Your opinion on a interesting fact about the AN (III)

[Sengoku Americas]

Since the current thread appears to be approaching 500 pages quite quickly, here's version IIII. As title says, please write your opinion on an interesting fact about the AN. I'll continue with Comerciante, who was the last poster:

"Now then continuing on the tangent of salvaging old World War III Warships.

Earlier Greater Victoria proposed that WW3 Warships are packing firepower that the UN doesn't want running around anymore or endangering their monopoly on force and maybe other esoteric effects and this is true but is only part of the reason, and another thing Victoria is that the UN does not actually salvage Warships or Capital Ships, they don't need to, they have sole access to Warship and Capital Class Factory and support industries (even if said factories aren't performing at their best) and are in no hurry to release the information necessary for other nations to produce their own factories.

The primary reason for the avoidance of salvaging Warships and Capital Class Ships for reuse has to do with the AI's that still man the vessels. Now to be clear most Warships and Capital Class Ship AI cores are generally dead as fuck and even if they weren't immediately before being disabled during combat, they most likely wouldn't be able to keep themselves going considering how horribly injured they might be. Some of them however, hit the jackpot and while rendered incapable of doing little else but float, were still cognizant enough to remain aware of their surroundings.

For these AI's as has been researched by independent scientists. The War isn't over, to them, the disbandment of the ASUP (Asia Solar United Pact) and the fact that the UN is but a shell of its former self isn't clause for a cease in hostilities, to quote;

"There is still me."

-More to come on this tangent next time!

I was really surprised to find how software made in such an advanced era wouldn't be able to update itself with current events, but its perfectly possible given how even present technology responsible for far less complicated tasks can glitch terribly. That being said, I can only imagine how traumatising it must be for those poor AI to have your home and protection badly damaged, left alone to helpless drift in space without any means to communicate.

---

Though many people associate her with sweets and strawberries in particular, Empress Park's favourite meal is actually quite savoury: beef bibimbap with two fried eggs, sweet gochujang, extra kimchi, pickled radish, and apple soda.

[The Saucer Pilots]

Beef is very enjoyable, as is the savory flavor on a whole. It surely beats synthetic protein packs with synthetic savory additives, especially because of the blood that real meat contains. Dipping sauces are also very important to us, so we approve, especially if it combines salty, savory and sweet. Even if we don't know what the rest of the other servings are...

---

Though we have monitored the civilization of planet since the year 1929 of it's Gregorian Calendar, interests have heightened after the detection of nuclear detonations, three in 1945. We considered the first one may have been an accidental flash or malfunction by part of our satellites but two more followed suit shortly after. At the present moment, the rival powers of Earth have tested a handful of other primitive and dirty low-yield devices, and though they pose no threat to us or themselves (mostly themselves) at their current capabilities, it may soon increase in the future. Which is why we must observe their progress in that field. Fly-bys over suspected nuclear-enrichment sites, defense installations and warehouses will all increase.

[Sokana]

You sound like what we would call ‘aliens,’ or perhaps I’m misunderstanding something. But I all find it very interesting, I think after this I’m gonna read some of your Factbooks.

---

Sokana, although only a big bigger than the real world’s Benelux, it economically controls almost the entirety of Europe, it only has 10k manpower, but yet it’s still considered somewhat of a superpower, and even have nations such as the US from time to time kneeling down to them.

[Sengoku Americas]

Are there any particular reasons for your nation's economic and military power? It's hard to imagine a country with such small population and army to actually be controlling superpowers and empires like the US and Europe.

---

Despite coming from a nation and family which loves tea, Empress Park has actually shown her preference for coffee in most situations including dessert, morning meals, and even tea-time (during which she eats tea-time pastries and sandwiches with milk coffee in hand.) Her public fondness for coffee boosted demand for beans and roasts by nearly 30% in her reign's first year, and has changed how Californians view both tea-time and natively grown coffee (which was once ignored in favour of foreign beans and teas.)

[The Jamesian Republic]

So this is an America that held onto British traditions.

