«12. . .9,9059,9069,9079,9089,9099,9109,911. . .12,15912,160»
hi
The unified missourtama states, Ostellan, Willow Gate, Locksley Hall, and 1 otherThe democratic republic of eons
Hi there welcome to The West Pacific! The Best Pacific!
Please refer to the guide a few messages/post above
Zoran and The democratic republic of eons
And nothing of value was lost.
Yy4u, Bhang Bhang Duc, Numpties, Bran Astor, and 2 othersFuentana, and Ostellan
And here’s a trebuchet to launch you off it. Don’t mess around with my quotes.
Yy4u, Dalimbar, Numpties, Bran Astor, and 3 othersFuentana, Hertfordshire and Jammbo, and Ostellan
Hello!
airlines are amongst the most anti customer organizations imaginable.
I may suggest, if you need a 'comfort' animal to attend your flight you should invest your cash in therapy not travel, and if your therapist suggested that stupid, self centered idea, get another.
*sips coffee*
Bhang Bhang Duc and Fuentana
*coffee*
Bhang Bhang Duc, Fuentana, Ostellan, and Tringapore
TODAY IN THE WEST
It's basically Treat Yo'self Week because today it is Sugar Cookie Day.
But truly the best way to treat yo'self on a day like today is by having an attitude of gratitude because it is Thank You Thursday! Post someone or something you're thankful for. For me, it's the good and thoughtful people here in TWP who make life a little bit easier with their humor, their art, and good natured fun.
I'm especially thankful for this excellent haiku by The unified missourtama states: page=rmb/postid=39616883
By the way, a great way to show your thanks is by endorsing people! As our Minister of WAR (World Assembly Recruitment, not war the thing) Nieubasria has said, strangers are just friend opportunities. So befriend the masses and endorse / get endorsed back up to the cap of 250 endos, but start by endorsing Bran Astor! page=dispatch/id=1333539
Stay tuned for more events, resources, and fun things to read!
Bhang Bhang Duc, Big Bad Badger, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, Numpties, and 7 othersNieubasria, The unified missourtama states, Giovanniland, Ostellan, Zoran, Bobki, and Tringapore
Yes I believe so. Also please don’t double post.
Join the World of Esferos!
The center of roleplay in TWP is the map of our world, Esferos. Our canon is tied to the map and our stories are built by our community—whether you're into nation building, international affairs, or rootin' tootin' cowboys, you'll find something that grips you here. There's no telling how deep you'll go!
Citizens of The West Pacific can request a place on the map to develop a history, culture, and people for their nation. While collaborating with others, you will create roleplay like factbooks, news, stories, or sports—essentially, whatever you want to do with your nation within reason. The current RP year is 1423 AF, this translates to modern-day Earth. Most technologies are also roughly equivalent to the modern day.
Before we get too into things, if you have any questions, you may address them to one of the Lorekeepers on the TWP Roleplay Discord server.
To join the world of Esferos you must read the rest of this Guide, introduce yourself on the RP Discord server, and submit your Mapplication™ in the Mapplication™ thread.
We very strongly encourage you to join RP Discord server before you submit your Mapplication™. Ideally, we want everyone to have the opportunity to get to know the different regions of Esferos (geographically and culturally) and see who is active there so you can decide which area is the right fit for you, as opposed to throwing a dart at the map.
Full-size version: Current map version 1.17, updated 3 March 2024
Esferos Topographic Map | Biome Map | Tectonic Map | Wind & Sea Map
Where can I roleplay?
TWP's two roleplay locations are the regional forums and the TWP Roleplay discord. However, these two places have different uses.
TWP's forums are the official home of TWP's roleplaying—there are four roleplay subforums available for use:
Atlas of the Occident - Map and Factbook - Home of the regional map and forum-based factbooks of the nations that reside in it.
The Repository - Local & World News - The place to post newswires about the goings on in and around your nation.
Roleplay - How the West Was Won - The general RP subforum. If you have an IC roleplay thread to post, it belongs here.
OOC Support - Information & Dispute Arbitration - The place where OOC threads belong and where disputes can be resolved.
