeated was not the worse place Zenic has ever been but certainly could have been better.

The only things Zenic had to be thankful for were that the next matchup with Nova Calania would be in Rushmore, in Manacus, at the Philosophia Colosseum and that the rest of the schedule would be overall easier. Not a walk in the park, per se, but certainly easier than what they had just faced. And they have been given a great chance to make great leaps upward in the group standings. Killian confirmed on the schedule that up next were The Lake Isle of Innisfree and Greater Deutsche. Innis had a surprisingly good set of opening matches by beating the two lowest ranked teams and propelling the unranked team to second place behind Nova Calania. Meanwhile, Greater Deutsche lost the opening match before getting an early bye to try and recuperate.

A win against Innisfree would move the Survivors from a tie for 3rd into 2nd place while a win against Greater Deutsche would solidify that position. And that was the lowest of the best case scenarios. A shock loss from Nova Calania against the likes of fellow Rushmori nation Bonusia could give Zenic just the opening it requires to claim first place in Group 22. But there were a few big 'IFs' in those last thoughts and anything could happen.

But there was only one 'IF' that Luke Killian held to be true: if anyone could get Zenic to the top of the group, it was Geraldo Zys.

by **The Osnari Federation** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 2:44 pm

Hope?

It was not a particularly joyous or happy atmosphere at the Sand Dome in West Warkus. Nathan Held and his Eagles had just come from behind, battling from 1-0 down to tie things up on the second matchday of qualifying. The Eagles had played well from start to finish in a match that was supposed to see some fireworks, but ultimately neither side was able to convert their many chances. The early Warkusian goal had come from Siôr Castell off a long ball from Isetyn Piwter, as the Warkusian forward got away from Joder Hugentobler and fired a rocket past Hias Schefer. The Eagles went into halftime down a goal, and the concern was clear that this was a familiar feeling, having lost nine of their last thirteen matches.

Nathan didn’t give a rousing speech or a call to arms. That wasn’t his style. Instead, he gave a quick overview of the facts. “We’re generating the chances. It’s very simple. We figure out how to convert those, and we leave this match with a win.” His tactical adjustments were brief. Raik would drop back more, serving as a slightly forward center back. Raphael would drop back further, covering any runs and long balls. The midfielders were to hold position, not attacking unless supported. The forwards were to keep doing their thing.

It took a little while, but it worked. The Warkusian long balls no longer found their targets, even as they became more necessary thanks to stifling play from the Osnari midfield. Meanwhile, the attack continued unabated as the Eagles ramped up the pressure. Jost hit the post on a close shot from a tricky angle, and Gido nearly slammed home an uncharacteristic header. Were it not for a heroic save by Daniel Benjamin, things would have been all knotted up. The breakthrough finally came in the 61st minute, as Jost nearly slammed home another shot from close range, only for it to bounce off the arm of Daniel Benjamin right to the swinging left foot of Liam Homberger, who nailed the shot top bins to knot the score at one apiece.

The pressure continued, and the Eagles continued to outplay the Doves by a good margin. However, thanks to great play by the Doves’ young keeper and some smart tactical moves by manager Jack Blethyn, bringing his players back and making substitutions for a back line of five and a midfield of three, a departure from the Doves’ attacking football, but most importantly, one that secured the point.

So when the whistle went and the Eagles walked back down the tunnel of the Sand Dome, neither side was happy with the outcome. Warkus had held the upper hand, but the Osnaris had played incredibly well. The fans of both sides seemed to feel the same way. Nathan, for one, found this encouraging. Not too long ago, in the Eagles’ dry run, they had been celebrating wins like they’d just won the World Cup, and draws had been a good result. As he walked into the dressing room, what he saw captured a very different feeling. These players were disappointed to draw, more so when they learned of their higher-seeded rivals in Indusse and HUElavia dropping points as well. That gave Nathan some hope. Heading into by far the biggest window of qualifying, Nathan and his Eagles were going to need some of that.

The Daily Surisian

Eagles Level at Top of Group 24, but an Enormous Test Looms

It’s been a few days since the Osnari Eagles salvaged a draw against Warkus, and the attitude towards the Osnari national team has visibly changed in the streets of the Federation. For the first time since the last round of qualifying ended, Osnari fans are walking around with the names Mullis, Blum, and Schefer on their backs, not in the black, red, or yellow of their club teams, but in the forest green and dark read of the Osnari Eagles. It’s a welcome sight, something to bring the five disparate states of the Federation together.

The timing is particularly pertinent for the moment. With the Eagles about to enter what is likely the most important two-match stretch in the national team’s short history, they need the support more than ever. It made a clear difference in the first home match of qualifying, where the Eagles dominated at the Osnarstadion from start to finish, with goals from Jules Kobel in the 28th minute and Jost Blum in the 43rd belying absolute domination on the part of the Eagles. If they can replicate that energy at home against HUElavia, an upset may be at hand.

Tactically, HUElavia are a trickier team than most, deploying a 4-2-3-1 that will likely require a stronger than usual back line in order to prevent the Eagles from being overwhelmed in their own box. Nathan Held would do well to take out a forward for a defender, and the Eagles will not be able to rely on their midfield shutting down developing passes as they did in the Warkus match. Even if the Eagles get the strategy to work, HUElavia remain among the world’s best teams, and will be hard to beat, even at home, even in front of 60,000 screaming fans, even on the best of days. But with HUElavia dropping points early to a lowly ranked side, there’s reason to hope.

After facing off with HUElavia, the Eagles will visit Indusse at Aditya Varma Kulashekara International Stadium in what will be their sixth match at the absolute behemoth that is that stadium. The Eagles have likely played there more than any other national team in recent memory, owing to their Baptism of Fire run alongside two editions of World Cup Qualifying, so it will be familiar territory for the Eagles, but it won’t be any easier for that. It’s never easy to have 130,000 opposing fans, no matter the familiarity or the circumstance.

Indusse also dropped points early to a lowly-ranked side, this time to Bruinswik. Deploying a 4-3-3 in each of their first two matches, viewers can expect a battle for the midfield at Kulashekara Stadium. A likely move by held would be to bring Jules Kobel and Werner Werren inside to even out the battle, with wingers coming back to give the Eagles an outlet.

Neither of these matches will be easy. That’s why they’re so important. HUElavia and Indusse are both level on points with the Eagles, but they haven’t yet played Warkus. If the Eagles can manage a few points off of these teams, that puts them in a great position, even as early as it is, for qualifying.

Hope, ladies and gentlemen, is in the air here in the Federation. The next window will likely decide how long it stays.

by **Andso Mangis** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 2:58 pm

We lost twice so sad too bad
but hey maybe well get em next time

by **Kita-Hinode** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 3:31 pm

The beach stretched as far as his eyes could see, yet his feet continued to move forward. It's not like Guy de Persson had any better options at that time. He also couldn't help but feel a bit more drained, now that he had not only one, but four contracts going at the same time. His saviour, Northern Sunrise, walked ahead, board still in hand.

[Northern Sunrise] - Granny, how much do we have to walk again?

The elf queen behind them, still somehow maintaining an air of regalia and importance despite the burning sun, let out a chuckle, her knight keeping close by as always.

[Valanora] - Don't tell me that a beach kid like you would be having a hard time on your habitat like this?
[Northern Sunrise] - Well, it ain't that... It's just... Our contractor here's pooped.
[Dreamplanet] - Huh? He doesn't smell like it...

As she noted, she took a smell around Guy's body. Guy, naturally, swatted her face with a good slap.

[Dreamplanet] - Hngh! Maybe he's a baby that doesn't react well to us checking...
[Guy] - I'm fine... A bit... tired, that's all.
[Tumbra] - Hold on, guys, I think I can see something ahead. Some... white thing.

The sight of a small castle, a couple of towers, some of them crumbling, appeared in the distance for them. They could also see a clock tower that had apparently fallen through some of the castle, dropping part of its wall. A girl dressed in what seemed to be a blue coat observed the damage and sighed to her partner, a robotic axeman.

[Girl] - ...Damn. Place's no good, those wolf things are gonna be crawling in from this.
[Robot] - What. Suggest. You?
[Girl] - Hm... I don't know. We could try to improvise a barrier, but I think that would just leave us with less room to move.
[Robot] - What. Then?
[Girl] - I mean, we could take them on, but... you're slow and rusty. And ever since ending up here, all I have is this yo-yo thing. I don't like our chances.
[Robot] - I. Can. Fight.
[Girl] - I doubt it. We should go get our move on, maybe find someone else to help us out.

The robot stopped in his tracks, pointing on towards the party approaching them in the distance.

[Robot] - How. About. Them?
[Girl] - ...Hm. You might be on to something, Cy.

TEAM IC and TYPE IOCA present...

(Sunrise/Great onslaught)
all worlds come to a shared point

He almost collapsed face-first onto a piece of stone that probably was a part of the castle tower, only for Northern Sunrise's arms to hold him back.

[Northern Sunrise] - Hey, uh, Guy, focus. We finally made it to somewhere.
[Guy] - ...Yeah, sorry, I was... just going to take a nap.
[Northern Sunrise] - More like you were gonna biff on the marble, sit down properly first.

Naturally, the party stopped near the entrance to congregate and decide on their next steps.

[Tumbra] - I guess we should get him something to drink. Guy must be drying up.
[Dreamplanet] - Oh, I know, I could summon-
[Tumbra] - He needs water, not a bomb.
[Dreamplanet] - Do you just don't-
[Tumbra] - I don't trust you, yes. Look, uh... why don't we just see if we can find a water vial somewhere? This place ought to have been occupied by at least someone in the past.
[Kitsunia] - Hm. That would make sense. Why don't we go take a look inside?
[Valanora] - A splendid idea.
[?????] - You don't need to go look for it anywhere. We got some, but I would rather we made a little deal.

A girl stood atop the crumbled tower, hands on her hips.

[Girl] - We're looking for warriors willing to help us in safeguarding this castle, for I am Princess Li-
[Northern Sunrise] - Uh... Licen, what's with the princess act? Ain't you a guy?

The girl did a double-take, realizing that very moment her façade wasn't going to fool anyone.

[Licentian Isles] - ...Wait, how do you know who I am?
[Northern Sunrise] - Uh... I'm Northern Sunrise, man. You're my neighbour, though you're looking a bit different.
[Kitsunia] - He's from another reality, but I do know who you are as well. What are you doing here?
[Licentian Isles] - Fine. Cy and I woke up around here the other day, and we've been holding the fort. This place gets really dangerous at night, though we were having a fine enough time and all, but then this tower fell.
[Valanora] - It does look like it made some strong damage. Shall we enter, then?
[Licentian Isles] - Sure. Who's the guy looking like he's on his way to the afterlife?
[Northern Sunrise] - Guy's Guy. He's got these magical things that are powering us up, but he's kinda not very good at this whole trekking thing.
[Licentian Isles] - Well, get him in then. Let's give him some water.