---

After the atomic bombings of Semashima and Shotosaki on July 23 and July 26 1945 nuclear development was limited to the Jamesian Republic. On January 8 1946 the Seniat Union officially announced that it would not pursue the development of atomic weapons after seeing the destruction and horror left behind. They implored other nations not to pursue this. However more testing was done on them by The Jamesian Republic between 1946 - 1954. While the Seniat abstained from this research and development many nations were put on edge. They believed that if the Seniats where to reverse policy and construct nuclear weapons that could lead to a possible war with those weapons used. In 1950, Great Woodlawn issued a proposal to ban all nuclear and mass destruction weapons research. Between 1950 - 1953 all participants in the International Assembly signed it however the Jamesian Republic was the last to sign it. What convinced the Jamesian Republic to sign it was when President Warren Wallace travelled to Tokan and saw the film, Kyojin which according to the director was an allegory for Semashima and Shotosaki. Wallace was moved by the film and signed the ban. In 1957 The Jamesian Republic proposed the Nuclear Energy for Peace Bill. This bill will permit nuclear development for energy purposes. The bill was passed that year and ever since then nuclear energy has been used for peace not war.

[Wingfand]

Nice to know that you can put bad things to good use sometimes. It's amazing!

Wingfand was a nation created in January 20th, 3031. However, time is broken in the Subzero universe, so that may not be the actual year. Bloodfand, however, was created on the same day in a different timeline. In the "year" 3150 (in the Bloodfand timeline), Bloodfand was destroying countries left and right. Whitty (from Shadonyazal) had a watch that could reverse time. He brought some of the people in Shadonyazal to a secret base and sent them all back in time. While wandering the snow in January 19th, 3031, Whitty saw... well, himself. He was making a poll to see what the name and flag of the country should be. The others said that bad things might happen if he sees his past self, but Whitty said "pfft, that's just in movies.". Whitty goes over and talks to himself, saying that he should make the country's name Wingfand and make the flag blue. A few years later, the Whitty who owned Wingfand was overthrown and killed. That didn't stop the Whitty who owned Shadonyazal from living, though. The leader of Wingfand was then changed to BadBoyHalo, who gives the position to Skeppy after seeing a newspaper about "LANGUAGE!!!"

[Sengoku Americas]

Having someone from your nation decide your national flag and colour after time travelling and conversing with themselves is certainly unique, although I wonder if their act of going back in time and interacting with their past self actually changed the outcome.

---

Cheese udon with meatballs is now part of California and Cascadia's culinary tradition and respected as innovative cuisine by many. There are over 500 restaurants in Seattle alone serving the recipe using variations ranging from using soba noodles to meatballs made from seared duck meat. Yet many diners will never realise just how humble the origins of this respected recipe really are.

Back when they lived in the Northeastern Federation, Premier Charlotte Kato's family couldn't afford to buy imported stock or dried ingredients for making udon with Japanese methods. Adapting to their circumstances, Charlotte's mother combined the base udon with more readily accessible Western-style sauces such as cheese and toppings like meatballs. After Charlotte Kato became Premier of Cascadia and shared her recipe for cheese udon, it soon became extremely popular.

[Baizou]

Cheese udon with meatballs is now part of California and Cascadia's culinary tradition and respected as innovative cuisine by many. There are over 500 restaurants in Seattle alone serving the recipe using variations ranging from using soba noodles to meatballs made from seared duck meat. Yet many diners will never realise just how humble the origins of this respected recipe really are.

Back when they lived in the Northeastern Federation, Premier Charlotte Kato's family couldn't afford to buy imported stock or dried ingredients for making udon with Japanese methods. Adapting to their circumstances, Charlotte's mother combined the base udon with more readily accessible Western-style sauces such as cheese and toppings like meatballs. After Charlotte Kato became Premier of Cascadia and shared her recipe for cheese udon, it soon became extremely popular.

Oh, that's such a fun origin story for what has become almost a 'national dish' in Cascadia and California; I like it! It makes sense that there's a story to it. It was interesting to see cheese udon with meatballs take on such significance in California and Cascadia's lore, but now I see why. I like the way knowing the background deepens the dish's meaning. The context and background together make cheese udon into an example of Japanese-Western cultural fusion, a representation of Cascadia's economic situation a generation earlier, and an insight into Charlotte Kato and her family. That's a lot of meanings for just one meal!