And of course the RP Archive, which is, as you guessed, where really old clutter goes.
The TWP Roleplay Discord server is the home of OOC discussion and worldbuilding. Its activities include nation building, arts and crafts, regional planning, and all sorts of other things, but it is not the place for in-character (IC) talk. It is also not a gameplay or foreign affairs Discord, nor a substitute for the general chat and spam functions of main TWP server.
You can find an overview of the server's rules, roles, and channels and links to helpful resources in the #welcome-info channel.
Official Resources
Big Book of Numbers - This contains the core statistics and basic information for all nations on the map, including capitals, land area, population, languages, and much more.
Guidance on Session Zero - This guidance forms the basis of our shared world. No one is allowed to go against the guidelines set in the Guidance.
Unofficial Resources
Language Table - This spreadsheet contains the names of all Esferosi nations in the different languages of Esferos. Maintained by Giovanniland, based on the spreadsheet begun by Kurabis.
Legal System Questionnaire / Comparison - Prompts to explore the way your nation's society is constructed through its legal system
Nation Building Exercise - A useful exercise for exploring balance in nationbuilding.
A brief "Session Zero" for TWP Roleplay
The term "Session Zero" comes from tabletop roleplaying games, in which before a campaign starts, the game master sits down with the players to introduce the setting, set boundaries, and clarify expectations for the coming games. For our uses, it refers to the most basic rules and customs you need to know before starting to build your nation on Esferos.
When in doubt or in need of help/guidance, ask the Lorekeepers. They are all experienced in subjects related to wordbuilding such as history, military studies, archaeology, anthropology, and political and international studies. They also guide the balance, quality, and realism of our shared world, and may take action to enforce it.
Balance
An overriding goal of TWP Roleplay is balance—this means everything good comes with drawbacks. No nation can be good at everything, just as no nation can be bad at everything.
You cannot “win” the RP spreadsheet
Your goal should not be to have the highest number on a sheet. Having a high population, a high GDP per capita, or high military spending each have their own drawbacks. It is a balance.
Realism
Technological realism:
Existing technologies with widespread implementation, such as cell phones or helicopters, are fair play.
Advanced technologies with limited or experimental implementation, such as fully autonomous vehicle fleets or advanced laser weapons systems, are guided by balance: if a real-life analogue nation has access to a technology, then you may attempt to justify that access by defining the balance.
Historical realism:
Real-life religions and languages do not exist on Esferos. Similarly, you cannot use RL religious symbols in your IC religion. You may reference them as inspiration or ‘flavour’ out-of-character. Using similar inspirations to other nations does not mean your nation must be related to them.
Your nation didn't always exist in its current form. People probably lived there for thousands of years, but much of it was in a very different form to modern life. It's unlikely that the exact same political entity that exists today existed hundreds of years ago.
Ancient developments should follow a timescale with reference or similarity to the real world. If you are interested in exploring the ancient history of your region of Esferos, you should look into real-world societal developments for similar regions and timespans on Earth.
Modern developments should also reference the real world. For example, the ‘Industrial Revolution' was a process which unfolded at different scales and speeds around the world from 1760 to today.
International relations don't have to be cordial, and your nation can have been friendly and have histories with countries it isn't friendly with today.
Miscellaneous realism:
Just as RL religions and languages don’t exist here, RL places don’t exist either. Do not name your nation, cities, and other things after prominent RL places like “Shanghai”. Exceptions are common given names like “Georgetown”. If you need help coming up with names, ask in the Discord or check out a random name generator.
There is no magic. That doesn’t mean people can’t believe something is miraculous or magical, but you cannot state as an OOC fact that it is.
You should make distinctions between historical, semi-legendary, and legendary events and figures.
Just because something is not an OOC fact does not mean that it cannot be believed to be fact IC.
The laws of physics are the same as we understand them in the real world. They cannot be manipulated or exploited in any extraordinary way.
Humans are the only available species to roleplay as.
The current year is not the beginning of your nation’s story
We recommend avoiding the propensity to make big events happen in the current year; you should roleplay past events or allow them to be a historical fact.
