by Max Barry

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Region: Virtual Roman Catholic Church

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas tree has been decorated with links to all the nations on our nice list, we've opened all the doors on our advent calendar, we've cooked up a storm with our "Feast for All Nations" recipe book, and we've had carols sung on our RMB. We're all set now for a fantastic Christmas day.

But what should our Christmas movie be? I was thinking Charlie Brown (https://youtu.be/8DKh0bQsE60), but we could probably do with a change. Post a clip of your favourite on our RMB or forum thread. Remember, keep it PG13, and within site rules!

And here's our Christmas picks from around NS:

Here's a link to the Mzeusian Library which has every dispatch.

Here's a link to The Dispatch Writing Guide to help you write a good dispatch.

Before you start, you should know that I will give you as much freedom as I can without making this massive. Good luck and telegram me if you have anything to say afterwards. Also, you will get the chance to go for a wander. On your wanderings, you will encounter certain possibly helpful people, so don’t completely write off the benefits of a leisurely walk.

Page one

You are a grumpy old man. After seventy years of enduring the trials that Christmas brings to your door, you have decided to take a stand against the big red man and his annoying laugh. Unfortunately, in your old age, remembering the date is difficult and it is already Christmas eve. You only have a few hours to prepare your home for the arrival of Santa. You warm yourself by the fire, trying to think of how best to fortify your home.

If you go to the pest control shop go to page two but if you go for a walk in the woods, go to page three.

Page two

Grabbing your wallet, you make your way over to the pest control shop and begin to browse. The man behind the till comes over. “What kind of pest are you looking to kill?” he asks. You ignore him and continue looking. After a minute or so, he goes back behind the counter.

Having selected a few items, you walk over there. You are on a budget, so you couldn’t buy the entire store, but what you have should be enough. The man looks at what you have.” Ten mouse traps, some poisonous rat pellets and some rat killing spray.” He nods, “You must have quite the rat problem.”

When you get home, you lay out some mince pies and cut small holes in them. In go the pellets. Then, you place a can of deodorant out for Santa, emptying the sloshing rat-poison into the bottle. Around the fireplace, you arrange your mousetraps.

When you are done, you decide where you shall go next. If you visit the lock-smith, go to page four but if you rummage in your attic, go to page five.

Page three

Putting on your boots and your coat, you stride into the woods, hoping that something might catch your eye. As you walk, you grab a sharp rock and cut some thorny plants with it, true primitivist style.

When you have gathered enough brambles, thistle and other similar plants, you head home. Into the fireplace, you stuff the plants and place the grill in front, taping it to the mouth of the fireplace. If you go for a wander in town, go to page six, but if you go to your neighbour’s go to page seven.

Page four

The locksmith likes you. You don’t know what to think about that, but you order the biggest, strongest padlock you can get. You tell her how much money you want to spend, and she disappears into the back of the shop, returning a few minutes later with a large padlock. This is just what you wanted and is sure to keep Santa away.
As you receive the key, you return home, placing the padlock on the door, securing your abode. Go to page eight to go to the bricklayers, or go to page eleven to look in the shed.

Page five

You shiver as you step inside the attic. You haven’t been in here in years, and it has terrible insulation. As you search for anything useful, you notice a few sticks, sharpened at both ends. They were part of some school project that you can’t remember now. They will do the job. You take a chunk of wood, cut it into a piece that perfectly covers the base of the fireplace. Into the wood you drive the sharpened sticks. You step back and admire your work.

Santa won’t be coming down the fireplace tonight, not with those sharp sticks pointing right at him. Go to page nine to go to take a walk in the town or page ten to go into the garden.

Page six

The day is cold and you battle against it. Soon you come across a small boy who is sitting on the ground crying. You think to keep on walking but then the boy shouts to you. Walking over, he explains that his pet hedgehog Ronald had attacked him when he had tried to pick it up.

You get an idea, asking how much he wants for it. He says you can take it for free, so you do. You return home with the squirming hedgehog. You place it into an empty biscuit tin, coating Ronald with sugar, putting the tin on the table for Santa. If you’re lucky, Santa will get a prickly surprise when he reaches for a snack.

If you look in the basement, go to page twelve but if you go to the decorations shop, go to page fifteen.

Page seven

You’ve never had a good relationship with your neighbour, but when great enemies present themselves, the most unlikely of alliances can form. Your neighbour shares your hatred of Santa and when you show up on her doorstep asking for help, she gladly gives it.

She suggests boarding up your door, and for some reason the thought makes you chuckle in malicious delight. You agree to it, and carry over some planks of wood, a hammer and a few nails. With gleeful giggles, you nail the planks across your door, resolving to find another way into your house when you need to get in. A window would do, but Santa can’t fit through the window, so you don’t need to worry about him using them to gain access.

You think about what to do next in order to fortify your home. If you clear out your fridge, go to page thirteen, but if you write a ranting note, go to page fourteen.

Page eight

At the Bricklayers, you take a look around, conversing for a while with three men. You tell them the measurements of your fireplace and they squint at you. You’re pretty sure they think you are crazy, but that won’t matter. You just need them to brick up your fireplace, and then you will never have to think about them again. They come over to your house and spend a few hours working. It doesn’t look pretty, but it will do the job.

Go to page seventeen to wait out the night.

Page nine

As you trudge through the snow, you arrive at the pet shop. Immediately, a low menacing growl reaches your ears. As you turn to look, a ferocious dog barks at you, straining against its lead and muzzle. You grin at it, which only enrages it further.

The man behind the till looks as you as if you were crazy, but you pay him so he gives you the dogs. It is a struggle to get the thing home but after a half hour of sweating, shouting and asserting dominance, you arrive at your front door. Acting quickly, you place a stout stick in the ground and tie the dog’s lead to it before carefully removing the muzzle.

The dog snaps at you but you shuffle quickly out of the way. It is sure to deter any Santa from coming near your house. Go to page eighteen to wait out the night.

Page ten

Your garden is a sparse patch of land. What few attempts you have had at growing things, have always ended in failure. Your shovel is still embedded into an unplanted flowerbed since, two weeks ago when you thrust the blade into the dirt. You snatch the shovel from its earthen bed and take it over to your front door.

You get to work, digging a large man-sized pit in front of your door. It takes you a long time, but you work with determination. Then you cover the pit with tarpaulin, weighing it down with rocks. Moving a thin concealing layer of snow over the tarp, you nod. Another line of defence complete. Go to page nineteen to wait out the night.

Page eleven

The shed is a small thing, and there isn’t many things of use. Yu do find a rusty hammer and a pane of glass though. In desperation, you take the hammer and swing it at the glass. Pieces fly everywhere, and you scramble to pick them up. As you try to do so, you get cut on the hand, so donning thick gloves, you try again.

When you have collected all the shards you can find, you clear the fireplace of wood and sprinkle the glass onto the base of the fireplace. That should hopefully be enough to keep Santa away. You are doubtful, but even if he does get through, the poisoned mince pies should keep him at bay.

Go to page seventeen to wait out the night.

Page twelve

The basement is dark and the light has long since stopped working. Nevertheless, you know your way around. Back in your youth, you were in the army. Fighting the enemy was not a pleasant experience, but you have kept some of the equipment. The army wouldn’t be too happy about it if they knew, but they didn’t have a clue you took a few things, so everything was fine.

You select a few anti-tank mines, and place them outside, in front of your door. Going to each one in turn, you then arm them, moving swiftly and with ease, just like you did all those decades ago. If they didn’t stop Santa, nothing would. Go to page twenty-two to wait out the night.

Page thirteen

You don’t have that much food in your fridge to begin with, so getting rid of it isn’t that hard. You Can’t have Santa eating anything. Eating the tastier items as you work, you drain any liquid into the snow and dump the rest of the food onto the ground as well, stamping it until it is unrecognisable, before covering it over with snow.

Cackling manically, you go back inside. Go to page twenty-one to wait out the night.

Page fourteen

You put your plan into action, grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen. On the paper, you write the most spiteful, cruel note you can, insulting every aspect of Santa’s person. You have never written like this about another person before, and it is liberating. You hope that this will be enough to put him off any of the food in the fridge. You work frantically, writing several drafts and looking up longer and longer words. What you end up with it quite the rambling note, but as you read it back you feel slightly queasy. That should do the trick.

Go to page twenty-one to wait out the night.

Page fifteen

The decorations aren’t to your liking. Much too flashy and much too expensive. The evil that is capitalism encourages extortionate prices as people will feel a need to behave like everyone else and will therefore be willing to pay what is charged just to fit in with the group. You shake your head in disgust.

You walk out with a bundle of Christmas lights. They are meant to be wrapped around the tree or hung up in strategic places, but you will be using them as barbed wire to guard against Santa. There is no way he will be able to pick his way through this mess. Go to page twenty to wait out the night.