---

When the Socialist Party formed following the postwar political shakeup and the Marxist Party's reformist turn, the two parties discovered that their mutual use of hammer and sickle symbolism in party imagery created confusion among voters and stakeholders. In that political moment wherein the two parties wanted to distinguish each from the other, the parties came to a formal agreement on how to share the symbols. By explicit compact, the Marxist Party agreed to only use sickles, and never hammers; and the Socialist Party agreed to only use hammers, and never sickles.

For decades, regularly renewing this compact was the only official exception to the Marxist and Socialist Party's chilly relations. Relations have significantly warmed in the twenty-first century, but the compact remains in force. Whether the symbols-use arrangement will change at the next renewal time is a matter of speculation.

[A Thousand Islands]

That all seems pretty arbitrary to me

Our interesting fact:
A Thousand Islands is an alternate version of RL Japan but with some key differences; the emperors never lost power, there was never a shogun, we did not participate in WWII, we only ended isolation in the 50s, and we steadied expanded our empire over hundreds of years by snatching up islands from surrounding nations.

[Hanoverian Great Britain]

An interesting twist I guess, though I am quite intrigued on how such a Japan would continue to hold itself together in the modern ages, judging by its presumed territorial extent

---

For royal enthusiasts, the naming of the current King of Denmark, Charles I might easily come off as an extremely peculiar break against modern Danish customs which saw prior kings been mostly named Christian or Frederick instead. However, the reason for this break from tradition comes off on a rather beautiful note when in 1948, the then Queen Ingrid of Denmark, the wife of King Frederick IX of Denmark chose to name her only son (whom, by Danish law was to take precedence over his three older sisters as heir) Charles due to an old promise that she had made to her longtime childhood friend, the later Charles III of the United Kingdom. For context, following the death of Ingrid's mother when she was ten years old, she was "adopted" by Charles's family who had then taken refuge in Sweden due to political reasons due to her ability to manage a household on her own proved valuable for the upbringing of the future Charles III and his then brother William. Consequently, from the age of three, Charles and Ingrid, who is seven years older spent the next fifteen years growing up together before Ingrid herself moving to Denmark following her marriage to the Danish crown prince.

Thus, as a result of the deeply shared bond between them, Ingrid once promised to her childhood friend Charles that her first son was to be named after the latter, thus leading to the naming of the current king as Charles I of Denmark.

[Dengist Fardelshufflestein]

/bump

[Sengoku Americas]

/bump

[Baizou]

For royal enthusiasts, the naming of the current King of Denmark, Charles I might easily come off as an extremely peculiar break against modern Danish customs which saw prior kings been mostly named Christian or Frederick instead. However, the reason for this break from tradition comes off on a rather beautiful note when in 1948, the then Queen Ingrid of Denmark, the wife of King Frederick IX of Denmark chose to name her only son (whom, by Danish law was to take precedence over his three older sisters as heir) Charles due to an old promise that she had made to her longtime childhood friend, the later Charles III of the United Kingdom. For context, following the death of Ingrid's mother when she was ten years old, she was "adopted" by Charles's family who had then taken refuge in Sweden due to political reasons due to her ability to manage a household on her own proved valuable for the upbringing of the future Charles III and his then brother William. Consequently, from the age of three, Charles and Ingrid, who is seven years older spent the next fifteen years growing up together before Ingrid herself moving to Denmark following her marriage to the Danish crown prince.

Thus, as a result of the deeply shared bond between them, Ingrid once promised to her childhood friend Charles that her first son was to be named after the latter, thus leading to the naming of the current king as Charles I of Denmark.

So Ingrid basically named her son after her adoptive younger brother? That's rather sweet. And to think she remembered her promise after such a long time, and stuck to it even though existing institutions probably pressured her to follow tradition rather than her personal inclination. I just hope it's not too jarring for the people of Denmark. After all, the royal family is likely an important cultural symbol for them.

---

I think it's appropriate to reuse this fact:

When the Socialist Party formed following the postwar political shakeup and the Marxist Party's reformist turn, the two parties discovered that their mutual use of hammer and sickle symbolism in party imagery created confusion among voters and stakeholders. In that political moment wherein the two parties wanted to distinguish each from the other, the parties came to a formal agreement on how to share the symbols. By explicit compact, the Marxist Party agreed to only use sickles, and never hammers; and the Socialist Party agreed to only use hammers, and never sickles.