Just because you weren’t playing your nation before does not mean it didn’t exist or have relationships. Talk to your neighbours and define your historical relationships with them, it’s all part of the fun!
War is difficult, messy, and detailed
There is no total victory. You should find some drawback or disadvantage to your activity—there’s no fun in always winning all the time.
Just because you have a large army and say military spending is 50% of your GDP doesn’t mean you win. Be tactful and realistic; look to real life examples and ask the Lorekeepers for help if you need it.
Yes, North Korea is a “real life example” but their level of expenditure is an extreme outlier and comes at great cost.
Border changes will not happen without Loremaster approval. This would be dependent on quality and content of roleplay.
Remember that matters of war and military are subject to oversight by the Lorekeepers for balance and realism purposes.
You are not a “recently discovered tribe”, and avoiding other common tropes
There are no “undiscovered” nations on Esferos, just as there are none on Earth.
If your nation is “opening up diplomatic and foreign relationships after a long period of isolationism” you are not going to be up to the modern standard of life or technology.
Continents are not “Teams”
The Continental Congresses don't have meaning beyond out-of-character (OOC) planning. There is no IC organization called a "Continental Congress".
In the Continental Congress channels, we come together to plan histories, geography, and other things that affect our neighbors, but the goal isn't one continent-spanning intergovernmental organization. Avoid treating continents as teams.
A few community rules
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Worldbuilding and RP can be daunting, but you’re not alone—we’re a community.
Roleplay is multilateral, which means every party has to agree—you only participate in ways you agree to. If any issues arise, please let one of the moderators know.
Along with this is zero tolerance for hate imagery or masked clones or iterations of nations like Nazi Germany.
This section is adapted from the TWP RP20 Guidance and Rebalancing, which includes a slightly more in-depth version of the Session Zero.
Esferos lore introduction
Our planet is called Esferos, a medium-sized terrestrial world orbiting a gas giant around a binary star, and is the only astronomical object known to support life. Its surface covered mostly by oceans, with a handful of major continents and numerous smaller island chains.
The five continents of Esferos are Andolia, Aura, Doll Guldur, Nur, and Polaris.
Andolia is located in the southern hemisphere — a land of broad grasslands and forests in the east, mountainous shores in the west, and deserts and rainforests in between. Andolia also has the most active volcanos of any continent.
Aura is regarded by some as the historical center of Esferos — much of the southern part of the continent is tropical, covered in lush rainforests and fertile plains, while the north is much more arid and contains the world's largest desert.
Doll Guldur is a rugged land in the northeast of the region — its terrain is made up of great plains and wide forests, with shattered mountain chains along the eastern coasts. Doll Guldur also contains the world's largest endorheic basin.
Nur is located far to the east the other continents — its surface is covered by plains and rainforests in the north to mountains, temperate forests, and steppe in the south. Nur is the largest and least densely populated continent of Esferos.
Polaris is located in the far north — it is a land of great forests and greater mountains in the west, grasslands and hills in the east, and desert in the center and south. It is also home to the largest freshwater lake in the world.
Most of Esferos uses the Markian calendar system, which counts time from the founding of the Holy Principality of Saint Mark. One properly counts time using the BF and AF suffixes, short for "Before Founding" and "After Founding". The current year is 1423 AF. You can easily translate between the Markian and Gregorian calendar by taking the year in the Gregorian calendar and subtracting 600. For instance, 1900 CE in our time is the same as 1300 AF in roleplay time (1900-600=1300).
The international language of Esferos is called 'Common'—it originated as a trade pidgin among sailors in the Darkesian Sea and spread from there. Out of character, most players use English to approximate it, but it is not related to English in-character.
Esferos is a multipolar world—no single power international power has the strength to dominate the others.
Also you seem to be moving around regions asking the same question. Any particular reason why?
who owns two WA nations, I don't.
No one owns two WA nations(at the same time) as it is expressly against game rules.
If you are found to be cheating, your nation and all puppets will be removed from this region.
We do not tolerate cheats.
Bhang Bhang Duc, Dilber, Numpties, Giovanniland, and 2 othersLoller corleone, and Willow Gate
well good.
Post self-deleted by Forest bois.
