Accepted Issues

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 514
  Contract Killer
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I was 'forced' to read 《The Merchant Of Venice》during Literature Class. In a fit of severe tedium, I decided to write a draft about it. I didn't actually expect this heaping pile of garbage to be accepted, but it was a pleasant surprise, I suppose.

• Editor:Nation of Quebec
  Issue 659
  Ramping Up The Difficulty
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I was reading 《The Straits Times》one day when I took notice of an article on difficulties faced by the disabled. In a brief burst of inspiration I wrote my draft. I then left it to ferment for ages in my draft list (I didn't bother to edit it properly).

  Later on, I simply submitted ten of my drafts (including this one) at once, deciding that I didn't care what
  people thought and that at least one would get accepted. I was amazingly right.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 685
  Externalities Palmed Off
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Indonesia took out a six-pack and began smoking. I felt my lifespan drop by several months each time I left the house.

  Pissed off and angry, I essentially ranted about Indonesia's efforts to promote lung cancer on the forums. A bit later I actually reformed it into a proper draft.

  My Indonesia expy was excluded, but at least the napalm and domed cities options were accepted. For shame.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 769
  How To Print Money?
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  The beautiful work of art titled as 《All Star ⭐Smash Mouth》was the basis for my draft. I cried every time the song was played. I was moved to tears by the music video, and realised that the music industry should be summarily banned as nobody would be able to produce anything as magnificent ever again.

  Enraptured by the layers of onions meaning hidden in the lyrics, I set out to incorporate the song into an issue revolving around counterfeiting. Why counterfeiting? To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand this. Both of them are poor quality products with no originality require a lot of effort to create, reflecting their respective complexities.

  Most of the lyrics were edited out. I was a bit miffed.

• Editor:Pogaria
  Issue 775
  Affirmative Election?
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  There was a huge uproar among Singapore citizens, involving a presidential election that nobody usually cared about. This time round, even completely apathetic Singaporeans expressed concern.

  With the controversy sloshing around, I rationalised that I could get a lot of mileage by posting tired memes about the situation. I also wrote a draft. They were of similar quality.

  It got accepted, so that was cool.

  I also introduced two nations, Macronesia and Moltovea, as well as a religion, Conspiritivism, with this issue.

• Editor:Ransium
  Issue 788
  Duel Purposes
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  While browsing through 《MLP:FIM》fan videos (mature, I know), I watched some animatics with a soundtrack from the musical of the hit novel, 《The Count Of Monte Cristo》as their theme.

  Now interested, I then viewed the anime, 《Gankutsuou》, based on the story (even more mature, I know), and reasoned that this meant that I completely understood the entire plot of the book.

  With my newfound arrogance, I wrote a draft on dueling. It then got accepted.

  It also functions as a reversal, so I suppose it wasn't completely functionally useless.

• Editor:Nation of Quebec
  Issue 850
  The Prints And The Slaughter
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I was showering one day when a funny thought entered my head.

  "Lol what if people could print out working guns? And what if they killed one another with them?"

  Remarked upon by Editor Nation of Quebec as "not being one of my strongest work", it was actually representative of my usual writing standards, which is why most of my drafts are not often accepted.

  It still got the greenlight, but that doesn't mean that it's good.

• Editor:Helaw
  Issue 860
  A Blast From The Past
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I read up on the rest of southeast Asia. It was fairly interesting, and one issue faced by our fellow neighbouring countries particularly intrigued me.

  Apparently, USA's interventions during the cold war resulted in minefields forming in rural areas. It really sucks and many innocent people continue to die from them to this day. Whatever reparations given are still insufficient to solve the problem.

  So I wrote about it. Yeah.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 870
  @@DENONYMPLURAL@@ Literally Exploding With Excitement
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Editor Candlewhisper Archive wrote in The Writers' Block that there were some policies that needed reversing.

  So I threw my fedora hat into the ring.

  It was honestly a bit boring. Then again, that was probably my fault.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 883
  Who Let The Dinos Out?
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Yet another policy reversal was down for the count.

  I was waiting (rather long) for my classmate to arrive in the movie theatre, so in the meanwhile, I drew up a draft.

  Half an hour and several phone calls to ask why he wasn't at the cinema yet later, I finished it.

  The 《Don Quixote》 reference was added afterwards. That was due to walking past Donki, the Japanese supermarket.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 889
  A Plank Too Far
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I found the original pirate issue to be a very iconic part of nationstates. Thus, it was to be expected that I would I jump at the opportunity to make my mark by writing up a draft, which was meant to 'check' for the pirate policy.