For decades, regularly renewing this compact was the only official exception to the Marxist and Socialist Party's chilly relations. Relations have significantly warmed in the twenty-first century, but the compact remains in force. Whether the symbols-use arrangement will change at the next renewal time is a matter of speculation.

[Sengoku Americas]

I guess even in Baizou's world you can't escape leftist parties splitting over any disagreement. I wonder if Meikawa and Mizushima would be able to have their fractured factions come back together under the United Front, and how their anti-capitalist caucus might influence future relationships between the Socialists and Marxists.

Also, I'm rather surprised to hear that the hammer and sickle were still used in Baizou, considering Baizou's more industrial-service oriented economy and Cold War situation as a non-aligned party. Lots of leftist parties have gradually updated their imagery to become more modern and left behind agrarian or industrial isignia. Maybe the Marxists should use a VCR player and the Socialists a VCR tape.

---

One of the strangest political parties in Cascadia is the so called "Hokkaido Unification Party", which was started by an angry pastry chef displeased with the price of imported butter and cream from Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Unification Party has one goal only: to remove tariffs from Hokkaido-imported goods such as butter, cattle, and miso by incorporating Hokkaido as another province of Cascadia. Surprisingly, they managed to get an MP elected thanks to the tireless efforts of fans of pastries and products containing Hokkaido imported ingredients.

[House of Alfbad]

While I'm by no means surprised that ridiculous satire parties exist even in a socialist republic, I am surprised that it has enough clout to land a seat in the legislature... things like this aren't supposed to happen. It's like if The Official Monster Raving Loony Party landed a seat in the UK Parliament.

---

Prior to the Battle of Portus Cale in June 1041, the situation in Iberia had for the most part stabilised into a stalemate that neither side was entirely happy with but nobody really wanted to change. Rome held authority south of what is in modern times called the Sistema Central, while the native Visigothic and Suebi of Hispania controlled what was north of it, with the Frankish Empire holding modern-day Barcelona as the Hispanic March to hold back Roman Advance into the Frankish heartlands. South of the Sistema Central, Rome controlled Hispania in form of the three client states of Cyneticum, Baetica and Valentia. Baetica, being the only client state directly connected to Rome, had a relatively large population of Berber colonists, while northern Valentia was the one with the largest Visigothic population. In the north, there were the Kingdom of Suebi (roughly along the lines of the County of Portugal in real life), Asturia (or the Visigothic Kingdom) and Vasconia.

[Fukushima Shogunate]

Yikes, and I though

While I'm by no means surprised that ridiculous satire parties exist even in a socialist republic, I am surprised that it has enough clout to land a seat in the legislature... things like this aren't supposed to happen. It's like if The Official Monster Raving Loony Party landed a seat in the UK Parliament.

---

Prior to the Battle of Portus Cale in June 1041, the situation in Iberia had for the most part stabilised into a stalemate that neither side was entirely happy with but nobody really wanted to change. Rome held authority south of what is in modern times called the Sistema Central, while the native Visigothic and Suebi of Hispania controlled what was north of it, with the Frankish Empire holding modern-day Barcelona as the Hispanic March to hold back Roman Advance into the Frankish heartlands. South of the Sistema Central, Rome controlled Hispania in form of the three client states of Cyneticum, Baetica and Valentia. Baetica, being the only client state directly connected to Rome, had a relatively large population of Berber colonists, while northern Valentia was the one with the largest Visigothic population. In the north, there were the Kingdom of Suebi (roughly along the lines of the County of Portugal in real life), Asturia (or the Visigothic Kingdom) and Vasconia.

Well, that's going to severely complicate the cultural-ethnic system in the future. This timeline's Spain already has enough minorities that it's iffy about, like the Basque and Catalans, can't imagine what a united Iberia would look like in this world. It'd take the equivalent of Josip Tito of Yugoslavia to keep that together...