As we wrap up #TWPride, here's something a bit like our Queer History feature. This one is a very brief piece on the philosopher and queer theorist Judith Butler.
What Is Queer Theory?
The whole history of philosophy can be read as attempts to respond to the questions, “What kind of embodied creature am I? What constitutes the human? What do I know, how do I know it, and what am I doing when I am knowing?” Broadly speaking, philosophical reflection has shifted from assuming a “universal,” normative, given account of human existence to recognizing difference. Why? Because on a number of levels, scholars in these fields recognize that the categories are violent. They are constructed and imposed on other people. Though this is outside the realm of gender, the following example can help. The "new world" (the Americas) was inhabited by a variety of cultures and empires, including The Aztec, the Maya, the Inca, and the Iroquois Confederacy to name a few. Each had a rich, distinctive culture, history of knowledge, and wonder (think of the Pyramids). Were they "primitive" peoples? According to the European colonists and explorers, yes—but it is surely an unfair (and deeply unjust) judgment in retrospect. How and what we know and assume should be "deconstructed" because language and knowledge are too complex and even unstable, and moreover can be used as a means of exclusion and violence. After such realities, critical thinkers try to deconstruct anything that we think is "given" by asking: how did that come to be historically, and was it always the case that it was "given"?
With this in mind, we can turn to gender theory. Gender theory in general, and queer theory specifically, expands the understanding of human by challenging what counts as sexually normative and why. It can be at the level of sexual orientation and preference (hence “heteronormativity”), but it can also be at the level of gender as expression. This is where Butler’s work is particularly important. There is a similar logic here as in the example above: the way we have been formed to understand sexuality and gender can be, and is for many, oppressive. Not everyone is heterosexual, and historically and ethically it is not possible to assert that heterosexuality is normative. Rather, philosophers and historians who were formative for Queer Theory and who operate within Queer Theory theory show that the rigid categories of Western sexuality are only recent things.
Queer theory's most important insight is that sexual identity is fluid and dynamic. People cross dress. Some may be born with intersex bodies. Their understanding of desire and attraction can shift over time. Queer theory aims to deconstruct social norms and structures of categorization (taxonomy) at the level of history and contemporary practice. It is especially attentive to how and where categories and norms are oppressive and reflect privilege. In this way, it is related and flows out of feminist theory which challenges the (white and) male-centered way of knowing.
Butler’s Contributions
One of the original goals of Judith Butler's work Gender Trouble was to engage and challenge feminist theory for not being wide enough in its understanding of the feminine because it could be unwittingly exclusionary and even homophobic. Her caution: feminism "ought to be careful not to idealize certain expressions of gender that... produce new forms of hierarchy and exclusion." Instead, the goal is "open up the field of possibility for gender without dictating which kinds of possibilities ought to be realized."
With this in mind, Butler's enduring contributions are to argue that gender is not given but performed, and that the "performativity" of gender can be a strategy to resist imposing gender or sexual norms as natural. The basic point about gender performance is that gender is something that we do (perform) by repetition rather than who we are naturally or by some prior given. This is important because we live in an age where advancing the rights of marginalized and oppressed people is vital, and people who are different in terms of sexual orientation or gender identity are often subjected to deep violence because of their difference. Attention to gender identity as something that is performed allows one to see and recognize the great uniqueness and diversity of people's identities.
One of the major examples that Butler provides for gender performance is Drag. In general, drag parodies the idea that there is an "original" or "primary" gender identity. At face value, drag plays on two dimensions: the anatomy of the performer and the gender that is performed. But for Butler there are actually three dimensions: anatomical sex, gender identity, and gender performance. From here, Butler argues that drag shows how gender is about imitation and contingency. With this example she means "to establish that 'reality' is not as fixed as we generally assume it to be."
This also lays the groundwork for the key theory of gender as performed. Gender, for Butler, is an identity made in time through a "stylized repetition of acts." Thankfully, I don’t need to do the heavy lifting to explain the elaborate and dense work of Judith Butler. This infographic Judith Butler Explained With Cats explains Gender Trouble using Socratic method and images of cats.