The sun was already on its way down as the contractees dragged Guy into the castle. There, they were able to put him on a makeshift couch, giving him some water from the resources the duo had managed to find and store.

[Northern Sunrise] - So, let me get this straight. This Honest Abe lookin' fellow with the axe is Cyborg Holland?
[Licentian Isles] - Yes. Whatever makes this world what it is has quite a sense of humour. I will not delve too much into what it did to me, at least.
[Tumbra] - So you're not a princess?
[Licentian Isles] - ...A prince would be more apt, yes.

The party looked at each other, Valanora clearly not giving much thought to it as she examined some maps.

[Kitsunia] - ...So it's one of those games, isn't it?
[Tumbra] - We ought to complain to our agent.
[Dreamplanet] - You guys have agents?
[Tumbra] - Of course, when you're in this sort of business for too long, you kinda have to have one or they'll give you shit roles and all.
[Licentian Isles] - Will you focus on the task at hand? We're clearly not where we're supposed to be, and they turned Cy into a rusty axeman robot! Something's clearly up!
[Valanora] - Indeed, we are. And these maps don't seem to help us all that much.

She unfolded some of them at an old table, which also proceeded to crumble down once the fabric landed. Still, they could see that the maps all looked bizarrely different in what they reproduced.

[Valanora] - If it helps, I've found at least twenty different representations depicted in these maps. They're all clearly set to show small regions, but they seem to refer to places I've not heard of in ages. Agartha, Camelot, Shinjuku, Salem.
[Cyborg Holland] - They. were. all. reliques. of. previous. owner.
[Valanora] - Hm? And who was said previous owner?
[Cyborg Holland] - Do not. Know.

The elf clicked her tongue, examining things further to see if she could find any special similarity.

[Licentian Isles] - Regardless, we ought to get ready. It's almost night-time, and those asshole wolves are gonna show up again.
[Kitsunia] - Oh, so you have wolves around here? All we've dealt with so far were sharks of all sorts.
[Licentian Isles] - So that's how it is by the beach? No, here we only get wolves. They're not very smart, but they got numbers and they're not afraid to use 'em.
[Northern Sunrise] - That means you need bodies to compensate, right?
[Tumbra] - Guy looks like he's waking up.
[Northern Sunrise] - Good, we'll need him if we wanna get those wolves done and over with.
[Valanora] - Oh? So that means we'll get a chance to watch this man fight?
[Northern Sunrise] - Nah, he doesn't fight, but he powers me up well. Now that the others got a link, maybe we'll see it in action.

The surfer approached Guy with a grin.

[Northern Sunrise] - Hey, man. You OK? We gotta get you to somewhere where you can at least coordenate us in battle.

Howls could be heard outside.

[Northern Sunrise] - ...Well, hell, I hope you're fine, the doggies don't feel like waiting.
[Kitsunia] - We shall lead the way, then. Licen, can you and Cy help us?
[Licentian Isles] - Eh, I guess.

The young man dressed as a girl unfurled his yo-yo, summoning what looked to be a ring of metal around his waist.

[Licentian Isles] - Bear in mind, though, that I ain't one to make it clean.

The first wolf-like being darted through the opening where a door was, snarling and showing off its fangs. Black fur with clear blood markings, large canines, two tails and large enough to be an actual threat. Guy had just woken up and was already wishing he was back asleep. Before it could attack, he was replied to with a methodical axe slash to the face, opening a gash that made it recoil and whirl, some sort of golden energy spewing out of it.

[Guy] - ... No blood? Look out!

Another of those tried to leap into the castle through an open window, being repelled in kind with a surfboard to the nose. It seemed like the wolves were frail enough in their existence that a mere slam hurt it enough to make it more compact, the noise of bones cracking as it did.

[Northern Sunrise] - Huh. Whoever made these didn't do a good job with their constitution. Come on, let's bring it outside.

The party stepped outside the castle to notice several of their numbers stalking the castle. Once the contractees got themselves in a proper position, the wolves attacked, ignoring precaution as they did. The first wolves were naturally dispatched with Sunrise's surfboard, the object becoming increasingly familiar with the beasts as it slapped them away into crumbling skeletons and masses of fur. As they pushed back, volleyballs from Kitsunia sniped some of them away. The rest of the party naturally did their part, although for some curious reason, neither the elf nor her knight got up to do anything, merely watching. The numbers were trimmed down heavily, causing the wolves to flee the scene.

[Guy] - Alright, we got them!

Kitsunia let out a loud sigh, stretching her arms while the rest of the party tried to find ways to relax.

[Kitsunia] - Speak of a workout... In any case, why did you not join, oh, elf elder?
[Valanora] - I could tell none of those would give you any trouble. And I was also checking out your summoner. Considering he didn't collapse at any point, it should be safe to anchor yourselves to him for energy.
[Northern Sunrise] Say, can we... You know, catch some shut eye, then? It's a bit late, and I don't think they're coming back after all that.
[Guy] - I would appreciate that, yes.
[Valanora] - Well, if you're so tired, rest. Pasarga and I shall keep guard. For those who aren't so tired, I did find something that might be worth your attention.

While some of the party and their summoner went to get some sleep, the few remaining that were awake gathered to hear her out.

[Licentian Isles] - So, what does it say that we should know?
[Valanora] - As far as I can tell, these maps have a couple of things in common in how they were made and, more specifically, who made them.
[Tumbra] - Right. Who did it, then?
[Valanora] - I keep seeing two terms. The first one is, though I must say it's a bit surprising, Leonardo da Vinci.
[Dreamplanet] - Oh, the Renaissance Man? Some of my tricks were inspired by his craft, you know.
[Tumbra] - I don't think he was an expert in bombs that appear in the least useful moments possible.
[Dreamplanet] - Not those, dummy!
[Licentian Isles] - Right. So, what's the other one?
[Valanora] - This word, Chaldea. I believe it was the name of a region in Mesopotamia, far too long for any of you to even exist.
[Dreamplanet] - You really are old, huh?
[Valanora] - Yes. And far more wiser than you ever will be. Now, I cannot quite pair these up and reach any sort of conclusion, but whatever or whoever is responsible for these, they must have a thing for the past, if not time travellers themselves.

As her words lingered in the dark against the light of the moon, the stars and of a few lamps that remained working in the castle, something else happened in the distance.

...

The white-haired lady observed through the window of the hotel she found herself at, the streets were lit, but the scene wasn't particularly welcoming as gangs fought each other for dominance. Once she heard a throat-clearing sound, she looked back to find the butler holding a bottle of champagne.

[Miss OMA] - You... don't need to do this for me, you know.
[Butler] - Oh, hardly an issue for me. I do know well of your significance to what's going on as we speak. If there's one person I should treat with care, is the person who's most likely to get us back to where we came from. Isn't it right, teacher?

A lady stepped out of the shadows of the room, her vampiric fangs in clear sight.

[Vampire] - That you are. But remember, we must also make sure to find our peers. If this phenomenon was powerful enough to draw us both, surely it drew many others. Not above all else, those you consider...
[Butler] - Family, yes.

... PART TWO END ...

GUY DE PERSSON'S PARTY
NEW INFO! Part One

THE LICENTIAN ISLES
Height/Weight: 156 cm, 51 kg
Origin: Radio Esportiva (alledgedly)
Region: Esportiva
Alignment: Neutral-Good
Gender: Male

"I didn't choose this costume myself; I just woke up with it. I also can't change it, so I might as well get used to it. Not a fan of the cold at night, will say." A crafty, albeit diminutive, fighter that can operate a yo-yo as a weapon. Sensible enough to adapt and use circumstances to his benefit if necessary.

CYBORG HOLLAND
Height/Weight: 190 cm, 155 kg
Origin: Radio Esportiva
Region: Esportiva
Alignment: Lawful-Good
Gender: Male in appearance, technically doesn't apply

"..." A robotic axeman that operates on its own whenever necessary. Albeit capable of plenty of damage if deemed necessary, rustiness makes it rather unreliable and unable to contribute without generous doses of oil. Its axe cuts through plenty of materials. The Berserker aspect of this summonee is what enables it to operate without supervision.

by **Pyazhnaya** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 3:46 pm

The studios of PyazhTV in Krasnograd with the brandnew set for the World Cup 100 coverage.

Larissa Nezhdorova: Good evening Pyazhnaya, and welcome to PyazhTV Sports' coverage of World Cup 100, which will be held in West Pavola.

Svyatoslav Tryndin: We're just two matchdays in, but the games against Saint Eleanor and Saint Lazarus have sadly been pushed into the background by the ongoing political row over head coach Aleksandra Agratova.

Yaroslav Khromov: The entire debate came out of nowhere, just days before the kick-off against Saint Eleanor and the level of vitriol is, quite honestly, astounding.

A montage fades in on the screens in the background with the two main combatants, current FFP president Rodion Golobayov and his main opponent Simona Zubova.

Larissa Nezhdorova: The bone of contention is Agratova, whose at times very blunt and unorthodox style does not seem to cater to the tastes of the more traditional-minded forces within the FFP. However, it feels as if there is more to this than just a controversial coach, who, in all honesty, is not even controversial.

Yaroslav Khromov: Yeah, it's a very strange situation we're in here, because Agratova actually is the by far most successful national team coach Pyazhnaya ever had, leading us into the World Cup, even if Zavrashin brought us to the CAFA final twice, albeit losing both of them. That being said, Agratova definitely is not the type of coach that will just fall in line but she says what she thinks, which is one reason why she is immensely popular with the vast majority of Pyazhnayans.

"Coach Agratova is a breath of fresh air. Swept the cobwebs out and look at what she did with the team in WC99!" - Vladislav, fan from Severoyarsk.

"Agratova took what Zavrashin was trying and actually made it work. Sure, it meant throwing out some of the old Pyazhnayan philosophies, but I think that's exactly the point here. Those old philosophies simply were not working anymore." - Vsevolod Inozemtsev, coach of Armada Sovran.

Svyatoslav Tryndin: One of Agratova's most famous moments came during the qualifiers for WC99, when she barred certain journalists from training units because they kept interrupting. Coincidentally, the news outlets have been mostly the most old-fashioned and traditional ones, which did not sit well with the hardliners within the federation. What made things worse were voices from outside the FFP that began to call for less rigid and more forward-thinking structures, which, again, did not go over well with the establishment and is, at least as far as I'm concerned, what this entire discussion about Agratova is about.