  Since I introduced the nations Macronesia and Moltovea into the game way back in Issue 775, I decided that it was high time that they were canonised properly as genuine countries.

  I'm probably going to turn it into a reoccuring joke where both are always mentioned together.

  I actually had quite a lot of fun searching up pirate terminology and slang online. I hope to do something thematically similar in the near future.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 907
  A Problem Shared
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  If you walked down the streets of Singapore, you would notice the many open-air interpretive art exhibits lining the pathway.

  An Obike dangling from a tree. A Mobike balanced precariously on a window ledge. A family of Ofos drifting serenely down a water canal. And several injured pedestrians lying in a pool of blood, with suspicious tyre tracks imprinted on their backs.

  This is the dilemma facing Singapore no2. Do we keep these shared bicycles avaliable, resulting in numerous casualties, millions in property damage and environmental degration? Or do we ban them, forcing reckless cyclists to just take a bus?

  And that is the issue that I present to you, dear Leader, and I hope that you will make the right decision.

• Editor: The free joy state
  Issue 908
  The Forbidden Fruit
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I thought about loopholes present in political donation laws and thought, hey, why not make a draft on that.

  This issue introduces my tribute to Australian rePublic, which is in the form of the NPC nation "Ausblic", which is what I write when I am too lazy to type out the full name. Known for writing mostly climate-related drafts, Ausblic's accepted issues ironically tend to address transportation.

  Anyway, I liked the Shrek memes jammed into the issue, which made me somewhat nauseous and yet thrilled at the same time, which is what you feel when you watch any Shrek movie.

  Last of all, this issue would remove a ban on political donations, if that was an actual policy. But it isn't. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 925
  Ring Of Death
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Essentially, a local newspaper article about two reckless Youtubers caught my interest, inspiring me to write the draft.

  I started to wonder if manslaughter due to professional sports should be punished, and hey presto, here we are.

  Okay that's all.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 945
  Police On The Take
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  We needed a reversal for only the police having cars.

  That's it.

  Also, fun fact, the first option used to be much more explicit than it's current form. Can you guess how?

• Editor:Nation of Quebec
  Issue 950
  Borderline Pandemic
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Papers, Please was a wonderful game, perfectly simulating the harsh realities of living in an ex-soviet totalitarian nation, where you do gripping and riveting work such as:

  •Stamping documents
  •Searching for contraband
  •Paying rent
  •Checking the daily newspaper
  •Cooperating with EZIC terrorists to overthrow the legitimate government

  As you can see, not very exciting stuff.
  However, despite this, "Papers, Please" is arguably a masterpiece.

  I decided to base my issue on one of the events that would appear on a specific day, where the United Federation suffers from a Polio outbreak (*cough* anti-vaxxers *cough*). So I modified it to be a bit more relevant in scope (an unknown illness instead of Polio).

  Sad to say, the United Federation was not used here.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 956
  The Bottom Of The Gun Barrel
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I wanted to make an issue about the inherent ridiculousness of certain nations. Apparently, a country could function with an overbloated military, without any agricultural input to sustain it.

  As such, I made this to address the manpower crunch that would inevitably result from a consription law that incorporates practically the entire working adult population into the army's ranks.

  It's dry, it's logical, and it's actually what I feel the game needs at times.

• Editor:Baggieland
  Issue 957
  Putrid Predicament
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  After passing by a "No Durians" sign on the MRT for the umpteenth time, I finally felt like I had to share Singapore's somewhat mediocre problems with the rest of nationstates.

  You see, the durian is essentially our national fruit, with people from all walks of life munching on the delicious delicacy. Despite this seemingly innocent premise, the stench and overpowering odour of this spiky dish is enough to drive me nuts.

  Realising that the joys (or lack thereof) of the durian had to be made known to the wider world, I embarked on a journey to diss my own country's favourite food.

  I wanted to reference Macronesia in the issue, but it didn't make it to publication.

• Editor:Pogaria
  Issue 961
  No Two Ways About It
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Another policy reversal issue, this time for native elections.

  If you had a politician weilding dual citizenship, wouldn't you question where their allegiences lie? After all, they could, in the face of a national crisis, jump ship and leave the country to become fish food.

  As such, this issue addresses the real life problem with the utmost tact:
  Option 1: Law-abiding method that's a bit heavy-handed
  Option 2: Angry xenophobic conspiracy theorist spouts garbage
  Option 3: Cheap politician wants free maple syrup
  Option 4: The classic "natural causes" "unfortunate suicide" "accidental death" method

  Thus you can see how mature I am through the writing in this issue.

• Editor:The Marsupial Illuminati
  Issue 965
  Like A Bull In A Dàguó Shop
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Finally, I've managed to get the ultimate meme into the game.