Page sixteen

Thank you for playing my adventure book. They take a while to make so it’s nice that people read them. Obviously Christmas is coming and whether you celebrate it in a religious way or not, have as happy a time as you can.
Thank you to Max Barry for creating NationStates, the ultimate present, and dear reader, have a cookie and a warm mug of Mzeusian tea.
Thank you once again for playing and Merry Christmas.

Page seventeen

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. As you go out to investigate whether or not a wintery attack on your padlock has occurred, you find yourself locked in. The padlock is on the outside and there is no way to open it.

You growl, rattling the door violently. It doesn’t move. After ten minutes of frantic thinking, you decide to attempt to go out through the window just next to the door. You smash it with a chair and place one leg gingerly out. Unfortunately, you have misjudged the distance from your window to the ground, and you lose your balance. You half fall, half scramble out of the window, horrified to see nasty lacerations across your body left by the broken glass.

You can’t do anything, just lying there and calling for help. Soon your eyes fail you and you black out in the cold. Go to page twenty-three.

Page eighteen

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. As you go outside, you blink away sleep to come face to face with something horrifying. The dog has managed to chew through his leash during the night. He is growling menacingly at you. You back away but he springs.

Suffice to say, the dog is much stronger and far more aggressive than you. He tears into you as you lie there. Eventually he feels that justice has been served and walks away, but the damage has already been done and you are in a critical state.

As the pain envelops you, you think you hear footsteps but can’t be sure. Your eyes close against the pain and the cold. Go to page twenty-four .

Page nineteen

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. As you step outside, you take a look around the beautiful morning. You take a deep breath, basking in your victory. When you step forward, there is a terrible sound of tarpaulin being dragged across snow. The next thing you know, you have fallen into your large pit.

Intense pain shoots up you and you’ve most likely broken something. At your age, things break easily. You cry out, unable to stifle the agony. In the midst of it all, you black out, slumping at the bottom of the pit.

Go to page twenty-five.

Page twenty

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. As you go out into the snow, you approach the tangle of Christmas lights and attack them with your hands. As you work, your feet slip and you go crashing down, swiftly becoming entangled in the mess of lights. Try as you might, there is no getting out.

As you grow even more annoyed with yourself, you find the wires sticking into you and the lights themselves jabbed at your skin. Go to page twenty-six.

Page twenty-one

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. Then you pause, realising something. The door is boarded up. Luckily for you, the door opens inwards so that is no trouble. You grab a hefty hammer from the kitchen and take a few swings at the boards. It is tiring work for a man of your age and swinging the heavy hammer used to much easier in your youth.

As you step outside, your hand brushes some of the splintered wood and a painful jolt goes up your hand. You jump, surprised, and lose your footing, crashing down onto the ground. As you lie there, you can sense something isn’t right. Perhaps the awkward angle at which you fell had broken something. Soon, in the bitter cold, your vision fails, and consciousness slips away from you. Go to page twenty-seven.

Page twenty-two

In the morning, it doesn’t take you long to realise that Santa has not been over. The fireplace defences are undisturbed, the food is untouched. As you go outside, you feel something move beneath your feet and you freeze, realising where you are. You have just walked into your minefield and these aren’t anti-personnel mines, they are anti-tank mines. Having nothing else to do, you run back inside, even though your training tells you that the mine you were standing on should have easily killed you. As you look outside, you realise that it didn’t go off. It must have malfunctioned for some reason, perhaps age.
As you take in your miraculous escape, you grow very faint, realising what could have happened. The feeling only gets worse and the world tilts around you as you lose your grip and balance, falling hard onto the kitchen floor. Go to page twenty-eight.

Page twenty-three

As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital bed and wrapped in bandages. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “You’ve got a few minutes cuts but had these two brave lads not found you, the cold could have done some serious damage. I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. That’s a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

Page twenty-four
As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital and wrapped in bandages. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “That dog really took a bite out of you and if these two brave lads hadn’t found you, you could have bled out. It was a miracle you survived and I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. A Christmas miracle is a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

Page twenty-five

As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital bed and wrapped in bandages. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “That pit broke you quite badly but give it a few months and you should recover. If these two brave lads hadn’t found you, you could be in an even worse shape. I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. A Christmas miracle is a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

Page twenty-six

As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital bed and wrapped in bandages. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “You’ve got some small scrapes and bruises but nothing bad. If these two brave lads hadn’t found you though, the cold might just have got to you. I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. A Christmas miracle is a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

Page twenty-seven

As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital bed and wrapped in bandages. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “A few broken bones but give it a while and you’ll be fine. If these two brave lads hadn’t found you, you could be an icicle by now. I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. A Christmas miracle is a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

Page twenty-eight

As you wake, you find yourself in a hospital bed. A nurse looks over you. “Morning Darling.” She says in a singsong voice. “You’ve had quite the shock. Your heart was going like a jackhammer apparently. If these two brave lads hadn’t found you, you could be in an even worse shape. I’ll leave you guys to bond.”
As you take in your room, the nurse leaves and two boys appear by your bed. “I’m Deerfenland” one says, “I’m Tommatito” the other one says. “Hey Grandpa, we saved you from the snow. A Christmas miracle is a pretty good Christmas present don’t you think?” They grin at you. You look at them and smile. “Thanks kids. I don’t think I would have made it past Christmas day. Maybe Christmas isn’t too bad once you have a few friends.

OOC: Thank you for playing the adventure book. Be sure to read the bit right at the bottom. Bye for now.

OOC: If any of you find any inconsistencies, please tell me. I hope you enjoyed that. Deerfenland and Tommatito, thanks for agreeing to be in this. It doesn’t matter which path you take, you two are always there in the end.

Pssst, you over there…you probably didn’t realise this because you couldn’t know where each different choice would lead while only being allowedto pick one choice, but if you go to page sixteen, there might be an extra little present for you all. Aren’t I such a generous guy.

Read dispatch




comic credit LinkExistential Comics

“Away in a Manger”
Away in a manger,
No crib for his bed,
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down his sweet head;
The stars in the heavens
Looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay.

— What these lyrics really mean: Bethlehem’s lack of affordable housing creates homeless children, including impoverished infants.

“All I Want for Christmas is You”
I don’t want a lot for Christmas
There’s just one thing I need.
I don’t care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree.

— What these lyrics really mean: The proletariat is starting to revolt and is rejecting boorish materialism.

“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know
A child, a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold.

— What these lyrics really mean: Capitalism demands that we turn over our wealth to the ruling class.

“Frosty the Snowman”
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose,
And two eyes made out of coal.

— What these lyrics really mean: Frosty desperately needs a single-payer health care system since he can’t afford a normal nose and eyes. Big tobacco has also turned him into a helpless drug addict (the crack pipe is unspecified).

“God Rest ‘Ye Merry Gentlemen”
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ, our savior,
Was born on Christmas day.

— What these lyrics really mean: There’s no mention of women “resting.” Only gentlemen get to loaf around the house. Women are required to do all the work around the holidays and even work overtime. Gender discrimination is rampant.

“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
Underneath the mistletoe last night.
She didn’t see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peep;
She thought that I was tucked
Up in my bedroom fast asleep.

— What these lyrics really mean: Lack of community services and proper government oversight creates a voyeuristic child destined for adulthood perversion.

“I’ll be home for Christmas”
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.

— What these lyrics really mean: Poor public transportation systems and lack of infrastructure creates heartache around the holidays caused by separation of family members.

“Jingle Bells”
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

— What these lyrics really mean: The evils of capitalism lead to a terrible situation — a lone horse pulling a heavy sled in freezing temperatures — in other words, animal abuse.

“Little Drummer Boy”
Mary nodded
The ox and lamb kept time
I played my drum for him
I played my best for him
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Then he smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

— What these lyrics really mean: Child labor practices are encouraged during the holidays. Stressed-out child musician receives no compensation, other than a smile.

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph,
Play in any reindeer games….
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say.
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?

— What these lyrics really mean: Within free-market economies, minorities face institutionalized mass discrimination and are often exploited for their unique talents and characteristics.

“Santa Baby”
Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me
I’ve been an awful good girl….
Santa baby, an out-of-space convertible too, light blue….
Santa honey, I wanna yacht and really that’s
Not a lot.
I’ve been an angel all year
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

— What these lyrics really mean: Here’s selfish consumerism at its absolute worst. A young girl is taught to covet a sable coat, a yacht, and blue convertible. Moreover, she demands he bring all the gifts down the chimney, not tomorrow, but tonight!

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

— What these lyrics really mean: Constitutional protections and individual civil liberties have been annihilated under capitalism.

“The 12 Days of Christmas”
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.

— What these lyrics really mean: “On the 13th day of Christmas, my true love’s credit cards were all maxed out and she declared bankruptcy.”