Yaroslav Khromov: I agree. I think the oldheads are worried that they might lose their cushy jobs when more progressive people might try to follow Agratova's lead and renovate inside the hallowed halls in Krasnograd.

Larissa Nezhdorova: PyazhTV Sports reached out to Simona Zubova for a statement.

Tatyana Bespalova: Mrs Zubova, you have called for the dismissal of Aleksandra Agratova as coach of the Pyazhnayan football team. What are the reasons for this unusual and surprising initiative?

Simona Zubova: First of all, let me say this: I have great respect for Aleksandra Agratova as a professional. What she achieved with the national team during World Cup 99 cannot be denied. However, the question we must ask ourselves is not whether she has won matches, but whether she represents the values and direction we, as a federation and as a nation, want to project. In my opinion, the answer is no.

Agratova has created an environment that is chaotic, undisciplined, and deeply divisive. She dismisses criticism as “old-fashioned,” but that’s simply a way to avoid accountability. The federation cannot function if every decision is a battle and every press conference turns into a provocation. Her open contempt for established structures — for journalists, for the federation, even for former players who built this sport — is unacceptable.

Tatyana Bespalova: But some would argue that those “established structures” have long been accused of stagnation and political favouritism. So, Isn’t Agratova’s pushback a sign of progress, rather than rebellion?

Simona Zubova: There’s a difference between reform and rebellion. You can modernize without tearing down what generations have built. I am not opposed to innovation — I am opposed to chaos disguised as innovation. Under her, the team has become a platform for personality politics. It’s no longer about Pyazhnayan football — it’s about Agratova’s football. That is not healthy.

Tatyana Bespalova: Still, the team’s results have been exceptional, qualifying for the World Cup for the first time, with team morale at an all-time high and unprecedented approval ratings among both players, coaches and the public. How do you justify removing a coach with such a track record?

Simona Zubova: Results on paper do not tell the whole story. Internal reports — which I have seen — point to serious tensions between Agratova and key figures in the federation, in the youth development department, and even among her own staff. The atmosphere has deteriorated. We cannot risk long-term damage to our football culture just to preserve short-term success.

Tatyana Bespalova: Some fans accuse you and your allies of using this controversy as a political weapon against Federation President Rodion Golobayov, who supports Agratova. How do you respond?

Simona Zubova: That accusation is false and frankly insulting. This is not about politics. This is about professionalism and respect for institutions. President Golobayov has allowed the federation to be overshadowed by one individual’s ego. When that happens, someone must step up and say, “Enough.” I did so because I care about the sport and its future — not because of political ambition.

Tatyana Bespalova: If your motion succeeds and Agratova is dismissed, what kind of coach or vision would you advocate for instead?

Simona Zubova: Someone who values collaboration over confrontation. Someone who understands that football is not a personal crusade but a collective endeavor. We need a coach who can continue developing talent, yes, but also restore trust between the federation, the media, and the fans. Pyazhnayan football deserves leadership that unites, not divides.

Tatyana Bespalova: And if she stays?

Simona Zubova: Then I fear we will see more of the same — conflict, fragmentation, and a slow erosion of everything that makes our football community strong. Success cannot come at the expense of integrity.

The camera lingers on Zubova’s determined expression as the clip ends, fading back to the studio.

Yaroslav Khromov: A very pointed interview there — and not exactly an olive branch toward Agratova or President Golobayov.

Larissa Nezhdorova: No, it isn’t. But we spoke with other people in the federation, in different functions, including the youth development department as well as staff members and they all say that Zubova's claims are vastly overstated and that Agratova is as much of a team player as the next person.

Svyatoslav Tryndin: Yeah, the whole thing feels like a strawman argument. If you look at the U18s, they've adopted a similar playing style and coaching style and when I watch them, I see those kids actually have fun while playing and not being pressed into rigid tactical or ideological constraints.

Larissa Nezhdorova: We also have some coverage from the Pyazhnayan training complex prior to the dual header in Xanneria and then against Norway-Sweden-Finland.

The picture switches to the main area of the Tverinsk Football Complex, which the national team has declared its hub for the WC100 campaign. The reporter comes in and approaches a group of players, who are gathered around a large-screen TV. On the screen is SavadoX Games' official video game for WC100. Danila Mukhametshin and Danila Terentyev are playing against Raisa Safiullina and Naira Akhatova in what looks like a game between Pyazhnaya and... Pyazhnaya.

Igor Tarasov: Excuse me?

Danila Mukhametshin: Busy.

Igor Tarasov: I'm just trying to get some statement concerning the controversy around Aleksandra Agratova.

Naira Akhatova: She's a good coach, very team-oriented, works with players to get the best tactic and cater to their strengths.

Igor Tarasov: So you don't see any issues within or around the team?

Danila Terentyev: Hell no! We've been doing great and it's been so much more fun and fruitful than we've had in ages. So those-- shoot, you idiot!

Danila Mukhametshin: I AM! What do you think I'm doing here?

Danila Terentyev: Definitely not winning!

Danila Mukhametshin: You're supposed to pass to me!

Igor Tarasov: Uh, excuse me?

Danilas (both): What??

Igor Tarasov: Uh, sorry...

Raisa Safiullina: Since the boys are a little testy, the team stands behind the coach, what she does, how she does it and all. Kids actually WANT to play football again. Check with youth development folks, they're getting more sign-ups than we've seen in decades.

Danila Mukhametshin: Yeah, what she said.

Danila Terentyev: SHOOT!!!

Igor Tarasov: Uh, back to you, Larissa...

Larissa Nezhdorova (laughing): Thank you Igor. And definitely some dissent in the ranks there, albeit not as Zubova had envisionet it.

Yaroslav Khromov: So, let's hope that the entire controversy is not going to have a detrimental effect on the team, with only the first place going through and second place sending you to a playoff, so every point counts here, having to hope for a slip up by Saint Eleanor somewhere on the way.

Svyatoslav Tryndin: We will keep you updated for any updates on the entire power struggle, I'm sure this will not go away any time soon.

by **Krytenia** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 3:49 pm

Part 1

PART TWO: OUT OF TIME, OUT OF SPACE

Rami Niblick came to slowly, his brain still feeling a little scrambled. He tried to focus his eyes until he realised there was nothing to focus on. “Where the actual mer-slani am I?” he inquired into the blank white void. To his surprise, a voice – aged but smooth and feminine, replied.

“A fair question,” the voice said, “and to tell the truth, the answer is that you're nowhere...and nowhen.”

Rami furrowed his brow as he looked around for the source of the voice. Finding nothing, he let out a flat “what”. The voice sighed audibly before continuing. “So much for wisdom coming with age,” she said, her disdain clear despite the lack of an apparent physical form. “Looks like we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

As the voice's words echoed around the void, a shape shimmered into existence. The shape coalesced into a human form – specifically, of a woman, dressed in burgundy robes, a midnight blue cowl with matching cape obscuring most of her face. Her mouth, however, was visible, and a thin smile crossed her lips as her form finalised in front of Rami. The Krytenian immediately recognised who she was, but that couldn't be the case...could it?

Rami took a breath before addressing the woman. “Wait a second...,” he said, “could this be...are you...Margaret? The Margaret?”

“Oh good,” Margaret responded, “looks like you're not completely hopeless after all.”

Rami felt his anger rising, as any Krytenian would when faced with the personification of sporting chance. “And you,” he said, his vitriol barely contained, “are a complete bitch. How much pain did you want to put us through? How many semi-finals? How many losses to Audioslavia? Sarzonia? STARBLAYDIA?!?”

Margaret afforded herself a playful smile. “You try saying no to Simeone's chiselled face.” Her expression turned serious. “But that's beside the point. That isn't why I'm here. More importantly, this isn't why you're here.”

Rami's anger got the better of him. “THEN WHY AM I HERE?!?” he screamed, looking like he might just pop a vein.

Margaret put her hand to the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Because, little man, there's something unusual happening. Something bigger than your crappy excuse for a career. Something bigger than your pathetic existence. Hell, something bigger than I can deal with.” Margaret's thin smile returned. “And as you may have noticed, I'm kind of a big deal.”

Rami composed himself before replying. “Of course you are, ma'am,” he retorted, his trademark snark replacing his anger. “But none of that explains why you need me.”

“Because, Rami,” Margaret said calmly, “there's something...amiss with the fabric of reality, and as far as I can tell, you appear to be the key to fixing it.”

Rami blinked a couple of times before letting out a small chuckle. “No pressure then...” he said incredulously.

by **Free Republics** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 3:56 pm

Sporting World

Introducing the Sporting World Showcase: A Friendly Tournament for Nations Not Blest Enough To Be in Group 13 But Who Still Want to Play in the Free Republics
By: Honore Achin

Following the rousing success of the Imperator's Cup, Sporting World Magazine has decided to sponsor a new tournament called the Sporting World Showcase to be held during the middle of World Cup Qualifying. This tournament will be held under Imperator's Cup rules, meaning any match that is a draw after 90 minutes goes directly to penalty kicks with the winner of the penalty shooter obtaining 2 points in the table and the loser of the shootout obtaining 1 point. Matches decided within 90 minutes will award the standard 3 points to the winner and 0 to the loser. Scorination services will be provided by the venerable xkoranate firm using their critically acclaimed World Cup 68/81 formula modified to support Imperator's Cup rules and the standard xkoranate style mods. (OOC: The formula can be found in the spoiler under the Imperator's Cup 1 results.) The preferred tournament format will be 4 groups of 4 in 4 different Republican cities playing a single round robin in the Free Republics with the top 2 in each group advancing to a knockout round in a 5th Republican city! All matches will be officiated by Republican officials and will feature the matchday entertainment you've come to expect from international soccer matches held in the Free Republics.

Entry to this tournament must be done via a World Cup 100 RP containing the string "Sporting World Showcase" and making it clear that you wish to enter. First preference for entries will go to the first team in each qualifying group to enter the tournament. Additional teams from the same group will be placed on a waiting list and may be permitted entry if teams from fewer than 16 different qualifying groups request to enter the tournament. Should fewer than 16 teams enter, Sporting World may accept entries from teams that are not entered in World Cup 100 to make the numbers work (OOC: These would be my puppets entered as numbers puppets with their skill set to 0.). Teams participating in Group 13 of World Cup 100 Qualifying are ineligible to enter as they are already visiting the Federation of Free Republics to compete against the latest iteration of our legendary National Soccer Team who are still the real reigning and defending champions as far as Sporting World is concerned because we won the last World Cup that we entered before this one. Likewise, nations must have published a roster for World Cup 100 qualification to be eligible to enter this tournament and must field the same roster in the Sporting World Showcase.