---

In mid 2065, after reports had gotten out to the public that the lord of the Hojo daimyo, Ishiwata, was gleefully abusing his wife Miko, outrage was spread among the nobles, especially Lord Miyamoto Ashi of the Ashi Clan who was extremely infuriated by the treatment of Miko that he wrote a harshly-worded letter to him calling him a 'dishonorable savage' and promptly delivered an ultimatum to divorce Miko, send her to Hirado castle and then face him in a katana duel on the nearby hill with a blue cherry blossom on top. Hojo declined the ultimatum and ordered Miko to be sentenced to a week of corporal punishment, which infuriated Lord Ashi to the point that, despite the peace treaty from Hojo's independence war against Ashi being present, he declared war and sent a massive invading force of 10,000 men to capitulate Hojo and rescue Miko from Ishiwata's torment.

The invading Ashi forces were beaten back, however, as the Hojo had trained higher-quality samurai, conscripted their civilian populace as foot soldiers, and also were backed in manpower and naval supremacy by the Ryukyu clan. After conquering the Ashi, they were forced to accept defeat, cede more of the Kyushu peninsula to Hojo, and their leader Miyamoto commited seppuku in utter shame and guilt that he could not save Miko, leaving Kendo to seize control over the clan. Over 35,000 lives were lost on both sides in the Hojo-Ashi Honor War, which drove Lady Miko to commit suicide by hanging shortly after. These events decimated the Hojo clan's reputation forever to the point where it could never recover, even costing them their Ryukuan allies, as well as irrepairably damaged relations with Ashi, Kendo even vowing that he will "get his revenge on that honorless dog, and no lives will be lost other than his or mine."

[The Restored Danelaw]

/bump

[The Independent Republic of Mars]

Well that was a particularly grim read, and the fact that all that is happening in 2065 says a lot about how far Japanese society has fallen since the 2011 accident. The rest of the world must have some pretty serious problems of its own if its not intervening in that mess.

---

Though many on Earth may be of the impression that the terraforming of Mars resulted in a uniform and bland climate, the Martian climate is on the contrary relatively diverse. The majority of the Martian population lives within warm and humid tropical climates, which would fall within Group A when using Köppen climate classifications. The coastline stretching from the Chryse Gulf and Acidalia Plains to the Gulf of Cerberus and the base of Olympus Mons is famous for its balmy climate and lush flora, and of the many great city-states that dot this idyllic coastline, Costa Roja is particularly renowned for its paradisiacal environment. Elysium island to the north, home to the capital of the Republic of Mars, is comparatively more temperate, falling mostly within the humid subtropical category (Cfa). Elysium's climate is thus often compared to the Po Valley in northern Italy, as well as north through southern and central Japan. The Kasei Delta, Tempe Peninsula, and the coastline of the Tharsis Plateau are comparatively drier, and experience a dry summer climate (Csa) similar to that of Greece and other Mediterranean states, though the Tharsis Plateau gives way to a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) further inland. The lands surrounding the Sea of Hellas and Lake Argyre experience pleasant hot summer humid continental (Dfa) climates, though the Hesperia Plains and Siren's Plains that divide them fall within the cold semi-arid (BSk) category. The vast Southern Highlands give way to a cold arid climate (BWk), which gradually shifts into an ice cap climate (EF) closer to the Martian South Pole.

[Koson]

It's cool to see how much thought you've put into something as obscure as the Martian climate. While I personally regard terraforming Mars to be a pipe dream (mostly due to the lack of a magnetic field) it's still a very interesting thought exercise.

---

Rice is a staple Kosŏnese crop, but dependence on it leaves the population vulnerable to crippling vitamin A deficiency, an issue which plagues many nations. To work around this Kosŏnese scientists experimented with genetic engineering to produce a variant of rice that would biosynthesise beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. This 'golden rice' solves the deficiency issue and has subsequently replaced much of Kosŏn's natural rice crop over the past two decades. Kosŏn has also taken to cheaply exporting this crop to other rice-dependent nations as a show of humanitarian good will, although due to its diplomatic isolation these offers are often met with suspicion. Many conspiracy theorists have suggested that golden rice is in fact some kind of Kosŏnese bioweapon, designed to wither kill or control populations that ingest it, and are violently hostile to the crop despite no reported ill effects from its consumption.