“White Christmas”
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know.

— What these lyrics really mean: Racism, plain and simple.

Caracasus wrote:I am loving this! If I may add one?

Good King Wenceslas

One does not have to read Oscar Wilde's The Soul of Man under Socialism when the inherant hypocrisy of charity is laid so very bare here. Where was the Good King when his own tax collectors impoverished this poor man to pay for foreign wars? We can only hope that the poor of this terrible tyrant's kingdom take note from the French when it comes to dealing with aristocracy.

Domais wrote:I will go pin them in The Center for real info

The center for real info pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in The Center for real info.

Treadwellia wrote:Tubbius enjoyed Marxist literary theory in the literary criticism classes in college. Mmph MMPH MMPH.

Blood wine wrote:Please refrain from posting propaganda on our RMB Le Front de Liberation du Midand

Dilberta wrote:I can see that you’re pretty anti-capitalist.

Haven and Sanctuary wrote:Go back to TSP, Volawarond.

Yodoshi wrote:Middie, oh Middie, *sighs* why don't you say the inherent truth...the proletariat are revolting. *holds nose*

Slithen wrote:Lmao.

Estantia wrote:Wow

Osterreich und ungarn wrote:Christmas has been ruined for me

Territorio di Nessuno wrote:Disputed Territories eh?...

Alekseandrea wrote:Well. I hate to say it, but using a religious feast to promote communism isn’t the best course of action. Using something borne out of the “opium of the masses” that was hijacked by crass commercialism to promote is hardly the best way to spread revolution.

Obviously, only civil discussions between learned men of intelligence (obviously liberal arts majors, if they could get a job they might become part of the bourgeousie, can’t have that) can inspire the resolve needed to lead the unwashed masses their comrades into a new age of commieness for all.

Palistopia wrote:Capitalism is a good system, only us we abuse it and use it wrong. It is more efficient than the state, but instead of helping with the resources it is creating a population of consumerists and materialistic who spends money on useless things. We produce more than we need and we waste a lot forgetting that the resources are finite. Capitalism isnt evil or bad, we are lucky that we achieved it as we are still alive thanks to it, it is working, but it depends on our action if we want to use it to change the world in a better place or to be ignorant and consume , destroying our world and the finite amount of resources. We need to rationalize the use of things and not let us to be controlled by impulses promoted by corporations. In theory a free market supposed to help people, you do a good service and receive money, you profit, the consumer profits, even the environment. But sadly it isnt the case in the present. Government is a big mistake, a relique of the past, thieves who are controlled by people with money, untrustworthy and especially corrupted and inefficent. The best way is to use the free market and help change the world. Building a company, making money and then donate to the private charity and teach other about this issues.

Anacin wrote:Ok a tried to make it a comment but it keep editing it, but on the other hand I'm a meme

Uan aa Boa wrote:The Fairy Tale of New York
"The boys of the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay
and the bells were ringing our for Christmas Day."

The brutal enforcers of the capitalist state believe that an annual supply of token singing and celebration will distract the masses from the true nature of their subjugation. They are mistaken.

Volaworand wrote:wow... my puppet's little dispatch is currently the most read global dispatch of the day... O.o

Aigania wrote:O_O Existential Comics in Nation States!
^v^ Cool!

Little St Nick wrote:Lol! This needs quoted here!

Dellnia wrote:I have found the holy grail of dispatches

Dellnia pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in Atrothia.

Tropico lemoyne wrote:Marxism?

No thanks

New waldensia wrote:Oof. Downvote this Commie junk

Honeydewistania pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in Christmas.

The new republic of manchukuo pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in Reichskommissariat.

Darkesia wrote:Ahhhhhahahahahahaha! I love this! Especially on Karaoke Friday.

Democratic empire of romania pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in The New Mappers Union.

Midand wrote:oh no it's spreading

Galactic knight pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in Finns.

Libertas Omnium Maximus wrote:Merry Early Christmas!

Liberlitatia pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in Dauiland.

Kahanistan wrote:Christmas for Commies.

Middle eve des ristatown pinned your dispatch "A Marxist Interpretation of Christmas Carols" in The Star Wars Geeks.

Attention nations of the South Pacific!

Don't forget to vote for our Le Front de Liberation du Midand flag design by copying and uploading this Christmas Flag as your very own!

Shavara wrote:Ho ho ho!
Merry Christmarx!

Free sovereign soviet socialist republic wrote:-pings- New union of sovereign soviet republics

Jonestown kool-aid chuggers wrote:Just read the comic, nothing else, but the story is obviously bullshiiiiit for at least 3 reasons:
1. Karl Marx never worked a day in his life
2. Unions hated Marx.
3. In the comic, Marx wasn't covered in carbuncles.

Italian guiana wrote:what in Gods name.

Orcuo wrote:Santa is evil, this is also why am banning Christmas

Read dispatch



music.archives.gov.cra/songs/christmas/the-12-day...
Song Details
Composed: in year 1981 by Chrimbilar Hulnis
Current Copyright Status: In Force (expires 2071 in Crazybloxian roleplay)

Lyrics

On the first day of NS
Barry gave to me
A good old NS Nation

On the second day of NS
Barry gave to me
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the third day of NS
Barry gave to me
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the forth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the fifth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the sixth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the seventh day of NS
Barry gave to me
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the eighth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Eight nation factbooks
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the ninth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Nine issue drafts
Eight nation factbooks
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the tenth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Ten telegrams sent
Nine issue drafts
Eight nation factbooks
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the eleventh day of NS
Barry gave to me
Eleven resolutions
Ten telegrams sent
Nine issue drafts
Eight nation factbooks
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

On the twelfth day of NS
Barry gave to me
Twelve roleplayers
Eleven resolutions
Ten telegrams sent
Nine issue drafts
Eight nation factbooks
Seven commendations
Six region tags
Five forumbans
Four arms storefronts
Three million people
Two hard issues
And a good old NS Nation

Original lyrics

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The Story of Christmas

Dedication

The story of Christmas is mostly a story of raiding and defending. Unlike raiders, good defenders, by their very nature, aren’t renowned for their achievements.

The region’s history page records the WA delegates, allowing some of the many nations that detagged and liberated Christmas to be named. So thanks to:
Ho Ho Ho, who held the delegacy 21 times.
Niomez, who clocked up 12 occasions.
Jolly ole saint nick, eight times delegate.
Liberated christmas, who was delegate seven times..
Eist, Gulden, and Harriet jones, who all were delegate four times.

None of them did it alone. Unfortunately those that endorsed them remain anonymous. This Story of Christmas is dedicated to all who have prevented Christmas from becoming a colony over the years. God bless you. Every one.

Foreword

This is the third edition of this dispatch, incorporating points from Westwind, Bears Armed, and Ghost Land.

Merry Christmas!

Contents

For Unto Us A Region Is Born
In the Bleak Midwinter
Sleigh Ride In July
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlenations
We Three Kings of Orient Are
Love Came Down At Christmas
Christmas Comes Again
Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly
Christmas Present

Appendix 1: More Christmas Stories
Appendix 2: Tags 2009 to 2014
Appendix 3: Tags 2015 to 2018




LinkFor Unto Us A Region Is Born

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The Evil personality dissorder of Santas helper, the founder of Christmas, CTEd on 2 August 2008. In vacation mode, they were last active on 2 June. The Boneyard only notes that the nation was founded in "Antiquity". However, a Wayback Machine record from Link10 January 2004 shows their population as 501 million, putting their founding date between 23 September and 19 October 2003, and most probably on the 8 October. (1). At some point between 10 January and Link7 February 2004, Santas Helper updated their pretitle from “Republic” to “The Evil personality dissorder” [sic].

The earliest hard evidence we have of the region of Christmas existing comes from another Wayback Machine record, dated Link6 January 2004. It shows 45 day-old activity, proof that the region was in existence by the 22 November 2003. Most likely though, Santas Helper would have founded the region shortly after their own founding.

The WFE read:

All hail to the Evil Elf! She who gives us pleasure to talk wrongly of her; yet she who has the respect of her subjects to just sit back and not say a word of what is said of her. 'Tis dignity, that she-girl has dignity, that grin that hath made her notoriously famous amongst our own kind, known as the Evil Elf, the one whom is the most wonderful person, to talk of, for, if we had not, there would be no bond to hold us together as sisters, under what we shall now call the sorority of the Evil Elf!

Gothic forum: http://darktower.dumbdonkey.com

The “Gothic forum” also has a LinkWayback Machine record, showing that some of the threads contained NS related content. Unfortunately none of the threads appear to be recorded.

The text of the WFE implies that Santas Helper was a woman and a goth. This was confirmed by a telegram on 7 May 2018 from Drop Your Pants, who was part of The Youngworld:

"I believe the region shared the same founder, Corinthe. You'd be correct on the female and goth surprisingly. Sadly I can't provide much information beyond that. We only discovered she was the founder by accident when the region was raided and she revived the founder."