The cities and venues for this historic tournament will be announced later, depending upon how much interest we receive. Once we confirm this information, tickets will be available on LiveMaster with an exclusive presale for Sporting World subscribers. The intent is for all group stage matches to operate on a 1 ticket, 2 matches basis and for each round of the knockouts to require a single ticket. We will also look to secure title sponsors for the groups from Republican companies. We at Sporting World hope that there is sufficient international interest in

Honore Achin is the wife of Senator Pomeroy Achin and is the editor-in-chief of the newly revived Sporting World. Under her maiden name Honore Pichette, she competed in women's 500 meter short track for the Free Republics at the X Winter Olympics.

OOC: This tournament, if there is sufficient interest, would be scorinated in 1 go by me with each team's skill being based upon their pre-qual KPB+ ranking and an RP bonus decided by me based upon their RPs through the 5th scorination window. Results would be posted in the Sporting World thread. The timing of the scorination will be based upon my RL schedule as I expect to be somewhat busy between the 5th and 6th windows and would want to make sure I still have time to RP. The IC timing of the tournament would be at an unspecified point during qualifying that is up to those competing in it based on the principle of fluid time. Obviously, I'd share sufficient information on the host cities and their stadiums. If there's overwhelming interest and some nations that have a history with the FFR get left out, I'd be happy to arrange 3rd party scorinated friendlies against the FFR.

by **Audioslavia** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 4:09 pm

THE
 -  -  - ---. . - ------ -- 
|_||_ |_  | |_||_  |  | |  
| ||    | | | ||   |  | |
| ||_  _| | | ||_  | _|_ \_ 
                      CYC100

World Cup Scorigami

Scorigami is a term you might have heard before. Commonly associated with Gridiron (and its illegal brother: Rugby), Scorigami is simply the art of finishing a game with a score that has never been seen before in that sport. A worthwhile pursuit in sports wherein different types of scoring result in different amounts of points, for Association Football and its plain-old one-point-per-goal format, there's less subtlety. Gone is the pursuit of the elusive point-after-touchdown offensive safety and the concept of 'low scorigami'. World Cup Scorigami is so stupid it even falls below the status of a circus. It's the freak show next to the circus. The price of admission is one or more '+5' nations. Football teams that eschew defence entirely in the name of going for goal. There are no tactics here, only accidents, uncarried ones, and hosts forgetting to add the all important (on penalties) after the numbers. Vilita 7-8 Bedistan, Qlumez 10-5 Syracusse, Åsløtten Bëðerborg så C(with the roof which is somehow not on my keyboard)eský 11-3 The United Squiggles. World Cup Scorigami is a Chronicle of Ridiculousness.

Here, for your perusal, is every result the World Cup has ever given us. Contrary to previous attempts at documenting Scorigami, this chart includes matches played in the Baptism of Fire and Cup of Harmony tournaments, up to and including the recently finished BoF.

World Cup Scorigami
Cycles 1.1-100.1
    0       1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8       9      10      11      12      13      14      15
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
0|12814| |20181| |13463| | 7801| | 3842| | 1598| |  558| |  174| |   55| |   18| |    5| |    6| |    2| |    0| |  "1"| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
1|     | |17988| |13837| | 8380| | 4119| | 1683| |  623| |  191| |   51| |   21| |    7| |    3| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
2|     | |     | |10554| | 6964| | 3672| | 1808| |  746| |  245| |   80| |   22| |    3| |    0| |    2| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
3|     | |     | |     | | 4292| | 2221| | 1110| |  440| |  129| |   31| |    5| |    2| |    2| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
4|     | |     | |     | |     | | 1154| |  479| |  150| |   54| |   10| |    1| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
5|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |  166| |   40| |    9| |    2| |    0| |    1| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
6|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |   16| |    5| |    2| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
7|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |    0| |    1| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
8|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| 
 |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾| |‾‾‾‾‾|
9|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0| |    0|
 |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____|

Blank spaces on the bottom left indicate that Scorigami is impossible: You can win a game 2-1, you can't win a game 1-2. Numbers indicate how many times a score has been achieved (13,837 games have finished 2-1 to the winner), while zeroes indicate that a score has never been achieved. 14-0 is on the board, but 14-1 is up for grabs and no team has ever scored exactly 13 or 15 goals. Oh, and 14-0 might also still be up for grabs. Ask Bears Armed. The story involves a drunk referee seeing double.

The elevens and twelves columns are somewhat surprising. That only 15 of 118,347 matches have finished with the winner scoring 11 or 12 goals isn't so surprising, but you might expect us to have more scorigamis than we do. As it happens, we've hit 12-2 twice and 12-0 twice without ever having a 12-1

World Cup Scorigami gets harder over time. Simple to get in Cycle 1 (and even easier if you were in group A compared to the others), feasible in cycle 5, they're almost impossible in latter World Cups. Famously, the very first documentation of World Cup Scorigami - the first episode of The Idiot Project, released during World Cup 84 - coincided with not one, but two scoriagamis, both attained in cycle 84, well over ten cycles since the previous Scorigami had been registered. Here's a quick run-down of the teams that have attained scorigami, and which cycle they recorded it in:

._____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____   _____  
|C 001| |C 001| |C 001| |C 001| |C 003| |C 002| |C 001| |C 007| |C 017| |C 018| |C 031| |C 035| |C 053| |     | |C 056|
|Aridd| |Kokot| |Falkl| |Botaf| |Al Qu| |Moyk | |Chane| |Snub | |Pure | |Vilit| |Qazox| |Valan| |Delac| |     | |Peisa|
|Bravl| |Leiso| |Chane| |East | |Utter| |6 Pup| |Kokot| |Yatsu| |Iansi| |Maldu| |Asseg| |Keyne| |Mossu| |     | |Bears|
|     | |C 002| |C 001| |C 001| |C 003| |C 002| |C 001| |C 006| |C 024| |C 035| |C 017| |C 040| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |Moyk | |Quoho| |The D| |Digit| |Total| |Quoho| |Timwa| |Clavi| |Errin| |Rejis| |Milch| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |Europ| |Terra| |The L| |Xerlo| |Dyell| |Budva| |Hegem| |Zanzi| |Deles| |Ravea| |Lithi| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |C 001| |C 001| |C 001| |C 004| |C 004| |C 006| |C 027| |C 039| |C 035| |     | |C 055| |     | |     |
|     | |     | |Livla| |Ameri| |Ameri| |Juras| |Aridd| |Total| |Prigg| |Samco| |Errin| |     | |Sensi| |     | |     |
|     | |     | |Budva| |The L| |Cross| |The A| |Shinj| |LordS| |Olive| |Bull_| |Tolva| |     | |Bears| |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |C 002| |C 001| |C 002| |C 001| |C 001| |C 027| |C 061| |C 050| |C 067| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |Pax H| |Europ| |Giant| |Pauli| |Livla| |Liven| |Backy| |Arroz| |Åsløt| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |Mucho| |The H| |Dead | |Cross| |Aridd| |Milch| |Polar| |Sarzo| |The U| |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |C 004| |C 005| |C 011| |C 001| |C 051| |C 084| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |Ineff| |Pabli| |Belmo| |Quoho| |Catme| |Casta| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |GATMO| |Thuri| |Tony | |Aridd| |The H| |Banij| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |C 019| |C 046| |C 035| |C 091| |     | |C 054| |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Zvari| |The B| |Rossg| |Erama| |     | |Syrac| |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Slaik| |Kagda| |Crava| |Aleir| |     | |Qlume| |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |C 051| |C 063| |C 084| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Trets| |Cybor| |Lisan| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Andre| |Darme| |Terre| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |C 021| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Vilit| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |Bedis| |     | |     | |     | |     | |     | |     |

The first listed team is the designated "home" team, the second the away team. Scorigami does not care which team won the game. Both teams should glory in their achievement. After all, they accomplished it together. Terre Septentrionale's 8-6 win over Lysander on the opening matchday of CoH76 is the second of the two, coming after Banija's 9-4 win over Casta Marina. With no scorigamis in the seventies, only two in the eighties, and Raman's 8-5 victory over Aleirave our only scorigami of the 90s, you might have feared that the Scorigami was about to become a thing of the past.

Thankfully, not for the first time in TIP history, Carpathia and Ruthenia steps up with a gift to the world. Alongside Oscioru, their 9-5 scoreline is the first of its kind, and the first Scorigami of the three-digit era. Or the LISA era. Or the KPB+ era. Whatever this particular bit of history ends up being called.

All hail! Our first scorigami in nine cycles:
  __9__
 |C 100|
5|Carpa| 
 |Oscio|

Walking Out of the Gate
Not the most Bullish of starts for Bulls

Newcomers Denyssia had drawn all their games in the Baptism of Fire, and so for a few fleeting days, the Audioslavian press were able to explain away Audioslavia's tiring, dour nil-all draw with them as part of Denyssia's 'curse' of being an unbeatable opponent, doomed to tie every game like it was World Cup 84 or something. As it turns out, they'd be smashed 4-2 in their next game, just before the Bulls hosted another newcomer in Snestar. Our purple clad opponents weren't unbeaten, but they had been, according to many pundits, the team to watch in the entire tournament, regardless of the fact that, in losing their final two games, they would only finish fourth.

With the pressure on and a daunting opponent in front off them, the Bulls came into their first home game with less of a spring in their step than you'd expect. This was supposed to be a triumphant, dominant home team playing a home qualifier in front of their own fans for the first time since winning the World Cup. Having stumbled out of the gate the previous week, the Bulls did indeed manage hit their stride here, going two goals up before opponents Snestar could catch their breath. Snestar showed resolve, and proved that they deserved to share the stage with the World Champions in a second half performance that saw, for five minutes, the Snestaryans pulling a ragged Audioslavia defence this way and that in search of an equaliser. The Bulls, reduced to ten men and desperately clinging on to a 3-2 lead, required every single ounce of dark arts magic to get out of their predicament, preying on the fact that, despite their opponents' talents, Snestar's national team were lacking in experience. The Bulls turned Snestar's numbers advantage on its head on a rapid counter-attack, eventually resulting in Cam Hooper slotting the ball home for 4-2. The pressure eased. Though Snestar would press to get themselves back into the game, a final, brutal counter-punch late on gave Audioslavia a 5-2 win that flattered the hosts.

