After Liberation.

I've thanked a lot of people individually so far, by telegram or IRC or on RMBs as they returned home. I wish I could thank you all personally, but I don't even know half the people who came here, or who passed through IRC or who discussed getting involved with their own region, and some never got as far as endorsing me. Lots of people. I would love to be able to track everyone down and say just how much this means to me, but I simply can't.

DEN would have us believe this was never meant to be an occupation, that they only came here for a tag raid and an embassy. Maybe that genuinely is the case, but enough of their members said otherwise that I had good reason to be afraid for my region and the five years of history I've built up because of it. It may have been a while since I was active as a Paradoxian, but without Paradoxia I would never have become a NationStates roleplayer, and I would never have met the fantastic communities that exist here.

When I woke up on the first morning of the occupation, I saw two telegrams in my inbox. One told me I was no longer Delegate, the other was an offer of help from defender and fellow Mentor United Gordonopia. I'm never one to go down without a fight and so I accepted, but after two, three updates of attempted liberations I was increasingly worried. Would Paradoxia fall? Would the raiders get enough influence to start evicting the natives one by one, or to password the region so that no one could get in to stop them? So many thoughts went through my mind the first two days. "I could always move to Mare" was one of the first, but when I saw just how many defenders had come together to help my region in its time of need I gave that up. If they weren't going to abandon Paradoxia, I, as one of its oldest members, was absolutely standing with them.

It was a noble effort, and with every update they brought in more people, but the occupying force had more manpower. When United Gordonopia sent a telegram around to his home region, I realised I knew who I could rely on. My home region has been a small one for a long time, but I'm proud to have good friends in several other regions, and prouder again to be able to serve the whole roleplaying community as a Mentor. A lot of people - over 200 - in five regions got a sincere and heartfelt telegram from me, asking for their help in my time of need. I didn't think anyone owed me anything, or that anyone had a duty to back me up. I just knew that roleplayers had stood together against Liberate Haven and heroically blocked it, and I believed I could count on them again. I have never been more right.

So many of you sent back telegrams wishing me and Paradoxia the very best of luck, hoping we would succeed. Many more of you offered to move in, even if you didn't have a WA nation. Many visited us on IRC, or sent their regrets that they couldn't make update. Many went to their RMBs to talk it over with their regions. To each and every one of you who replied, and everyone who read my telegram and nodded and thought "good luck", you have my deep and abiding gratitude. Genuinely. I want you all to know how heartwarming it is to see such an outpouring of support, and that I am so incredibly proud to be a part of this community.

You people, you NationStates roleplayers, with your utopias and your dictatorships, your monuments to both capitalism and communism, your incredibly opinionated politics and ideologies and your universal love of writing - you are what makes this website what it is, and I love every single one of you.

Thank you.

~ Maltropia