Besides introducing us to Corinthe, this telegram shows that the first known raid on Christmas happened before 4 March 2008 (the earliest event on the Regional Happenings logs of Link14 April and Link17 October 2008).

Very little happens (just two RMB posts and three visitors) between founding and Link22 August 2004. There’s then a gap in the records until Link24 December 2005, when an RMB post by 10112 reads: "happy non-denominational gift exchange eve!".

Jolly ole saint nick suggests Christmas CTEd during this period. His nation was founded 29 November 2005, “before the region Christmas even existed”. He says "The current region is from the second founding of Christmas. The original region was refounded since the Founder had ceased-to-exist.". He elaborated in a telegram on 1 June 2018: "The original founding of Christmas was not unlike it's current incarnation. The founder CTE'd and it became a target for raids. I was disappointed how quickly the new founder CTE'd. "Not again"". If correct, Christmas must have been refounded by Santas Helper in the month after 29 November, with the same wording on the WFE.

With only two RMB posts before August 2004, and ten between the end of 2005 until October 2008, the region was clearly inactive, casting doubt on Drop Your Pants’s July 2012 assertion that Christmas "used to share a founder with The Youngworld so it had a bit of a community, if only by accident :P"

The final RMB post by Santas Helper comes on 24 November 2006: "It's gonna be a black christmas." This proved to be prophetic.

(1) Based on Amerion's research, a nation reaches 50 million population on day 18, then grows at between 5 and 7 million per day, assuming no interim CTE period.




LinkIn the Bleak Midwinter

The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free.
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The six nations resident in the 2008 LinkWayback Machine record were puppets of the same player. The Boneyard shows all six CTEd between 8 October 2014 and 21 December 2014 with populations over 20 billion. Four of these puppets were still in Christmas during July 2012. Both Scrooger Codger and Ambroscus Koth believed these belonged to the same player. We've no evidence of events between October 2008 and 25 December 2009, when the NationStates site shows the earliest records, but we know these puppets’ long-standing presence prevented Christmas from CTEing.

On Christmas day 2009, Vidugavia makes the earliest remaining RMB post, "Merry Christmas to you all and greetings from The Llama Temple of Aconcagua".

Later the same day, Chistmas1 takes the delegacy in the first recorded raid of the region. The WFE is set to read (2):

The Holy Dominion Federation would like to wish all of NationStates a Merry Christmas. Even those silly little fendas. :P

The delegacy is held for four days, and we are left with the parting RMB post from Max the shoe thief: "Merry Christmas!!.......Bye now!!"

This WFE stayed up for a full year - Wz codgers powertools posts on 12 December 2010, "How long has that WFE when there for? How many christmases?!?"

On 29 March 2010, Christmas was the Featured Region, evidenced by five RMB posts, including one by Pere noel. Note that unlike on later occasions, this event is not recorded in the regional History page. Perhaps 'features’ weren't logged back then.

On Christmas Eve 2010, Jolly Ole Saint Nick posts "Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho! My favorite day of the year!". Jolly Ole Saint Nick becomes a long standing feature of Christmas history. More is revealed about him in Appendix 1: More Christmas Stories. (Unfortunately this dispatch has hit the size limit!)

Six years later, Jolly Ole Saint Nick finally reveals his other prominent nations, Westwind, Lewis and clark, and All Good People.

Lord bern is the second known delegate, holding the delegacy for all of Christmas day 2010. They set the WFE to read simply (4):

Merry Christmas!!

Throughout 2011 there are further raids. The first recorded de-tag is carried out by Frattastan II on 29 April, and this "Merry Christmas!!" is the WFE that they restore. For quite some time, this is the standard WFE entry that gets restored when defenders detag Christmas.

The first known embassy is opened with The Black Hawks, after their raid on 13 May 2011. The embassy lasts from 16 May to 24 July.

Ninja republic takes the delegacy on the major update at the end of Christmas day 2011. Backed by Communist eraser, they are from Warzone Airspace and North Pole_. The raiders bring a flurry of activity to the RMB, more than doubling its length - not too difficult, as there had been fewer than 20 posts over the previous two years. The WFE is changed to read:

Now a communist and grinch state. Nice try on your attempted invasion Herman Cain. Any invasion and the invaders will be crused!

(Herman Cain seems to have tried to take the region from the raiders)

Wz codgers clowns (whose puppet is Communist Eraser, and clearly the same player as WZ Codgers Powertools and Scrooger Codger) posts in the region six hours prior to the raid. A self-confessed Gameplayer, months later they post that "Raiding Christmas in July isn't as cool doing it on Christmas". On 15 February 2015, (posting as Pollaetorian) they state that "Christmas ... wasn't really targeted at all until 2011 onwards. Christmas really become a famous battleground only after I raided it on Christmas 2011 (but since it was me, most dismissed it as a one off 'funny theme' thing - no one takes me seriously :P)".

This comment isn't quite consistent with Sedgistan's 2012 note that they like "the chance to see which raiders are dedicated/obsessed enough to take part in the annual Christmas Eve raid. Plus which defenders are crazy enough to liberate the next day." This implies that by December 2011, raiding Christmas was a firmly established annual Gameplay event.

Lebuckte, founded 13 December 2011, posts on Christmas Eve 2011. There's no indication that they were one of the raiders. Lebuckte only posts one more time, on 18 July 2012. Despite not being vocal on the RMB, their voice was later to swing the future direction of Christmas.

On 29 December, Francisco Sendrijas posts ”Ang isang taong gala. Lang daan. A wanderer. Just passing through.”. Apparently also inspired by The NationStates Bunny, Francisco returns twice in later years along with Geese and friends on their annual visits.

(2) The website http://udl.taijitu.org/wfe_index/ (the "WFE Index") records historical region WFEs from 6 June 2010 onwards. As there is no new delegate between Christmas 2009 and 2010, Chistmas1 must have created that WFE.

(3) The Winding Trail of The NationStates Bunny can be seen passing through Christmas on the LinkWayback Machine activity log. For those who are interested, the Wayback machine records some more of LinkThe Winding Trail.

(4) This second WFE Index record is dated 11 Jan 2011. However, as we have no knowledge of anyone else having the power to change the WFE, we can assume it was Lord Bern, and that the change was simply not recorded until this later date.




LinkSleigh Ride in July

In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. In came Mrs Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable. In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke. In came all the young men and women employed in the business. In came the housemaid, with her cousin, the baker. In came the cook, with her brother's particular friend, the milkman ... In they all came, one after another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully, some awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling; in they all came, anyhow and everyhow.
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

At update on 4 July 2012, Asgard raided Christmas. Nicholas remington (Cormac) became the 18th known delegate of Christmas. As usual, Christmas had been inactive before their arrival. Ambroscus koth notes "there were 0 WA nations in Christmas and no WA Delegate, therefore we overthrew nobody. There was not a single post on the RMB for around 140 days prior to our invasion."

Scrooger Codger remembers seven nations being resident before the raid, including himself, Santa Is Satan, and four of the 2008 puppets. There must have been more though. Forum posts show that Lebukte and Christmas bunny, (whom Cormac thought were both controlled by the same player) as well as Baubles were present.

Asgard members Nicholas remington (Cormac), Numpkys (Venico), Floreque (Koth), and Nakashima (Isidor?) were later joined by The New Inquisition and The Land Of Kings and Emperors, swelling the number of nations in the region.

Initially, this seemed like any other raid, and there was no attempt made to defend Christmas by residents.

Baubles said: "...I thought nothing of them. Raiders have typically only stayed a couple of days."

Ambroscus koth notes that "Nobody was in charge of Christmas and the natives did not feel it necessary to defend themselves."

Not that Christmas was undefended, as the last line of the WFE showed:

This region has been crushed under the massive Viking combat boot of the Asgard Imperial Armed Forces. That sound you're hearing? The blood-curdling scream from founderless regions wondering when and where we'll strike next.

Vikings in residence:

HDM Keisair Isidor C. Stark
Cormac
Koth
Venicos
EK
H&K
Twig

Thank you to our friends in The New Inquisition, The Land of Kings and Emperors, DEN Central Command, and Unknown for providing support!

Nations must TG Nicholas remington with their identity before entering this region.

FENDAS STOMPED: 2

Then two weeks into the occupation, on the 19th of July, the story of Christmas took a dramatic turn. A plan was declared on the RMB and the WFE. Christmas was to be refounded. A password was set. Christmas was locked down.

The WFE read:

Merry Christmas!

Keisair: HDM Isidor C. Stark
Landstjóri (Governor): Cormac Stark

Founded over two years ago by Santas helper, Christmas was annexed as a colony of Asgard on 19 July 2012. It is now the cultural hub of NationStates for Christmas and other festivities related to winter holidays.