There is to be no respite for the Bulls. Snestar were fourth in the Baptism of Fire tournament. Audioslavia's next task is an away journey to the very team that beat them in that third-placed playoff: Super Earth. Survive that - or not - and it's Hapilopper at home in the first of the group's marquee ties, and even after that we're looking at a rivalry game almost as ancient as international football itself, as the Bulls of Audioslavia take on the Paladins of New Montreal States in a continuation of a rivalry that began in cycle 14.

by **HOT-DAMN** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 6:26 pm

Brewery Stadium, New Hap City, HOT-DAMN
Match 2 of World Cup 100 Qualifying – HOT-DAMN v. Hanalia

There was something particularly special about a World Cup Qualifying match day. Hardcore fans in Hapilopper and HOT-DAMN were determined to watch as many matches as possible before the start of HOT-DAMN’s match against Hanalia in Brewery Stadium. This meant an all-day affair, waking up to matches – several at a time, watching them in the afternoon, evening, overnight, and even until the sun rose the next morning. With around 270 teams competing in this, the biggest World Cup of all time, there were around 140 matches going on over the course of a match day. Fans would camp out in front of their televisions with beer, snacks and their computers to track, live, everything else going on in the multiverse.

sicko

At Laughing Pup and other bars around Hapilopper and HOT-DAMN, fans were cracking open their first beer of the day before the sun rose. These diehard fans – some would call them “sickos”, wanted to see as much as possible.

If Ernie Stevenson wasn’t managing a team, he’d probably be one of them. As it were, he had work to do. He woke up with the rising sun coming over the sea, got himself cleaned up and poured himself his first of several cups of coffee, before stepping out to the back porch of his Southern Tip home, overlooking the beach. He looked over to his brother’s house to find his sister-in-law, Taylor, sitting on a rocking bench with little Kenny. He waved, before heading back into the house.

Ernie didn’t really want to get distracted with any of the other 139 matches going on. He was focused on Hanalia. And that was a point he wanted to drive home to his players – worry about the other matches after they’re done with Hanalia, but business first. So instead of watching any of the matches on television – like his twin children Nathan and Patty were doing, or listening to the matches on Radio HapAnaia, Ernie put on some old blues hits in his car – some of Nate Ellis’s favorite blues hits – for the 20-minute drive to Brewery Stadium in New Hap City.

Not many people even realized Ernie had driven into the stadium, hours before the match. Without anyone noticing, Ernie was able to get himself into his office on match day to give himself several hours of pre-match prep. Then it was down to the HOT-DAMN clubhouse to get his team ready for the match. To his delight, it was clear that his team was on the same page. Nobody was talking about any other match. None of the other matches were playing on the radio. There was nothing on the televisions.

Instead, the whole team was laser-focused on what they had planned out for the first few minutes of the match. Ernie had scripted out what he wanted the first 15 minutes of the match to look like, and the team performed a runthrough of those first 15 minutes in the basement of Ernie’s home. Somewhere where nobody else could see. Somewhere where no one from any other team could get wind of what was planned. Ernie had conducted a tabletop simulation of those first 15 minutes, what he predicted Hanalia would do, how the beer leaguers would react to it, and what was the best way to put a ball past goalkeeper Fabian Hass and into the back of the net.

The players in the HOT-DAMN clubhouse had the importance of the first 15 minutes drilled into them. Ernie made it crystal clear he wanted the team to start with a five-minute drill, and a goal had to be scored by the time those five minutes were up. Ball control had to belong to the beer leaguers. Beer leaguer defenders had to be laser-focused on keeping Hanalian players away from the ball by any means necessary within the laws of the game.

“We’re not here to hurt someone, we’re not here to prove a point, we’re not here to put anyone in the hospital or pay anyone back,” Ernie explained. “This is business. If we have to take someone out, we’ll take someone out if they’ve earned it.”

In Ernie’s mind, and in the mind of the beer leaguers, that was not Hanalia. They were simply the next opponents.

“This is a Baptism of Fire squad, but don’t look down on them,” Ernie explained to his players. “This is a good Baptism of Fire squad. You let them get to you, they’ll bite you in the ass. Don’t look at them as easy pickings, look at them as a team that could eat your lunch. Don’t let them eat your lunch. Remember our five fifteen. Five minute drill for a good first 15. Get the job done and get three more points.”

And that’s exactly what happened. As the match unfolded, the beer leaguers played exactly to that script. Defensemen Gael Hicks and Rod Cutt led the charge to keep the ball away from players like Arun Reyes and Kirsten Nelson. Buckshot Belwood and Tim Radomia fed the ball towards Cale Mallett. And as the clock read “3:26”, Mallett fired a bullet, exactly from where Ernie wanted him to be, past Fabian Hass’s head and into the back of the net.

The fans in HOT-DAMN were overjoyed with excitement. The 30,000 plus in Brewery Stadium, the thousands more in the bars and homes across the territory screamed with delight. All Ernie did, however, as nod his head in approval. This could still, very still, turn wrong very quickly, so no sense in celebrating now.

It was so telling how unemotional Ernie looked on the sideline. This, to him, was business. His brother, sitting in a luxury box, was delirious with delight. At one point, Ernie would let his emotions dictate his play, dictate the way he lived and the way he worked. Those emotions led to him scoring some audacious goals in some of the most ridiculous ways. Those emotions made him a hero in places like Hapilopper City and then in Nephara, where he played club football. The “hop-skip-holy shit” was still a legendary goal in many circles. But those emotions were past, and Ernie handled this in a businessman-like way. A younger Ernie would have been whooping and jumping up and down. Not today.

The first 15 minutes set the tone. The beer leaguers would put two more goals in – one two minutes into injury time before the half, and one in the 72nd minute, both courtesy of Justin Cherry. In the 78th minute, Daniel Lin, the 19-year old striker for Hanalia, sent one between Jimmy Dash’s legs and into the back of the net after about a minute and a half of hard jockeying for position. It was a goal that the beer leaguers couldn’t be mad about – it was thoroughly deserved. But the beer leaguers still led 3-1, the way the match ended.

Ernie could worry about Olastor in the morning. The beer leaguers had won and could enjoy it for this evening. And Ernie could enjoy whatever matches were still playing. The businessman had completed his work for the day, now it was time for the “sicko” to enjoy the other matches.

by **Zwangzug** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 6:27 pm

The ball is round. The stadiums are vast.
The ref is Greek. The rubber toy's a chicken.
Nobody cares how brilliantly you passed
If your teammate's offside. And though you quicken

Your pace and sprint with skill and speed, the race
Does not go to the swift. The ranks deceive.
You'll lose in some unmapped, gray-and-white place,
Unsure of how you entered, how you'll leave.

The scribes will pen the usual cliches.
We'll bulge the onion bag, back of the net.
We turn our feet, they turn a tired phrase.
Ninety minutes repeat themselves. And yet!

Each goal's unique, each clearance, each attack.
We earn our stripes. The world is white and black.

(Thorlakson 15, Lavrans 36 and 71 and 90+3, Istibar 59, Pokhriyal 84)

by **Super Earth Under Siege** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 6:38 pm

Seyshel Beach - Seyshel Beach Avengement Day Memorial Stadium

Eagle fighter streaked across the sky, scattering pyrotechnic cluster bombs in vibrant displays throughout the atmosphere. Statues were carted into the uppermost rows of the stadium, each an iconic representation of the beachdivers and Obedient Democracy Support Troopers who had so valiantly liberated the planet from the clutches of the vile Illuminate. The last nearby piles of Voteless were sanitised in fire. The last remaining unexploded ordnance was carefully swept through the age-old tactic of sweeping every street with LAS-7 Dagger laser fire. Everything needed to be perfect for Super Earth's first home match.

The Super Destroyers hovering in low orbit disgorged their payloads. Each member of the Super Earth Senators descended one at a time in hellpod, emerging triumphant in their SEAF-coloured jerseys. The counter-asphyxiation training necessary to survive such a drop had taken weeks to perfect in their training, and perhaps it explained why they were about to utterly choke.

It was not any one thing that went horribly wrong for them in the match to come. Hapilopper's aversion to diving meant nothing when it came to navigating around former Helldivers. Deadman lead the offensive as usual, aggression once again the order of the day. Occasionally someone would get lucky and navigate around the opposing formation. Ret even managed two of his ludicrous long-range goal kicks. But it didn't matter when the final say in the enemy defence was so ironclad. Through astonishing luck or superhuman acrobatics, Haverty managed to deflect every single attempt that the Senators could manage. And their own goalkeeper could not say the same. Fisher's sheer height did not intimidate the experienced Hapiloppians, nor did Sally's patriotic masochism. By the end of the affair, Super Earth had lost 3-0.

The first time they had fought on home soil, they had experienced their worst defeat.

The loss to Choppyhausen had been demoralising, of course. But it had been nothing like this. There Myrom had instilled within them the faint assurance that they had lost only to an unfamiliar trick, giving their adversary the match of their lives in the process. Here, the foe had been granted effortless dominance.

It could not happen again.

New Montreal States - Paladin Dome

Much to Super Earth's frustration, hellpod deployments were neither authorised nor physically able to pass through the dome's roof. Emerging from the ground using tunnels dug by captured Rupture Strain Terminids was considered, but curtailed by the total absent of living and compliant Rupture Strain Terminids. Therefore, the Senators were begrudgingly forced to enter like ordinary people. This did not help their already poor morale going into the season. Nor did the suspiciously fresh, anomalously flat grass that the field was composed of. Helldivers only encountered such natural wonders on their trips to infested, occupied or invaded planets, and the soil here had a distinct lack of toxic chemical residue, spent bullet casings or notable impact craters.

Regardless of the terrain, the Senators pushed on. The Paladins relied heavily on rapid passing and expert spacing to finagle scoring opportunities. Super Earth, in contrast, relied on constant aggression and the occasion Hail Liberty long-range shot to counterattack any semblance of tactics. Demoralised as they were, many of the Senators were willing to resort to brute force to get the job done. The match began with a losing inclination, Fisher again unable to stop an incoming shot and the defence left on the ropes, Teph and Cindy tried their best to rekindle hope with a desperate steal of possession, but it couldn't even make it to Deadman before the enemy reclaimed it.

However, it wasn't to last.

Something happened in the middle of the match. What the Senators were not certain of, but the movements of their foe become abruptly more erratic, and not in a strategic way. Their adversaries rushed for glory like martyrs rushing into an enemy formation with a Portable Hellbomb armed. Their teamwork became less and less coherent, while the Senators retained their patriotic unity. It felt as if they were wading through Voteless hordes more than opposing freedomballers, and it seemed the opposition wanted to take out their frustration with foul play. By the end of it, the Senators secured a draw mainly through inexplicable opposing incompetence.

Myrom would submit several inquiries to the Ministry of Truth to see if the source of this chaos could be uncovered...or further fostered.

But for all their fortune, the Senators were still hardly feeling victorious.