Of course, people may have different philosophical and religious commitments. But there are deep ethical insights that one cannot ignore in Butler's work and in queer theory in general. They make space for welcoming people in their diversity, and they raise important questions about what counts as normative, according to whom, and why. Finally, they make space for allowing people to discover and be themselves by performing their identity.
So remember these basic points about Butler's work.
Gender is performed rather than a fixed reality
Because gender is a construct, Butler opens a way for the rights of those who are marginalized because their gender or sexual identity are not considered normative
Gender and sexuality are irreducibly complex; denying this can be tremendously violent for those who do not fit neatly into binaries and "given" categories
Resources
Judith Butler Explained With Cats
BigThink short video: Judith Butler on Gender
Bhang Bhang Duc, Dilber, Gryphonian Alliance, Overthinkers, and 8 othersBran Astor, Teralyon, Giovanniland, Ostellan, Starship voyager, Letvortsky, Aslyop, and Raverinsus
What Does the Title of the Armed Republic Mean?
Post self-deleted by Vist vak mantastown islands.
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends - Friday Karaoke.
The Moody Blues - I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N_J-hmyAS6c
I'm just a wandering on the face of this earth
Meeting so many people
Who are trying to be free
And while I'm traveling I hear so many words
Language barriers broken
Now we've found the key
And if you want the wind of change
To blow about you
And you're the only other person to know, don't tell me
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
A thousand pictures can be drawn from one word
Only who is the artist
We got to agree
A thousand miles can lead so many ways
Just to know who is driving
What a help it would be
So if you want this world of yours
To turn about you
And you can see exactly what to do
Please tell me
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
How can we understand
Riots by the people for the people
Who are only destroying themselves
And when you see a frightened
Person who is frightened by the
People who are scorching this earth.
I'm just a wandering on the face of this earth
Meeting so many people
Who are trying to be free
And while I'm traveling I hear so many words
Language barriers broken
Now we've found the key
And if you want the wind of change
To blow about you
And you're the only other person to know, don't tell me
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
How can we understand
Riots by the people for the people
Who are only destroying themselves
And when you see a frightened
Person who is frightened by the
People who are scorching this earth.
Music is the traveller crossing our world
Meeting so many people bridging the seas
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
We're just the singers in a rock and roll band.
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band...
Yy4u, Wickedly evil people, Kingsteck, Big Bad Badger, and 5 othersNumpties, Teralyon, Av Libertas Vindex, Letvortsky, and Locksley Hall
I'll find another song tomorrow possibly, but the wordless song that I didn't share last week was Beethoven's 9th.
The Holy Principality of Saint Mark and Fuentana
But tomorrow is not Friday. You see the operative word in Friday Karaoke is Friday. And really no one’s too concerned about songs you didn’t share last week.
So take part or not, just don’t waste our time.
Edit: Beethoven’s 9th is wordless? Wonder why it’s known as the Choral Symphony and contains Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” then?
Yy4u, Numpties, Bran Astor, and Letvortsky
Post self-deleted by The unified missourtama states.
America, Simon and Garfunkel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo2ZsAOlvEM
Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies
And we walked off to look for America
Kathy, I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America
Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat
We smoked the last one an hour ago
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field
Kathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America
Yy4u, Bhang Bhang Duc, Kingsteck, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, and 3 othersNumpties, Av Libertas Vindex, and Tringapore
Whatever you want it to mean.
Bhang Bhang Duc and Dunaffer
Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin
https://youtu.be/lsZG7n7ries
In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man
And now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home with a brown eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
Sixteen, I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be
It only took a couple of days 'til she was rid of me
She swore that she would be all mine and love me till the end
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oh
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home for a brown eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
[Guitar Solo]
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home for a brown eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
I know what it means to be alone
I sure do wish I was at home
I don't care what the neighbours say
I'm gonna love you each and every day
You can feel the beat within my heart
Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part
Bhang Bhang Duc, Wickedly evil people, Kingsteck, Numpties, and 3 othersTeralyon, Av Libertas Vindex, and Tringapore
«12. . .9,9059,9069,9079,9089,9099,9109,911. . .12,15912,160»
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