This region is in the process of being refounded. Asgard encourages and hopes for an active and thriving native population and we invite all natives to return to Christmas after the refounding process is complete.

Asgard "telegrammed all the nations in Christmas alerting them of our plan to refound, and they are highly encouraged to come back after the deed is done. We are not excluding them, alienating them, or taking away their rights."

The RMB post read:

To the natives of Christmas:

As you may have noticed, Christmas has been annexed as a colony of Asgard for the purpose of making it a more stable and secure region that will be culturally beneficial to its natives and to the broader NationStates community. We are in the process of refounding the region and we are asking natives to voluntarily depart the region. You are invited and encouraged to return once Christmas is refounded.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Yours,

Cormac Stark
Algengur (Commanding Officer) of the Asgard Imperial Armed Forces
Landstjóri (Governor) of Christmas

With password in place, defenders were unable to gain access, and Christmas was firmly under Asgard control. The refound as a colony seemed certain.




LinkGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlenations

You couldn't have predicted, at any given time, what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig cut.
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

On 22 July, the story of Christmas took a new twist. A new battle-front was opened. In the Security Council. Without first consulting residents, Mahaj of the United Defenders League proposed a Liberation of Christmas. If the Security Council imposed a Liberation order, the password would be removed. As long as the order was in place, no regional officer could add a new password. The proposal read:

The Security Council,

NOTING that the region of Christmas was raided by forces of Asgard, The New Inquisition, and The Land Of Kings and Emperors on July 4th, 2012;

AWARE that Christmas is a region which many people treasure due to its special name;

RECOGNIZING that while the native community in Christmas was not large and has been forcibly removed, it is still deserving of the basic rights of freedom of movement and to be free from external governance;

DISAPPOINTED by the stated goals of Asgard, which are to refound the region and keep it as a colony;

BELIEVING that the Security Council must act swifly to protect Christmas from being stolen and kept as a colony;

HEREBY Liberates Christmas.

The heated discussion thread opened on 22 July and generated 611 responses. Within 12 hours, the proposal was at vote in the Security Council.

Koth was one of the first to respond, asking fore-sightedly:
"Let me ask you this, Mahaj, what do you want to come of this liberation? A future where Christmas is constantly invaded all the time and the native community doesn't exist?"

Of the free socialist territories shared this view, saying later:
"At the end of the day, if this is passed all that happens is that Mahaj gets his badge and Christmas gets fought over like a bone between a group of dogs every year, year in and year out, until it CTEs"

Koth added, "You cannot steal something that has no owner. Nobody was in charge of Christmas and the natives did not feel it necessary to defend themselves. Being "stolen" is probably the best thing that will ever happen to this region."

Eist from TITO held a black-and-white view of the situation:
"Raiders should not be allowed to occupy and lock-down any innocent region, regardless of size and activity. To give a seemingly innocent region the chance for autonomous rule as opposed to raider oppression is something I will almost always support."

Unibot ii of the United Defenders League, held a similar view:
"I care enough about Christmas not to want it to become an imperial colony under your regime without its consent, Cormac, because I believe in regional sovereignty, independence and above all else, justice."
"You do not need to be a member of a region to know and actively protest, even intervene when outsiders aren't playing nice with said other region -- that is not only the principles behind defenderism, but also the World Assembly Security Council, humanitarianism and interregional goodwill."
"If you want to help the region, Cormac, which I sincerely doubt you do, you would stop this invasion pronto, join the region simply as a member with what friends want to help out and begin developing the region."

Bundabunda believed in a compromise solution, though with the proposal already at vote, it was never likely to be realised.
"If and when Christmas is refounded, Asgard should hand the password over to one of the two natives who oppose the "Occupation". But not to cede the region. Christmas can't defend itself adaquetly enough without:
A. Going to Asgard for help if it ever gets raided again. (Under the conditions I'd want, the natives wouldn't have to go to Asgard because they'd have the password. )
B. Constantly go back to UDL/Defender organizations for assistance under the liberation. That's if there is anyone active enough to maintain relations."

More wistful was Keronika's late submission:
”Christmas shouldn't be ruled by any one region. After this resolution passes, why not have a treaty between raiders and defenders that guarantees the protection of Christmas. A committee could be established to make Christmas into a great holiday themed region where all nations could visit or live."

Others thought the whole thing was a waste of time and effort. Nationalist state of knox expressed this well:
"Why the hell is everybody bothered by this? What's the point in raiding it in the first place, let alone defend it? Let the raiders waste their time raiding this dead puppet dump, and just forget about it."

Others questioned the motives behind the proposal. Fear the navy said:
"Mahaj has stated on IRC that he writes these proposals to increase his SC Resolution count. Any proposal by him should be taken with a grain of salt. I just don't understand why these SC Proposals have to be so poor in quality if the reasoning is sound."

Delegate vinage said:
"I, Lothar Prolark, World Assembly Delegate and Vice President of Europeia will be voting NAY on this proposal after a 2/12 internal vote decided said action. The resolution is inaccurate to what has transpired and, well, this and the messages sent along to Delegates smack of point-scoring rather than an actual concern for the region. Perhaps the author is upset they won't get an invite to Christmas for the festivities?"

Skyrim diplomacy was also against:
"I will be voting AGAINST this proposal in my power as WA Delegate of Skyrim. The lack of native activity in the region in question gives our delegation no reason to remove the password at this time. Furthermore, we see this Liberation proposal as a last-ditch effort by the UDL to "save" another region they could not protect in the first place."

Fynnbays was cynical about motives too:
"To me, this is sounding like another AoSS. [Alliance of Socialist States]
situation. The UDL are just wanting to hold the region to ransom so the region will be dependent on the defender groups in the future for protection."

Aimed at Mahaj, and, as an afterthought, Asgard, Naivetry wrote:
"So, what gives you the right to decide what's best for a region without actually consulting the natives? You just jumped in and did what you wanted, without bothering to ask how any of them felt about it."

The "natives" did eventually express their opinions. First, Scrooger Codger:
"It's kind of funny watching everyone here trying to define what natives want in a region where the 4 oldest nations are puppets of the same guy, while the other 3 (including this one) mainly exist to be themed nations who wanted to match the region name.
With that in mind, how are you supposed to think the serious "gameplayer mindset" you all expect, when your entire reason for playing the nation is for such a casual/frivolous reason?
However if you must insist.... I want to continue playing this nation nonchalantly, logging in once every 60 days to not CTE, not really caring...until Christmas where I can spam a few 'Bah Humbugs"...and then not care for other 360 days of year...and repeat."

Lebuckte, who had been in the region since at least December 2011, was more opinionated, expressing dislike at both options:
"I am a native of Christmas. I do not want it liberated. That being said, I do not want the region to be refounded. I do not want the region to be passworded. I do not want myself and others ejected from the region. Therefore, I support this proposal."

Having this native (who had only twice posted on the RMB) coming out in favour would help swing other delegates in favour of the proposal.

Christmas bunny said a day later:
"I'm not against having the region refounded. I am against having the region refounded by a foreign power who decided they want it to be part of their 'empire'. I would much rather prefer that someone native to Christmas was allowed to refound it. I support the liberation proposal."

Cormac suspected Lebuckte was also Christmas Bunny because of their coincident login times. The similar style of their forum posts supports this theory. The Boneyard confirms it, showing founding dates of 13 and 25 December 2011 respectively, and CTE dates of 18 and 17 January 2017. Note that Christmas Bunny was no more active on the RMB than Lebuckte.

Baubles, when they posted, let loose with their anger:
"You yourself forcibly ejected me from my home region of.... Christmas, four days ago. And as I'm currently locked out of my HOME region with no way of getting back in, I have no option but to support this 'liberation'. So this is me, telling you that I am opposed to your refounding plan."
"You first wanted to talk to me about the future of Christmas, then just five days later it would appear that you have decided what the future of Christmas should be...a colony of Asgard. I know I didn't ask to become a colony... even if you could provide us with security"

Until now, the majority of votes were against the proposal. Then the feeders started to vote. For. The decisive vote came from Ananke II, the delegate of 10000 Islands, who wielded 820 votes in favour.

With the vote going against him, Cormac vented:
"We have put more time and energy into the region over the past three weeks than its "natives," if you can even realistically call them that, have put into it in the past year or more. I've been online at every update for three weeks -- even after the password was imposed -- and several people from Asgard have spent almost every minute of our NS time arguing against this resolution for the past 3 days. Meanwhile, Baubles over there didn't even notice he or she was sitting in The Rejected Realms until four days later. Now, explain to me why Baubles has the right to make these big decisions and we don't.
In my mind, the only actual native left in Christmas was Scrooger Codger -- which is ironic in that defenders would probably dismiss him as a non-native since he once led a raid of the region. Yet he was the only one of the "natives" who really brought any kind of life whatsoever to the region at any point in the past year."