A loss and a draw were not going to cut it.

by **HUElavia** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:16 pm

Knights of LUSITANIA 0–0 HUElavia

HUElavia 4–0 Saperetia
(Milano 3', Serra 29', Canales 52' (P), Llopis 83')
Estadio Nativo, Kuelap, HUElavia

Previously On...

Blur

2.1 Ignition

It was always loud at the garage. Drills going off taking off and putting on bolts. Hydraulic lifts moving cars up and down for them to get work done. The constant ringing of a phone in the waiting room while the receptionist would pick up and answer the call. Mechanics around the shop grunting at moving the different heavy parts, or cursing at something not fitting in right when it should. With the heat and humidity in Sao Salvador, it always felt like a sauna in the garage, even with the shutters fully open. A young man lifted up his head, wiping the sweat on his forehead and using his towel rag to wipe off his hands. He had just finished replacing the battery and changing the oil from a Royce Dynasty, a high end luxury car that was imported from Angshire that had found a niche market within HUElavia. The man was Vinicius, now 20 years old, working at one of his dad's, Iago's, garages, now having expanded a bit throughout the city. He had a buzz cut for his haircut and a trimmed beard at this point. He had a lean build, but with some muscles on him. He went to the computer right by his workstation, and began calculating the charge for the work on the Dynasty.

"Ok Ma'am... With the new battery purchase, putting that in, and the oil change done, that'll come out to... 230 Hueks."
"Alright, here's H250. Keep the change as a tip."

Vinicius smiled at having some more money on hand, knowing he'd need it today.

"Thank you very much ma'am! Please have a safe drive and we hope to see you again in due time."

As the middle-aged woman got into her car and drove off, Vinicius began to look at the clock. It was finally 4 PM, meaning his shift was over. And more importantly, he could attend to the task he had to get to.

"Tio Bruno, my time is up for today. I'll be clocking out for the weekend."
"Ah, ok. Do you need a ride back home?"
"Nah, I got some stuff I gotta get to. I'll order a Cabbie to get me to where I gotta go."
"Alright, stay safe Vini, I'll see you again on Monday!"
"See you on Monday Tio!"

Vinicius ordered his Cabbie and within minutes he got into the car and was on his way to his destination: A Used Car Lot. He decided he would finally get his own car after working for 2 years, since graduating high school. While his parents did offer him getting him the car, he decided he wanted to buy the car himself. He had amassed about 20K Hueks between these two years, working hard and really skimming down on costs. Fortunately, he still lived with his parents. He had his license already, but usually drove the Ram Guerilla his dad would drive him in as a kid. But now, he wanted to have his own car, and he was counting down the day to get his own vehicle.

He got to the lot and was greeted by the salesman. With formalities done, he began to look through the lot. Plenty of different brands were present in the dealership. Sannis, Tomoya, Rousseau, Oddi, Harris, Ram and many other brands. Some stood out to him, but were too expensive or nearly eating up his budget he had saved up for. Eventually, he set his eyes on a Sannis Z. It was a more modern version, in blue, and it looked much like the car the Yamoto-HUElavian driver he saw at the auto meet as a teenager years ago. It looked almost new, which he thought it was peculiar for it being used.

"How much for this car?" '
"Ah, the Z? It's going for 10K Hueks. But it does have mileage on it."
"How many miles?"
"About 35K miles. It does have a history of accidents, with each of the three previous owners, including where the previous owner was killed in an accident near Natel."
"How did it get repaired then?"
"According to what we were told, the previous owner had left in a will that if this car was to be totaled, it was to be repaired in full. He even gave specifications as to how the build should be in the motor, chassis and transmission."

Intrigued by this, Vinicius, took a peek inside the car. Felt the nice seats, the comfy steering wheel. It truly looked like it was a new car. But more than all, something just called out to him. Something from the car just attracted him to it. He felt convicted that this car was meant for him.

"I'd like to purchase this car."
"You sure sir? Even with the history?"
"Even with the history. I like this car and it suits my budget well."

He signed all the papers, gave the insurance information and paid with his debit card the entire 10K Hueks the car was worth. Vinicius was handed the key and he got the car started. Read on the dashboard, 34,258 miles on the car. He felt comfortable with this car and he was ready to head on out with it. He began to drive out of the lot, now at nighttime and he felt interested to give the car a test drive.

To Be Continued...

by **Chromatika** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:49 pm

World Cup 100 Qualifying Matchday 1: Chromatika 3-1 Abanhfleft
Goals: Xuen-Zhukov 3', Fillar, G. 50', Howard-Dawes 61'
Starting XI: Sourtois; Coulibaly - Jackson-Jones - Saburo; Fillar, G. - Mesic-Mizayaki - Fillar, B. - Fillar, E.; Françine-Miklavivec; Xuen-Zhukov (C) - Howard-Dawes.
Substitutes: Hauptmeijer -> Fillar, G. (61'), Nodis -> Saburo (61'), Lethbridge-Antonio, C. -> Jackson-Jones (70'), Lethbridge-Antonio, J. -> Mesic-Mizayaki (70'), Paterson -> Coulibaly (83')
Summary: A nice, dominant win at the Capitalizt Dome to open up the campaign as Lavrentiy Xuen-Zhukov scores in the first five minutes and the Anomalies control the game for the majority, save one header off of a corner for the visitors. A got-to-have it moment for the Anomalies against the second seeds, looking sharp.

World Cup 100 Qualifying Matchday 2: Atymius 4-1 Chromatika
Goal: Bittencourt 81'
Starting XI: Sourtois; Coulibaly - Jackson-Jones - Saburo; Fillar, G. - Mesic-Mizayaki - Fillar, B. - Fillar, E.; Françine-Miklavivec; Xuen-Zhukov (C) - Howard-Dawes.
Substitutes: Han Cunningham -> Jackson-Jones (48'), Van Der Borght -> Mesic-Mizayaki (48'), Prenn -> Fillar, B. (62'), Bittencourt -> Howard-Dawes (62'), Jean-Baptiste -> Howard-Dawes (62')
Summary: The Anomalies were blitzed early and often by Rafail Paleas and the upstart hosts blitzed the Anomalies 4-1 to send ripples through Group 9 in early qualifying. They scored in the eleventh and sixteenth minutes to take a 2-0 lead and never looked back, only conceding the lone goal to the Anomalies in garbage time. The Anomalies looked shell-shocked for most of it, and it wasn't pretty, at all.
World Cup 100 Qualifying - Matchdays 3 & 4 vs. (300) United States Of Alpha @ The Shock, Wirr Tsi, Capital District (Cap. 51,350; 18,000 Seats) & @ (335) Whispinia
Starting XI: Swanson (C); Paterson - Lethbridge-Antonio, C. - Saburo; Hauptmeijer - Lethbridge-Antonio, J. - Prenn - Mátyás; Lee; Jean-Baptiste - Baïe-Verte.
Reserves: GK Jessika Aniston, GK Hera Courtois, DCR Jaxon Lehmann, DC Samantha Han Cunningham, DCL Cylie Nodis, DCR Ami Coulibaly, MR Kandice Oriol, WBL Róża Panaś, WBL Willemieke Janissen op Colmans, CDM Cassandra Van Der Borght, CDM Eden Gunsdorf, BWM Erica Holgersson, AM Þyrill Bjarnhéðinsson, AF Adélaïde Bittencourt, CF Jack Heimdell, AF Elaine Howard-Dawes.
Preview: The backups will face the two teams in the three hundreds, with the expectation to get all six points in this window. Lee is the primary playmaker here, as is Hauptmeijer; Bittencourt will also look to capitalize.

Part 1

Epsilon Omicron Delta

Part 2

ALINA

One moment, she was having a meeting with her staff about the latest item to show up on the Security Council's agenda of running a fair, equal election for the Chromatik people. With Keira Andisori (yes, that Keira Andisori) becoming the primary candidate for the Rainbow Party and Enigma Armageddon (yes, that Enigma Armageddon) voicing the opposition, the political machinations of Chromatika were reaching a boiling point; the Security Council, its allies, and the even-keeled people of the Chromatik people at large were trying to simmer down the temperature while making sure that things would actually be done correctly this time.

Then, they felt reality around them bend, and for a moment, break. A split second later, reality reconstituted, and everything was as it seemed previously - except Alina Krasnikova knew that something had fundamentally changed. She felt exhausted when she had been awake for barely an hour, but the biggest giveaway was that in her gut, she knew that something was simply... different. Incorrect. Wrong.

Her staff looked at her in stunned silence, each of them coming to their senses. She picked up her phone to try to call out, only to notice that the phone was dead. This, of course, was peculiar, for it had been plugged in. Taking a moment to look around, Alina noted that every single electronic device wasn't working. They were still lit by the sun - but what was wrong with the sun? Why did it look far less bright for some reason?

She walked to the blinds and raised them to see an appalling, bone-chilling view: there was no sun in the sky, neither were there clouds. Instead, everything was clad in a pale light that made it possible to see but not in much detail.

Something was very, very wrong, indeed.

Thankfully, they could still breathe in the environment they were in... And if it wasn't just them that had been transported to this place, the Chromatik people were freaking out.

"Okay, everyone," she commanded, having taken a moment to come to her senses, "It looks like we've been transitioned into a new place of existence. Electronics are down, the sun isn't where it's supposed to be, and worst of all, we don't know if we're the only ones here or if the whole country is here. We need to establish a channel of communication with anyone else out there to see what we're dealing with and proceed accordingly."

This was why you surrounded yourself with a very competent staff. They all nodded, taking in her words, and her eight-man team split up into three groups, Alina heading out with her trusty bodyguard, Greshen Volst. Making her way to the street, she noted that the houses around her were indeed occupied - there were multiple people out there, all trying to make sense of the fate that had befallen them.

A teenager standing at the corner of the street was pointing up at the sky. Where there would normally be a sun and the clouds, there was that pale, all-prevailing light. Squinting, though, there was a single word written across it in black, in a font and a writing that implied that it was universal - she knew that to be true because she could tell that it was simultaneously English, French, Japanese, Russian, and Korean, meaning it was all languages.

One simple, innocuous word:

[WELCOME]

///

JORDAN

Jordan Lawless, Chief Sports Correspondent and Senior Editor of The Rebel, had been on his way to an interview at Mountain District University when what would later be called the Great Resonance Shift happened. Like all other items that relied on any electronic parts, Jordan's car immediately stalled - but instead of spinning out due to the momentum of the speed that he had been traveling in, he found himself simply slowing down at a rapid rate along with all the cars around him. In a span of three seconds, all vehicles that had been traveling in the same direction on a major highway in the Mountain District came to a safe, complete stop.