[Allied Iran]

Why not just eat something else alongside rice? Rice is a "staple" in Iranian cuisine as well, but we don't eat it without anything else. Though I mean producing a sort of rice that will not leave you Vitamin A deficient is... one way of fixing the problem

---

Iranian Word of the Day: "Troweler", or as we call it ماله کش. While Troweler can mean "person who uses a trowel to level, spread or shape mortar or concrete for the purpose of building something", the word also has a secondary, mostly political use. In Iran, one becomes a 'troweler' is they perform apologia for an action taken by somebody in such a way that it would allow for them to repeat that action or do something worse. In this idea, the 'trowel' spreads apologia or justification between the stones that are atrocities. The term is usually only used for the Iranian regime's large stockpile of bribed journalists and celebrities who sometimes even go as far as justify its ongoing genocide of the Azeris and Arabs as 'decolonisation', 'solving the country's large population density' and also through outright denial that there even are Arabs and/or Azeris in Iran.

(This term, and its secondary definition, are something that does exist in modern OTL Iran too)

[Sophia in England]

Using "troweler" as a synonym for someone who does apologism, though somewhat odd at first glance, actually makes more sense when you think about it. As you've mentioned, their apologism spreads justification to make atrocities or other questionable actions more invisible or less harsh appearing.

---

Despite her fondness for Victoria sponges and tiramisu, Lady Sophia Stern strongly dislikes sweet sandwiches and refuses to eat them at tea-time, often leaving them to her friends Sakura and Annette. This arrangement actually works really well, since both Sakura and Annette hate savoury sandwiches.

[The Saucer Pilots]

We did not know that sweet sandwiches existed and had to look up what tiramisu is. Our expert on US Earth affairs usually just drinks coffee and dips simple bread in it on their lunch breaks or eats weenies with mac 'n cheese or eggs. But it is certainly very good that a harmonious accord exists between people that complement each other's opposing tastes when they're presented with choices for food...we can imagine that fights for food would be a battle of polite negation and/or passive-aggressive comments.

---

The Air Fleet's updated protocol to flybys over Earth's nation-states stipulates that "avoid-and-evade" maneuvers are the first resort when dealing with approaching military aircraft of Earth. They involve propelling saucers in randomized directions and angles to negate the Earth pilots' analog computing devices and gunsights the chance to make satisfactory aiming trajectories or course strafing attacks. As missiles have become more common among the world's powers, electronic interference against guided projectiles and the planes have also been added into consideration as well as weak lasers aimed at neutralizing incoming warheads at a distance of 1 to 2.5 km. The last resort is shooting down aircraft with hostile intent and it's left to the digression of flight officers but is a stigmatized action as it implies they lost their cool in usually manageable situations.
...
Likewise, we imagine the pilots of Earth don't always report giant unexplainable pie tins zig-zagging around them that often because they also don't want to lose face.

[Hanoverian Great Britain]

From the get-go, it seems that the rules put in place would generally benefit both the Earth and extraterrestrial beings in general since well, such unexplained interactions between two different species could sometimes lead to disastrous consequences if things like aircrafts are involved in the scene. Hope it does achieve what it intends to in the future.

---

In some countries, its leaders, either from the past or present would occasionally be bestowed upon with an epithet, such as the Great, the Brave or any other appropriate form of epithets as to commemorate their services to the country. In the United Kingdom, while its past rulers, such as King Alfred the Great, or even the likes of King Edward Longshanks have been awarded their own epithets with little to no known debate during the process, one such instance however, which occurred in the year 2012 unexpectedly became a full-blown national debate which even saw the country's lawmakers being dragged into the issue themselves.

The debate, later referred to as The Great 2012 Debate came into being when it was announced that the then recently deceased King Charles III, whom was known for his decades long effort in liberalising the country as a whole was to bestowed upon with the epithet the Great, making him the second monarch in British history to be known with the said title after the famous Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great. However, shortly after the decision was announced, opposition towards the decision was quick to form, in which they argued that such an epithet was more fitting for the also famous British monarch, King William V whom in contrast to Charles III, is better known for his wartime capabilities which had then earned him the nickname Britain's Last Soldier King.