Calaloo took a new angle on the debate, focused on the wording of the proposal.
"I am concerned that the World Assembly may by giving undue weight to the liberation of Christmas due to the significance of its name."
"Giving extra weight to this nation's liberation due, even in part, to the cultural and/or religious significance of the name "Christmas" is morally dubious at best. For that reason, on behalf of the people of Calaloo, we cannot vote in favor of this resolution to liberate Christmas at this time."

Koth had criticised the wording of the proposal shortly after it was written. Cormac returned to this angle in a last ditch attempt to save his plans.
"Neglected during this philosophical discussion have been some technical issues with the resolution itself:
- The liberation resolution states "that the region of Christmas was raided by forces of Asgard, The New Inquisition, and The Land of Kings and Emperors on July 4th, 2012." While TNI and The LKE provided support after update, neither were present at update making this statement false. If the Security Council passes this resolution, it will be enshrining false accusations against two regions into interregional law.
- The liberation resolution states that "the native community in Christmas . . . has been forcibly removed." Again, this is not the case. There are six native nations remaining in the region. While we believe that four of these nations belong to one person, there are at least three natives remaining in the region -- again making this liberation resolution inaccurate.
- The liberation resolution misspells the word "swiftly" as "swifly." While I wouldn't normally quibble over a typographical error, the World Assembly has come to expect a higher quality in its proposals and this resolution does not meet those standards."

On 26 July 2012, the resolution passed with 5,571 votes for, 4,040 against.

However, removing the password didn't remove the raiders. Cormac’s endorsement count of nearly 25 made his position difficult to topple.

Vanhania noted cynically:
"Good job at succeeding in liberating Christmas but failing to actually liberate It…Its sad if you wish to liberate a region be ready to follow through. It seems like they were right about you posting this proposal to raise your proposal count :3"

Faced with the decision whether to keep holding out against defenders, or to cede the region, on 30 July, Asgard chose to leave Christmas. Cormac left this parting RMB post:

We came here with the intention of providing a brighter future for this region. We leave saddened that we were deprived of that opportunity by the Security Council and the defenders who control it.
We are leaving because it was the will of the interregional community that the natives be given a chance to decide the future of their region. We are most certainly not leaving because of the UDL or other defender organizations, none of whom have presented any resistance to our invasion or occupation in the past 26 days. We will leave now to give the natives the chance to determine the future of this region, but we fully expect a few months from now to find it exactly as it was before we came here: inactive and prone to constant invasion.
That will be the legacy of the Security Council, of the UDL, and of the natives who supported Liberate Christmas. But it will not be our legacy. Goodbye Christmas.




LinkWe Three Kings of Orient Are

Every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The Liberation of Christmas was to have a long lasting impact on the region. In later forum posts and interviews, more detail came out about the raiding players behind the puppets.

"Koth and Venico participated in nearly every raid that Asgard engaged in. New to the game, Venico stayed up in IRC with me for every major update during the month-long occupation of Christmas. It was Venico who helped me send telegrams to Delegates when we were campaigning against Liberate Christmas. .... It was Koth who took charge of handling the debate on the Security Council forum."
Cormac Stark, 6 Oct 2012

“If Durk had never founded The Imperial Legion. I probably never would have found out about raiding, and I definitely wouldn't have met people like Cormac and made good friends with the group from Exshaw who ended up founding Asgard. Without Asgard, I wouldn't have ever gotten Venico to play NationStates, which would mean that The Brotherhood of Malice and the OFO would have never existed.
Not to mention that Cormac probably would have ended up in a completely different place in the game, and he's by far a more influential player than myself.”

Ambroscus Koth, 15 February 2015

On 10 March 2014, Elias Greyjoy (Skyrim diplomacy) of The Europeia Times ran an interview with Venico

1) First off, Venico, thank you for joining us as the first interviewee here at the Europeia Times. You've made your name as a raider that comes from one of the not so standard groups in the world, which you co-founded. Why did you choose to pursue the formation of the Brotherhood of Malice instead of one of the more "traditional" raider outfits?

Thank you for having me. I was shocked that I was asked for your first interview. To answer your question we have to go to the origins of the Brotherhood in a region called Asgard. This was my first region, my first home, where I first started raiding, and funnily enough where I got my first taste of the Security Council.We raided Christmas in July of 2012 and after a long hold, we put a password up. However, Liberate Christmas was passed swifly (sic) enough and the raid was over like that. Done.

It was about a month after that, when Cormac went defender (it was shocking the first time I swear), that Asgard fractured and split. The main thing that always caused stress in Asgard was the political end of it while the military and cultural sides provided a relief from that. I approached Koth about making a back up plan and the first thing we decided was that the region would avoid politics. There was no reason to avoid culture, that was fun. It bonds people and gives them something to do when they're WA immobile or between updates. To eliminate a part of the region which is dedicated to relaxing and enjoying your friends, well that's just silly.

3) Recently, you orchestrated a public shaming, for lack of a better term, of the World Assembly Security Council via a mock proposal intended to show that Security Council has some very large potential flaws to be exploited. What was your specific goal with this proposal, and have you achieved your desired outcome?

Specifically? I wanted a way to win in St Abbaddon. A refound would be ludicrous and would require us sitting in the region for six months twiddling our thumbs. No one wanted that. So I came up with a way to turn the region into Warzone Abbaddon and write the operation into the history books. I call that a win every day of the week. And if it's repealed? Well that's two Security Council numbers attached to our mission. Count that as a double win.

Another goal with this proposal was to bring attention to how broken the Liberation system is and how easily the Security Council can encroach on Gameplay with very little effort. This proposal shows how as long as something sounds good intentioned, it will pass. Even if we publicly announce our intention with this proposal is to ruin the region, we still win by a landslide because "Liberate..." sounds good.

4) Your main criticism with the above proposal, in my eyes, is that the Security Council is largely far too eager to pass to pre-emptive Liberations and show Defender-leaning tendencies. Now, being an ardent SC stalwart that I am, I would counter to say that this isn't to be heaped on a bias or favoritism from the SC, but the approving Delegates and their inattentiveness to the subject of proposals. Your response? Is that a fair counterargument?

I think it's a bit of both. I think given the margin most Liberations pass by compared to Commendations, Condemnations, and GA proposals, an argument can be made that many WA Delegates and voters tend to be biased toward defenders. But the lack of scrutiny of these proposals is also a problem. In this case they didn't even bother to look into who the author was, if the natives wanted it, or to see if the region was even griefed in the slightest.

The Stalker interviewed Cormactopia Prime for Hell’s Bells on 25 March 2018.

1. Welcome Cormac, tell us what is the origin story of one of gameplay’s greatest savants? You’ve been a defender, a raider, a GCR delegate, and everything in between, where did you get your start?

Well, I started in a n00bish imperialist region most people probably won't remember, called Exshaw. Its Founder was Durkadurkiranistan II, whom many people know simply as Durk and whom older Feederites know as John Ashcroft Land or JAL. I had no idea at the time the reputation he had for couping The North Pacific, but I suppose in hindsight given my own history it's appropriate that I started out in a region he founded. Exshaw thrived for a little while in 2012 while script recruitment was legal on an experimental basis, but when it was made illegal again, Exshaw pretty much crumbled. I briefly tried founding my own region, Asgard, but it only lasted a few months. I landed in the United Defenders League, The North Pacific, and Osiris, ended up focusing mostly on Osiris, and the rest is pretty much history from there.

2. Describe your defender days for us, what was your favorite moment as a defender? Have a favorite mission you did? Would you ever return to being a defender?

My defender days were pretty great. I probably should have stuck with defending, but hindsight is 20/20, as they say. As odd as it sounds, my favorite moments from defending were probably the detagging operations we used to run when I was in the UDL. Most people didn't much care for detagging, and there were times I got tired of it too, but I had a lot of fun detagging with Ravania during minor updates. He had a unique way of making what otherwise seemed like a chore fun and competitive. As far as favorite operations, it's been so long now I'm not sure I could pin down a specific operation as my favorite. Anytime we successfully liberated a region was exciting and exhilarating. I probably wouldn't go back to defending in terms of making it my alignment again, but I wouldn't be averse to helping out with defending operations or anything.

3. Now you’ve also been a raider, tells us about that, what was your favorite moment as a raider? Have a favorite raid you did? Do you currently consider yourself a raider?