It was unlike anything he had ever experienced, and the craziest part was just how eerie it was. None of the cars had made any noises while slowing down - the only sounds that Jordan had heard were the other people shouting, exclaiming, and screaming as they came to a stop. How was this possible?

He instinctively reached for his phone, but it was dead. His journalist brain taking over, Jordan removed a notebook from his bag, put the bag on his back, and started to go along the road with the crowd toward the nearest town. Looking up at the sky, he saw the same pale light and the ominous word that was written on the sky.

What was going on?

A passerby noticed him as Jordan Lawless, and he reassured the kind old gentleman that everything would be all right as long as they stuck together. Chromatika had been through a lot, and this would just be another occurrence to the list...

Or so he told himself.

///

AMÉLIE

An hour after the Great Resonance Shift, Amélie Rachette found herself out on the streets of Wirr Tsi, looking for her younger sister, Gabrielle. Gabrielle had been hanging out with her friends at the Violet Theater this afternoon, and Amélie was worried that something had happened to her with the Shift happening.

The fact that it was ten miles the theater made things far more difficult. Thankfully, she was an experienced distance runner, and the Rachette girls had been raised by their father, Tyler Rachette, who was a Major in the Chromatik Army. The Rachettes had many emergency meetup locations in case of emergency - Major Rachette knew of all the dangers that they faced, having ties to the Chromatik Secret Service - and Amélie was aware of exactly where Gabrielle would be headed to.

As she crested over the final hill on the way to her location - a little Diner in the suburbs of Wirr Tsi - she took in the word that was stationary in the pale-lit sky. What was welcoming them? Why had it welcomed them at all? Was there a cause, a meaning, to all this?

Those were all questions to be pondered, but the most important thing for Amélie right now was to find Gabrielle. Her father was on duty in Wirr Tsi and would get back to them as soon as he could - meaning that it was her job to make sure that her sister was with her.

When she neared the Diner, she finally noticed a weird thing: there was nobody present on the streets near it. The air grew still, and she started feeling a deep, intense vibration reverberating through her very bones.

By the time she realized that the vibrations were coming from the Diner itself, it was too late.

A pulse of light caught Amélie Rachette from the Diner, and in a flash, she was gone, one of the thirty thousand Chromatiks to disappear in the first hour and a half since the Great Resonance Shift.

[WELCOME]

by **Wight** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 11:45 pm

LITHICO™ WORLD CUP FINAL 100 STADIUM, SOCCERLAND, TAXHAVN
Capacity: 100,100

You can still have Bizarro

The nation of Wight, joint most-successful footballing nation of all time (tied only with Vilita) has finally caved in to widespread pressure to join the Bizarro World Cup 100 host bid with Paradystopia and Farfadillis*. As the unfortunate host-victims have already been singled out by the community and it turns out to be Not Paradystopia, Not Farfadillis and Definitely Not Wight, the remaining tranche of the bid offered up to the community is the host venue for the biggest World Cup Final of them all, in the best venue ever built. In Taxhavn.

Financed by a rapacious battery-charged microstate, a small collection of private banks and... some penguins... the Lithico™ is one of the most iconic stadiums ever constructed, and almost as weird as that one in Tikariot with the big bird and the thunder clouds, you know the one I mean, you must've seen it?

Anyway.

With a symbolic 100,100 seats (to represent the number of workers accidentally - or in some cases, deliberately (allegedly) - holding up the foundations of the huge arena), the Lithico™ is located in SoccerLand, the football theme park, on Soccer Island, the Taxhavn national team's football development base in St. Bernadine Bay. So convinced that Farfadillis, Not Wight and Paradystopia would definitely win the hosting rights to the World Cup, football officials at FA-Tax bribed the bid team into agreeing to locate the final at the then half-finished national team stadium; they imported 2,000 barrels of fluid time from Bonesea and completed a project which took four years to get half way constructed in ten days, give or take 100,000 construction workers, ish.

Why let it go to waste? Can the appointed hosts offer anything nearly so... remarkable... as the Lithico™? Will they even have enough energy left to host a final with full attention to detail after whittling down 10,875 nations to two - one of whom is bound to be Audioslavia? We say no, of course not. Best they just hand it over to the arsonists, bankers and, um, penguins of the real winners host bid™. Let Taxhavn take the strain. Because Taxhavn.

Write to you local World Cup host and tell them you want to play your historic final in the SoccerLand theme park, at the Lithico™. It's the only venue that makes Not Sense.

* Farfadillis and Paradystopia are aligned to this bid only under contractual scribbles, and therefore are to be considered Not Partners in the bid, in its current form.

Host bid artwork kindly produced by Paradystopia: which in no way implies conspiracy to bid on the part of Para.

by **New Montreal States** » Mon Oct 27, 2025 11:46 pm

IN THE POST-MATCH VISITOR’S LOCKER ROOM, MATCHDAY 1 AT BEAUTIFUL VICTORIA STADIUM, SNESTAR

Snestar 2 – Paladins 0

“Barry, shut up.”

Four minutes of aimless ranting from Barry Bones was enough for a gassed Dan Daniels, seated one stall over. Everyone else was processing getting shouted down by a crowd and stuffed into their back third on the pitch by a Snestar side determined to make good history in their nation’s first-ever home match. After having the worse day of his career since having his shorts pulled down from behind by an eighth-grade romantic rival, the silence had been a welcome relief for Daniels, until Bones had abruptly pitched into a forward crouch from his bench and started jawing to himself.

“You gonna try to ASSERT control of the situation now? Where was that for the past 90 minutes?”

“Barry.”

“You finally deciding to make a stand now?

Anger wiped the fatigue from Daniels’ legs and he sprang up. “Please stop talking until you’ve made a pass.”

Daniels getting to his feet broke through the fog. Daniels’ fellow defenders converged around their man, while the midfielders stood but left Bones along to glare at Daniels. The forwards refused to budge, while Brian Lads stayed catatonic in the far corner.

“Who are you saying can’t pass?” Bones leaned in. “Get me the ball and I’ll make a pass. I’ll make two passes. I’ll make six passes!” Bones’ arms had shot up over his head and were waving frantically. Noel Poltron and his assistants had emerged from the office and were making their way across the room. “Right after you get off your useless, cowardly ass and…”

Poltron came up just short as Daniels threw a hard right jab into Bones’s midsection. Already off balance from agitation, Bones slammed backwards into the divider between their lockers, caught himself on the bench and pitched himself into Daniels, body-slamming him into the floor. Thirty seconds of spastic flopping between two men who had no idea how to grapple ensured before Poltron could shove through the crowd of players – none of who were particularly inclined to intervene – and grabbed Bones’ shoulders. The tension dissolved immediately as Simon Coriander and Laurent Bérubé each grabbed an antagonist and hustled off to opposite corners of the room.

The only sound for the next few minutes was the muffled, triumphant roar of the Snestarian crowd drinking in the moment, until Brian Lads sprung up, twisted his trainer jacker into a rat-tail, and whipped it into his cleats while yelling “WHY THE FUCKITTY FUCK SHIT DID I HAVE TO LAUNCH IT INTO HER FACE! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK...” He trailed off into a final, impeccable silence that lasted until the charter bus finally pulled up to bring the Paladins back to their charter.

IN THE LOWER-LEVEL PALADIN DOME CONCOURSE, MATCHDAY 2, HOSTING SUPER EARTH

”YOU’VE GOT TWO FEET! YOU’VE GOT TWO FEET!”

The Super Earth Senators were forced to enter the stadium normally for the first time in their brief history, after launching themselves into stadia from high orbit throughout the Baptism of Fire, and celebrating their first-ever home match by firing several million oz. worth of ordinance, and incinerating some heretics. The Paladins home crowd, usually quiescent after singing their side on with “Immigrant Song,” were able to stay in unison to keep drilling into the heads of a pack of space marines that didn’t know what to make of a hundred thousand people yelling “Peace and trust can win the day despite all of your losing” at a pack of trained killers.

Alex Duplessis-Beauvoir knew he was only going to win 3000 oz. at poker once in his lifetime. His first thought was a fine leather couch with memory-foam cushions and built-in cupholders. His second thought was overinvesting in first dates to the point where the right woman would think that the corners his rescue mutt had bit off of his existing couch were cute and not a sign that he was broke as shit.

His third and decisive thought was buying his old college roommate’s ticket for the Paladins’ first home opener since his great-great-grandparents were conceived, after his buddy posted that three out of three of his triplets were bawling incoherently with hand, foot and mouth disease and that he needed to make sure his seat wasn’t empty for the match. It was face value, and life is short.

Duplessis-Beauvoir hooted and hollered as the Paladins lowered their (strictly metaphorical) lances and charged forward from the kickoff. Duplessis-Beauvoir had gone down a Wikipedia rabbit hole about the Second Galactic War and figured that Super Earth’s marines could probably lower their casualty rate by simply asking themselves what kind of tactics they’re facing at the moment, but had their ability to complain erased from their minds.

The first half aligned with those expectations. The Paladins came out with figurative daggers in their teeth; Nostradamus Plowshares, the man known as NM Patriotes “inhuman cheat code,” sprang to life after catnapping through the Snestar match and post-game fracas. His 12-minute arcing kick into the upper left corner discomforted the space marines. Monty Younghusband pulled his ankle in the 30th minute and was replaced by John Jones IV. Super Earth did not have an appropriate tactical response to this injury, and failed to mark him until he closed out the first half by drilling a ball over Fisher’s extended Official Space Marine Appendage to bring the Paladins up two-nil.

Alex would forever remember the joy he carried on through halftime, all the way through the Senators drilling a ball through the back of the net in the 49th minute. This was clearly a punishment for his personal failures, and he spent the next twenty minutes alternating between thanksgiving for his personal sins being disregarded as the Senators pounded shorts in Brian Lads’ general direction, and a reminder of his failures every time the Paladins missed a shot or came up short on their man marking.

He started bawling when Deadman plonked the equalizer in past a badly outpositioned Lads in the 91st minute; a well-deserved result after the Paladins back end totally failed to communicate amongst themselves or clear the ball in any way that mattered for most of the second half. He hit the stairs to get ahead of traffic right after that; he had paid too much to watch a draw, and at any rate needed to get home early enough for five hours of sleep.

Hopefully the Cup of Harmony wouldn't be too far off New Montreal's time zone.

by **Grod Island** » Tue Oct 28, 2025 12:16 am

Blooms Nowhere: Grod Island Thrashed, Bashed, and Left for Compost
By Leni Haravo, Senior Football Correspondent

The Blooming Commonwealth’s national team has wilted before the World Cup’s first breeze. Two games, two losses, eleven goals shipped, and the only thing blooming is national heartbreak.