Nevertheless, as neither side were able to find a common ground, the issue itself was then handed over to Parliament, where its members voted on which monarch should be rightfully given the epithet the Great and later to the public, where a government-issued referendum was held among the general British public. Ultimately, just three days later, the results decisively favoured that of giving the epithet to the reformist Charles III instead of the militarist William V where in Parliament, the results were 925-520 in favour of the decision while the government-issued referendum saw roughly 57.5% of the public being in favour of the decision.

[The Restored Danelaw]

I don't get it. A reformist does not a 'Great' king make, nor does, necessarily, a Militarist. A Great leader, especially one befitting the epithet, needs to do something that's tangible impressive. Unite seven bickering petty states that spend as much time at war with each other as with everyone else into a kingdom that survives more than a millennia. Defeat an existential threat to your country that would, if not stopped, end with the end of your beinghood (Elizabeth I). Make your country the greatest Great Power in the history of the world and lay the grounds for the largest and most populous maritime empire the world has ever seen (Victoria). In your context, William V is probably much more deserving, and your Parliament sucks for thinking any other way.

---

While France was probably treated the most harshly by the victorious United Nations, and while China probably had the most in wartime losses -in no part because of the sheer savagery of the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War- one must consider that Russia had the most gruesome fate. In short, a Russian State ceased to exist from 1948 to 1982. This is not to mean that the Victorious Allies met and declared its abolition or anything of the like -in fact no European, Atlantic or Japanese leader set foot on its territory until after the 1980s- but to say that there was simply no central authority to speak of. Five nuclear bombs were dropped on Kiev, Moscow, Tsaritsyn as well as Volga and Dneiper, effectively killing off virtually all Russian leadership, its two most important navigable rivers, some of its largest population centers, and (somewhat more importantly) on the city that the infrastructure as a whole entirely depended on. Russia fell apart at the seams with every warlord taking over whatever area he could control with their forces. Europeans did establish a client-state with St. Petersburg as its capital, but left it to its own, all-but blocking their borders with the Russians and shooting anything that got close. By the time the All-Russian Front to Restore the Fatherland had found victory and managed to unify Russia put together, the whole land had gone through four decades of near-total chaos. And even afterwards, their industry, infrastructure and military capabilities leave much to be desired: There are Tankery High School Teams in Japan that are better equipped than the Russian Tank Corps, and those clubs use WWII and Cold War era tanks.

[The Independent Republic of Mars]

That must have been an unbelievably brutal war to justify the dropping of so many atomic bombs, especially against one nation. Unless the objective of the bombings was to mess up Russia and its population as much as is physically possible, five bombs seems needlessly cruel and a total overkill especially when considering that Russia was already losing the war by that point. Still, I suppose it says a lot when the thing I find the most unbelievable about all that is that are High Schools (plural!) in Japan that are better equipped than the Russian Tank Corps. What sort of world have you created where it is normal for High Schools to have tanks?!

---

Though the terraforming of Mars resulted in the creation of extensive tracts of extremely fertile land, Martian agricultural production actually takes place indoors, within huge controlled-environment vertical farms. Martian technology allows for such farms to produce crop yields that are several orders of magnitude higher per acre than a traditional farm could ever hope for, whilst also allowing for the production of crops year-round and regardless of the season. Martian vertical farms allow for the production of a larger variety of harvestable crops because of their usage of isolated crop sectors, and the short distance that produce must travel from farms to stores results in fresher produce for consumers. In a similarly efficient manner, Martian meat products are grown from prime cell cultures rather than from slaughtered animals. Cultured meat negates the need for huge environmentally damaging farms, eliminates animal suffering, and produces a much healthier product as only the best cells are used and the cultivation process is completely free of bacteria, disease, or other harmful substances. With Martian cultured meats being able to replicate complex cellular structures and even bones, and thus create steaks, lamb chops, calamari, and everything in between, they are considered to be indistinguishable from meats cultivated through traditional means. Red wines are incredibly popular on Mars, and varieties from Costa Roja, New Eden, and Themískyra are particularly renowned for their quality and prestige. Though not quite as prominent, single malt whiskies - especially varieties from Horizon and Idavollen - are also very popular.