My favorite moment as a raider would still have to be Asgard's raid of Christmas back in July 2012. It was Asgard's first successful raid and the first time I was point, and the ensuing battle over Liberate Christmas was a lot of political fun too. Most raids during my time with The Brotherhood of Malice were a good time too. Really the best raids were the ones that I got to do mostly with my friends, I never much cared for the bigger raids involving a lot of regions, because there were invariably people on those raids I didn't like. I've never gotten along particularly well with most raider and imperialist regions. To answer your last question, no, I don't consider myself raider, nor defender. I would say I consider myself neutral, but that's boring, and independence has a whole connotation I don't like. I consider myself Cormac. I'm an alignment of one, really. Like with defending though, I'm not averse to raiding. I do oppose griefing though.

4. You are the Editor-in-Chief of the hard-hitting award winning and sometime conversational Miniluv Messenger, what made you start this newspaper? Have a favorite piece you’ve written? Is Big Brother still watching Gameplay?

It started mostly as a joke after the #miniluv IRC channel was exposed and everyone insisted it was some kind of gameplay conspiracy with me at the center, when in actuality at the time it was just a chat group with my close NS friends. Over time The Miniluv Messenger became more of a legitimate newspaper, and became famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for exposés like the article that exposed Operation Brave Toaster in the South Pacific. It was also probably the main source of resistance propaganda during Stujenske's 2015 coup of Lazarus. My favorite piece will probably always be the one I just mentioned, Operation Brave Toaster: Exposed. The impact it had on TSP really can't be overstated, even years later. For better or worse, TSP is in large part the way it is today because of that article and the impact it had on independent hegemony in TSP. Undermining Belschaft opened the door for Glen-Rhodes and others to push TSP in a more defender direction. I'm not sure that outcome thrills me, but it was still better than the alternative that Belschaft & Co. were pursuing at the time.

Big Brother is always watching gameplay. ;) I'm sure The Miniluv Messenger will be back at some point!

5. You’ve spent a lot of time in the various GCRs, including having been Pharaoh of Osiris three times. Describe your time there, what was your favorite moment as Pharaoh? Looking back would you have done anything different? Would you ever pursue becoming a GCR delegate again?

My favorite moment as Pharaoh ironically happened before I was ever Delegate. It was the end of Gatesville's month-long coup of Osiris. Even though the end of that coup was reached through diplomacy rather than military liberation, it was still very satisfying to see that coup end after spending months as a first-time Delegate fighting a coup. There hadn't been a coup of that level of seriousness since Empire's coup of The East Pacific in 2008, so very few people still active in the game really had any idea what they were doing when it came to fighting a GCR coup. There were many times I didn't think the coup would end, so when it did I was relieved Gatesville hadn't kept Osiris, and it was a major accomplishment for me. It was also the last Sinker coup to be defeated. Every Sinker coup since has been successful, which I think illustrates how dire the situation was for us during that coup.

Things I would have done different: Almost everything after that. I regret stepping down as Pharaoh in September 2013 and supporting Astarial's dissolution of the Kemetic Republic of Osiris, which eventually lead to the Osiris Fraternal Order in December 2013, and then to another coup in April 2016. All of that really paved the way for the less active situation that exists in Osiris right now, as well as normalizing subversion and coups to the point that raiders (which I also extend to include imperialists and raider-aligned independents) now control four Feeders and Sinkers through autocratic or oligarchical regimes. I don't think you would have Wolfist Lazarus, for example, if there hadn't first been the Osiris Fraternal Order. So I very much regret all of that, the impact it had on Osiris, and the impact it had on gameplay. I hope eventually these trends will be reversed, and I would like to see that start in Osiris. By their own free will, of course -- I'm not talking about using force. If I've learned anything it's that you can't coup your way to a better region. It just doesn't work out like that.

Would I pursue becoming a GCR Delegate again? Probably not, but you never know with me. I would really like an opportunity at some point to have a normal tenure as Delegate of a GCR just to prove I can actually do that. :P But my days as a GCR Delegate are probably behind me, and that's maybe for the best.

6. If you sold your soul to me, I mean to the Devil, what would you ask for?

An unlimited bank account. You probably thought I would say something NS-related but I mean, really, money. Because obviously.




LinkLove Came Down At Christmas

Scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the Spirit should attach importance to conversations apparently so trivial; but feeling assured that they must have some hidden purpose, he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. They could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing on the death of Jacob, his old partner, for that was Past, and this Ghost's province was the Future.
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The occupation may have been finished, but the conversation about it wasn't. Interest in the region remained high, likely because "Christmas is a region which many people treasure due to its special name".

The Embassy of Asgard published their summary of events on 1 August 2012.

The Asgard Imperial Armed Forces

From the Office of the Algengur

Christmas

On 4 July 2012, the AIAF invaded the region Christmas. With the support of The New Inquisition, The Land of Kings and Emperors, DEN Central Command, and Unknown, the AIAF successfully occupied Christmas for 26 days without any attempt to end the occupation by any defender region or organization.

On 19 July 2012, password protection was imposed upon Christmas and it was announced that the region would be annexed as a colony of Asgard for the purpose of providing a stable and secure home to its natives and bringing about the cultural revitalization of the region. In response to these developments, a liberation resolution was introduced into the WA Security Council by a prominent member of the United Defenders League. Following a hard fought battle, Liberate Christmas passed by a vote of 5,571 to 4,040 on 27 July 2012.

Responding to the interregional community's desire that the natives of Christmas should be given the opportunity to determine the future of their region, AIAF forces voluntarily withdrew from Christmas on 30 July 2012 and cleared the regional ban list to allow natives to return to the region. Following this voluntary withdrawal, defender forces have occupied Christmas to suppress the only activity the Regional Message Board had seen in five months and to impose their will upon the region. Given that these actions were carried out by defender forces rather than natives, they would seem to contradict the defender credo of native self-determination and to defy the will of the interregional community as expressed by Liberate Christmas. What a surprise.

Galiantus said:
"Defenders. What you have failed to realise is that there are a few things more important than keeping a region raider-free. Where is the value in NS if people don't interact? Where is the value if there is no culture or pride? None. What Asgard was trying to do was very noble compared to some of their other actions. They have, or at least most of them have, realized that the existance of a region is only important if it is being used to promote NationStates, make it a fun place, and keep people playing. If Christmas was to be refounded it would have a chance at being worth more than just a desirable name. It would be a community, and that's what matters.

By passing "Liberate Christmas" you killed that chance, you killed any hope of Christmas having a chance to grow, recruit, and become great before the holiday. As a founderless region, all it has done is provided entertainment to invaders every holiday season.

Defenders are good because they try to keep regions in control of natives. Defenders are bad when they stifle growing communities in their attempts to protect regions. Invaders are inherantly bad because they eject natives, place passwords, and take over regions. They are good because they sometimes give regions like Christmas a chance to become great. Defenders. I stand with you on the issue of regional control. However, I stand with the invaders whenever they do something like this; it revitalizes regions, gives them the life-blood of their existence which is activity. Please consider what you have done and give Christmas a chance to grow."

With Christmas Liberated by the Security Council, the first defenders moved in and detagged the WFE. The message hadn’t changed since January 2011, but Asgard had left an additional legacy - the colour scheme.

Merry Christmas!!

A large number of raiders remained in the region, and, invited by a resident, TITO moved in to complete the liberation.

Cormac said: "As is abundantly clear from a look back at the regional history and the regional message board, Christmas is only active when it's raided and I see no signs of that changing anytime soon. I'm sure activity will fall off once the TITO raid detagging is complete."

During the occupation, Christmas had a Linkpopulation of 32, 25 of these raiders. A month later, the Linkpopulation was still up at 20, mostly new nations, some of whom started to build a small community. Jolly Ole Saint Nick had returned (see Appendix 1: More Christmas Stories), and was joined by Nisse, Dasher Dancer Prancer Vixen, and Bears of the north pole. Liberated christmas also arrived, who, months later, revealed themself to be none other than Cormac.

Sichuan pepper dreamt of a brighter future for Christmas: "I would like Christmas to be the one founderless region we all agree to not use as a battle ground."
"It is very rare that everyone can work together. We saw it can be done with the latest April fools prank where a great deal of NS were united. Christmas could be the one place that we can be civil and co-exist."
"It would require the major invaders to give support as well as defenders."

But they were brought back down to earth by Rachel Anumia: "You likely couldn't even get the defenders to agree. With Liberate Christmas, there were defenders who voted for it on the basis that it was a well known battleground."

There was support for the principle though. Ravania Prima said : "As I see it 'Christmas' should remain founderless and keep the liberation. Just to make sure it will never belong to one single group or person. To the idea of making it a meeting place for NS-ers on Christmas-day, I give my full support and will attend if invited."

Manegarmr responded: "If you DO get an agreement here's an early gift:"




LinkChristmas Comes Again

"Good Spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life."
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Less than a week after Asgard left Christmas, a motion to repeal the Liberation order was proposed by The Aztec Allience. Although motivations differed, raiders and defenders agreed on the answer.