  Remember how Dàguó is made out to be communist? Now, this issue confirms that Dàguó is also an Absolute Monarchy!

  As we have the "High Eunuch of the Dàguó Imperial Court" as the first speaker, and he mentions the "Celestial Emperor", it couldn't be more clear.

  Dàguó is a Social Monarchy, which is also an Empire. The correct full name would likely be The People's Empire of Dàguó.

  Having created this hillarious situation I hope that future authors can use this unique turn of events to churn out more fascinating issues.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 998
  Without Fear Or Favour
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  This issue addresses McCarthyism.

  Now, as we can see from historical data, State inquisitions of certain political views and allegiences tend to turn against their masters sooner or later.

  So what are you going to do? In the case of the USA, they ultimately dismantled it, as it was seen as a breach of political freedoms (and some civil liberties). Will you follow their example?

  Besides that, there are several references to historical people in the issue.

  Mattie Hopkins is a reference to Matthew Hopkins, a real life witch-hunter, playing on the theme of the Committee organising metaphorical witchhunts.

  Maggie Cheysmith is an allusion to Margaret Chase Smith, who is renowned for her Declaration of Conscience.

  Lee Slater-Übermensch is a play on his original name, Lee Slater Overman, who was responsible for McCarthyism's precursor.

  There are more references hidden within the options, but I'll let you figure them out yourself.

• Editor:Wyethalania
  Issue 999
  Just Plane Ridiculous
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I was originally inspired by this lighthearted meme, "Earth-Chan", whose entire source of comedy revolved around her saying, "I'm not flat!" Classy, I know.

  So I set about making an issue to satirise and 'roast' all of the flat-earthers for their absurd beliefs. As time went on, my draft became increasingly nuanced and less flanderised. Then, the editor helped me remove the "rational bias" in the issue by reducing the extent of my lampooning of the flat earth movement. So it's delightful.

  I hope I can convert more memes into issues. Maybe I'll make one about "draining the swamp". =P

• Editor:Nation of Quebec
  Issue 1011
  State Of The Media
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Official media sources are falling popularity in Singapore IRL, especially among the young and educated. Apparently, news articles in Singapore are "boring", "bland" and "biased". These three B's would eventually lead to most firms going "bankrupt", but it's fine since they are state-funded.

  Talking about that, I suddenly realise that another option could be added to the issue. Prehaps, going by how monotonous and dull headlines are, state media could be made more trashy by adding sensationalist headlines. That would certainly attract more eyeballs.

  On second thought, it probably didn't make the cut in my head, back when I was making the draft. There's probably a good reason why I omitted such an option.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 1012
  Tilting At Wind Turbines
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  I wanted to reference Don Quixote. That's why I wrote this draft.

  Anyway, it does present a potent question:
  Should you allow the mentally ill to continue in their jobs? Many nations have different answers, so no option is completely correct or wrong.

  Did you notice that every single speaker in this issue is unsound in one way or another?

  Really makes you think, doesn't it? 🤔

• Editor:Pogaria
  Issue 1019
  Patent Nonsense
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  This whole issue is actually a homage to Steins;Gate.

  Steins;Gate Spoilers

  The anime has the main character, Okabe Rintarou, a self-proclaimed mad scientist, actually manage to invent a real time machine using only a phone and a microwave. It can send text messages into the past.

  The anime references "John Titor", an internet meme, where the aforementioned "John Titor" appeared on the Time Travel Institute forums, claiming to have come from the future, and even provides a vague and confusing blueprint of the alleged time machine he used to get here. He would often be mocked by members of the forum for his insane predictions, thus resulting in his "long rants online".
  More on John Titor found here.

  In Steins;Gate, the villain is none other than CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, who uses miniature black holes produced in the LHC to construct their very own time machine. They use it to take over the world.
  Hence, I sarcastically made "John Titor", one of the heroes of the anime, into the one in charge of the CERN knockoff.

  Christina is Okabe's nickname for Makise Kurisu, a member in his laboratory, who improves on his time machine and allows him to send memories into the past.

• Editor:Candlewhisper Archive
  Issue 1024
  Terms And Conditions Apply?
  Draft
  Official
  Commentary:
  Basically Julius Caeser: The Modern Version.

  That's essentially my whole reason for writing this issue.

  
  Interesting Statistics
  Editors By Issues Edited

  • Candlewhisper Archive:13

  • Nation of Quebec:4

  • Pogaria:3

  • Ransium:1

  • Helaw:1

  • The free joy state:1

  • Baggieland:1

  • The Marsupial Illuminati:1

  • Wyethalania:1