Matchday One: Milchama 8–1 Grod Island

Everyone expected it to be hard. No one expected it to be this bad. It’s a scoreline that’ll haunt Grod Island for years. Eight goals. EIGHT. It was a televised massacre. For twenty minutes, captain Maro Javiri’s back line held shape. It was decently compact, disciplined, and even daring at times, reminiscent of Port Wahgi FC's back line during their invincible IPL season two years ago under Tomas Raveka. At the 22nd minute however, the floodgates opened. Milchama scored twice before half an hour, both from balls slipped behind the fullbacks, and by halftime, the score was 4–0. The defense never recovered from it.

The lone consolation came in the 63rd minute. Evan Rani, barely 20 and playing his first major international tournament, picked up a loose ball near halfway, burst past two defenders, and drove low into the corner. It was the kind of thing that makes you forget the other eight times the ball went in at the wrong end.

After the match, manager Raveka was defiant. “We kept fighting,” he said. “We played our brand of football.” Some fans might question which version of it he meant.

Matchday Two – Grod Island 0–3 Annestah

If the Milchama defeat stung, this one lingered. Annestah are ranked below us, and for once, the pre-match talk wasn’t about survival. There was high confidence that we could win this one. The players looked focused during warm-ups, the energetic Grodian home crowd sang the anthem loud and proud, and for ten minutes, hope seemed real. Then the game started.

Annestah pressed high and never stopped. Lano Kure tried to marshal the midfield, but with Tami Ora chasing shadows and Karo Yavene misfiring passes, control slipped early. Every time the ball reached our front three, it came back twice as fast. The first goal came from a mix-up between Lako and Kolopa, both waiting for the other to clear a cross. The second was a corner routine marking gone wrong. The third, late in the game, summed it all up: tired legs, tired minds, and a defense that simply ran out of resistance.

Tomas Raveka said after the game, “We’re still growing. It is a process which you must respect and give time to.” The fans aren’t buying it though. #BloomAndBust and #RavekaOut was trending on the Net within minutes of the final whistle.

If the Water Lilies don’t tighten up soon, we’ll be packing our bags before the souvenir shops even open.

by **Recuecn** » Tue Oct 28, 2025 2:49 am

Licornes Look Good in Opener
Reçueçn Times
By Georges Quint

Reçueçn, Reçueçn—The ÉNRF (Équipe Nationale de Reçueçn de Football) looked great as it took the field against Kita-Hinode this past weekend to launch its World Cup 100 campaign. The team looked great both in form and fashion, playing a strong defensive game as is the Reçuecian style, and wearing the new jerseys ordered by the federation to celebrate the upcoming 100th edition of the World Cup. With such a momentous edition of the tournament on the horizon, the competition is bigger than ever, both in terms of scale and importance. The sheer number of nations participating in qualifying is higher than ever before, and tournament organizers are finding new and creative ways to pull out all the stops.

The new kit from Novos Sportswear.

For the FNRF, the federation responsible for managing Reçueçn's participation in WCC events, this of course included setting up the jumbotrons that have become traditional for the first game of qualifying outside the sold-out Stade National and in the square in Reçueçn City. But in the past, mere qualification games haven't been treated with the same level of spectacle as this one. A flyover by air force jets heralded the kickoff, and Les Licornes were ushered through the city to the stadium in a parade on an open-topped bus. However, the change made to celebrate the occasion that has been the most visible, especially for the fans watching on TV, has been the new jerseys that the team is now wearing.

The équipe nationale had worn its previous jersey for a long time—14 years, to be exact. The old design had been created by Pitelet, a Reçuecian luxury fashion designer, in the company's first foray into sportswear. At the time, fans greeted the design as a huge improvement on the previous jersey, but it wasn't long before the kit's minimalist style fell out of favor, drawing complaints of being "plain" and "boring." As the years went by, fans only grew more bored with the look. For the World Cup 100 cycle, then, the FNRF took the opportunity to order a new jersey for the team as part of the celebrations. Although the kit has been described as "celebratory" or "commemorative", the federation has confirmed that it is in fact the team's new permanent look. The jerseys are here to stay, not just for the centenary edition of the tournament.

It's fortunate, then, that the fans seem to really like the new kit. The FNRF announced a partnership with a Saternalian firm, Novos Sportswear, for the new designs. Novos Sportswear in a sportwear manufacturing company located in Daxler, Saterun. They produce the jerseys for the Saterun national team, as well as several Saterun A Liga teams. Novos is one of the top sportswear brands in Satern, manfufacturing everything from running shoes to tennis rackets. Their expansion this year to take international contracts for other national football teams drew the attention of the FNRF, which asked the company to pitch a design for the upcoming 100th edition of the World Cup.

Of course, there are some Reçecian pundits—mostly conservative politicians trying to look good by sticking up for Reçuecian manufacturers—who have protested against the outsourcing of a shirt that is meant to represent the nation. "If Les Licornes are going to wear this jersey in front of the multiverse to represent our Allied States," said Mayoral Chamber deputy Giles Montjoie in a speech, "shouldn't it be something we made ourselves, something we can be proud of?" However, most fans agree that the design of a soccer kit is not a political issue, and prefer the new design for its aesthetic improvements.

"The old kits that were designed by Pitelet were not produced in Reçueçn either," pointed out Jeanne Chartray, representative for the FNRF. "Of course the FNRF and the Ministry of Sport support Reçuecian business, but the simple truth is that we continue to be a nation that invests its economy in tourism and luxury goods. We simply don't have the infrastructure for large-scale textile manufacture. This same thing came up fourteen years ago when Pitelet outsourced production for its kit design, and honestly I think it's getting old. Hopefully next time we get a new look for the équipe nationale, we don't have to dredge this up all over again."

The new kits seem to be working a little magic already. Reçueçn won both of its opening games without ever looking like it was in danger. Yet group 14 in the World Cup qualifiers looks to be a tough one, with lots of famous names. Yet Kita-Hinode, once one of the great footballing empires, had never faced Reçueçn before the opening game this weekend. The same for other teams whose names you might recognize, like Kandorith or Libonesia. Reçueçn has only played Banija in a tournament once, but that game was in fact Reçueçn's most recent world cup match. Somehow, Les Licornes managed to win that WC 99 group stage game against the much stronger Kadongo Kamu, but Banija had been leading the group and Reçueçn had zero points, so even the upset win wasn't enough to keep the équipe nationale in the tournament. Now, looking to make it back into the World Cup, the ÉNRF immediately finds itself having to face off against Banija once more (although not until the tail end of qualifying). The two teams have also met twice in friendly matches, years ago, one of which was a draw and one of which Reçueçn won, so Les Licornes will be hoping to maintain their miraculous undefeated record against the Arrosians.

There will be many games to play though before Maggie makes her will known, so all we can do is stay tuned and keep our fingers crossed. One thing's for sure: it's going to be a fun ride!

[OOC: Immense thanks to Saterun for the beautiful kits! And credit to them for the paragraph write-up of Novos Sportswear.]

by **Juvencus** » Tue Oct 28, 2025 3:44 am

CRUISING PAST IN ODDITY - LA SQUADRA GAINS VALUABLE POINTS

Nobody expected that the shift from the style of Pomenienze that described gli attaccanti to the Ajello classic would be this drastic. Not only did the players seem more uptight in the field, there was a lot more rigidity than what was initially expected as well. However, said rigidity, although an eye sore considering the strength of the opponents came with efficiency. Such efficiency hasn't been observed by la squadra in a long while, as a result of the explosiveness and cannon-ball attacks of the Pomenienze.

NERVES OF STEEL SAVE THE DAY: Sernet was defensively tight, all the while Juvencus was trying to find its new footing on the pitch. Possession seemed to be fairly even, but as the game progressed it became apparent that the technical superiority of Juven players would prevail. Although superior, the match itself was a close call. Olulawa seemed to be a nuisance to deal with on the backline and once made enough space for Bolsting to hit a rocket, only to be delightfully stopped by an Ungaro leap. Ganymede Garcia would have to step off the pitch early one with a minor hamstring injury after a harsh challenge with a Sernetian opponent. Pau Vives would not only enter the pitch, but change what seemed to be a slow-paced game with sudden weak foot shot that Pasarowski would stop. The second half seemed to maintain that sluggish pace of the previous one, however an error from the Sernetian backline proved to be fatal and Ceferino Audiol would become the hero of the day, sending thousands of Juven fans at Stadio Electrico to cloud 9.

REDUCED SQUAD SIZE GIVES WORRIES: The demand of Ajello to pick a much smaller and tighter squad, though it may be helpful in regards to better teamwork also has some disadvantadges. With fewer players to cover up positions, when players are penalised or in the worst case scenario, injured, there is less tactical flexibility. Although in real terms this rarely happens due to improvements in physiotherapy as well as medicine, it is a constant strain in the back of the mind of any coach. Especially considering the aggressive nature of Juven players and their approaches to tackles and other heavy challenges. What the game against Sernet showed though is that this could manifest fast and in the blink of an eye. And with Garcia out for the count against Yangchenia, rotation proved more difficult to do against them.

THE YANGCHEN ISSUE: Yangchenianite media reported two goals scored in quick succession with the eventuality of them both being disallowed at the same time. This is not feasible in a game of football, however what is true is that two offside goals were indeed scored by the Yangchenianite team not long after Carlo Bevilacqua broke the ice in the favor of la squadra. Said offside goals did not alarm the Juven team, due to the Yangchenite players being obviously off-position but what did alarm the nation in general was the recording of Juven people as Juvencusites. Juven people decided to make all sorts of different comments to direct towards the Yangchenia Blazing Dragons, though it was met with zero response. However, the public opinion towards the Yangchenianites has gotten negative after such mishap, which hopefully shall be fixed in the next article. "E JUVEN NON E JUVENCUSITE" shirt sales have spiked.

WHAT'S NEXT?: Nerve wracking games are next, with Yuezhou visiting Pomena in what is meant to be the biggest match of these group stages. Though coming off of mishaps, the Yueren side is not to be underestimated and a meetup of the two while at an even higher level than their previous meetups in Cup of Harmony 84 is sure to provide excitement. Alongside that, a visit to the returning Free Republics is added up to the list for this international break, a team that has come really close to lifting the World Cup itself, it is a side never to be underestimated despite their -current- lowly rank(or lack thereof). With the correct tools in hand and Ajello's guidance, a 6-point break is yet another MUST. Will la squadra manage to extend its lead?

by **Edsmontik** » Tue Oct 28, 2025 4:35 am

panzvastekolektion.eds

World Cup 100 | RP thread

Holy Harps Upset Legalese in 3-1 Victory!

NOT THIS AGAIN

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