Cormac "surprisingly, and speaking only for myself and not on behalf of the government of Asgard, I'm opposed to repealing the liberation resolution at this time. The will of the interregional community as expressed in the debate over Liberate Christmas was to give the natives of Christmas an opportunity to determine the future of their region. Asgard withdrew to give the natives that opportunity. Repealing the liberation resolution now would only make Christmas vulnerable to refounding by a different region or organization, perhaps one with less noble intentions.
I'm firmly convinced that the so-called "natives" of Christmas are puppets with no interest in improving the region's future. A majority of the interregional community, however, wasn't convinced of that. Let's leave the liberation resolution in place for a while, if for no other reason than to find out who was right."

Tim-Opolis was "surprisingly opposed to the Repeal. Liberate Christmas is one of the only Liberation Proposals I have ever voted FOR on.
If the Liberation is Repealed then the region will once again become open to being to being colonized by imperialist groups. Whether these groups would have good goals or not, I do enjoy the traditional Christmas raid that happens every year... And I find it much more amusing than anything that could come from a colonized or password-protected region."

On 3 November, the question came up again when Thehaloforrunners asked the international community "Would you vote for the liberation of Christmas?"

This prompted Skyrim Diplomacy to submit the repeal proposal they had drafted in August.

Cormac, now turned defender, said: "I find it odd and a bit ironic that this repeal is being proposed during another occupation of Christmas".

Further discussion ensued before Cormac noted: "I would just like to point out that Christmas has been liberated -- shout out to the Founderless Regions Alliance! -- and that the guy who totally wasn't a raider, Thehaloforrunners, has now relocated to The Jesuit Nations, the puppet dump and jump point for DEN Central Command and The Black Hawks [known raider organisations]."

And to ice the Christmas cake, Sedgistan added: "Not to mention, he was multying. Naughty boy."

On 18 March 2013, a third repeal was proposed by Abacathea.

Cerian Quilor said: "Why are you even-”

Cormac Stark:
“15 hours ago: The Santa States of Ho Ho Ho ejected and banned The Colony of East Sicily from the region.
15 hours ago: The Santa States of Ho Ho Ho banned The Republic of British Commandos from the region.
15 hours ago: The Santa States of Ho Ho Ho banned The Silver Kingdom of Abacathea from the region.
I admire the brass pair it took to waltz in here and ask the Security Council to repeal the liberation resolution protecting the region you just raided, I really do.”

And a fourth, by Charax on 24 December 2013

Elke and Elba highlighted some of the practical issues:
“I'm somewhat for the repeal but the question is: who is going to lead the refounding operation? Even if natives were to do it, are they organised enough to pull it off? Also; given for a region with 40-odd nations, having a single inactive member can destroy the whole operation.”

Mocking Mahaj who had also posted, Venico quipped: “I would rather see Christmas refounded by anyone than be swifly (teehee) plunged into war every few months.”

The fifth repeal proposal came on 26 March 2014 from The Isles of Random.

The sixth proposal for repeal, by Klaus Devestatorie on 31 April 2014, was undoubtedly the funniest:

The Security Council;

NEPHMIR the glorious Eternal Knight,
HAD some very shiny clothes,
AND if you ever saw it,
YOU would even say it glows.
ALL of the other raiders,
USED to laugh and call him names,
THEY never let poor Nephmir,
JOIN in any raider games.
THEN one foggy Christmas eve, Santa (didn't) came to say (ho ho ho)
"NEPHMIR with your armor so bright,
WON'T you save Christmas tonight!"
THEN how the SC loved him,
AND they shouted out with glee,
YIPPEE!
NEPHMIR the glorious Eternal Knight,
WILL go down in history,
DUN dun du duun duun duun duun, du du du duuuuuuuunnnnnnn *cymbals*,

Hereby repeals Security Council Resolution #95.

(sorry, couldn't help myself, and I am extremely sorry if anyone has done this before)

The fact that repeal proposals had become a joke didn't stop a further attempt by New brussels on 3 October 2014. Bears Armed notes that this "came verrry close to quorum after repeated submissions, reaching more than 90 approvals on what turned out to be the penultimate try, but was then thwarted by a de-approval TG campaign that I carried out -- using Bears of the North Pole -- which meant that on the next try it never even broke past 30... at which point its author gave up. You can see a copy of the TG used at
viewtopic.php?p=22255585#p22255585"

An interesting twist came on 23 November 2014. Nephmir proposed a second liberation, which would double the difficulty of repeals.

The World Assembly Security Council,

Evaluating Christmas' status,

Treating Christmas as a region without any remaining natives, instead being opened to the entire international community as a region open to all,

Encouraging nations to freely come and go peacefully without concerns of foreign aggression,

Realizing that the region of Christmas already has a Liberation in place by this council through SC#95: "Liberate Christmas",

Noticing that despite the presence of a Liberation, this region has been ruthlessly invaded many times without end,

Approving sanctions for the region's protection and well-being as viewed by the international community, the same community this region has its borders open to,

Listing the organizations that have raided Christmas, despite the presence of a Liberation already in place, including but not limited to:

Wishing to provide additional protection from this council, and to turn Christmas into a less appealing target for foreign invasions,

Attempting to fulfill this council's purpose of "spreading international peace" by

Rendering the region of Christmas to be virtually indestructible,

Hereby Liberates Christmas.

The discussion thread ends with Nephmir's comment: “To be honest, I'm surprised no one has noticed what I've done yet... and why it's written in an odd fashion.”




LinkDeck The Halls With Boughs of Holly

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future."
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Raiding Christmas has never gotten old. On 18 June 2016, The Neutral Ground - an Open Discussion Thread included this chat:

Tom Vasentius HYDRA: “Awww but invading Christmas during the Holiday Season is fun!”
Drop Your Pants: “Every holiday though?”
Valrifell: “It's tradition! It's the NS GP version of decorating a Christmas tree. Just replace "tree" with WFE.”

Between Christmas 2009 and 30 April 2018, there were 319 delegacies, held by 243 unique nations. On 891 of these 3048 days (over 29% of the time), the WFE displayed raider tags. Although a small community had emerged in the region after July 2012, the frequency of tag raids increased dramatically. 300 of the delegacies were held in the six years after the Asgard occupation. The heaviest tag raiding was when The Black Riders were active. Between 3 December 2012 and 11 April 2015, TBR set up embassies from Christmas 12 times.

Most of these raids had no lasting impact on the appearance of Christmas. A detailed record of tags can be found in appendix 2 and appendix 3. More interesting is how the appearance of the region developed, and of course, who held Christmas on Christmas Day.

With help from Osiris and the North Pacific, delegate Bazalonia world assembly misison kept Christmas raider-free from 23 to 30 December 2012.


The red and green hued “Merry Christmas!!” was inherited from the Asgard occupation. A year later, on 27 August 2013, the first record of the red, white, and green ‘candy-cane’ flag appears. With two NS updates per day, it is difficult to match frequently changing delegates with at best daily records of flags and WFEs. North karelia (”Jingle bells, jingle bells, let's get this party rollin'”) and Nueva hall (”Raiders removed from the region.”) were both delegates around the time the flag appears. From the nature of the posts, Nueva Hall is the more probable candidate. It could of course have been set by someone else entirely. The late addition of the flag gives context to Ho Ho Ho’s 2015 comment that Christmas ”has no regional flag.”

Gulden spent time detagging Christmas, first appearing as delegate in early December 2013. Defenders held the region for Christmas 2013, keeping the same short but colourful WFE. Nicholas von sinterklaas held the delegacy from 24th, passing it to Gulden on the 28th. Despite their delegacy, Gulden doesn't seem to have been part of the community, never posting on the RMB until March 2014. By this time the small community had become much less active.

On 16 December 2014, a challenge to hold Christmas on Christmas Day was laid down on the Gameplay forum. But Gulden was already in there, holding the delegacy from 15 December 2014 to 5 January 2015.

Christmas 2015 was a different story. This year, The grouchy grinch stole Christmas. On Christmas Eve they posted their WFE, and it stayed up until Boxing Day.

This holiday was seized for the dark honor of The Black Raider Christmas

An obvious X-mas plan conducted by United berserkers of

Military Government to Santa's Little Raiders
The Morbid Elves of TRR underground
A Group Coalition of Grinches

Link No White Christmas this year.. El Niño has allowed autumn to last into December!

Bloody Merry Christmas!

Rejected Presents: 3

"Raiders need their Christmas too!"

They made this this post on the RMB too:

Twas the raid before Christmas, when all through the region
No one could have foreseen the raider legion. (Except the 50-odd fenda pups)
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that tomorrow they would still be there.

But your expectations proved wrong, my sweet native friends,
And I'm sorry, but now its too late to make your amends.
You've been naughty this year, every last one,
"Saving regions", and spoiling the poor raiders' fun.

When I heard of this regions evil attire,
I yelled: "NO MORE!", justice, here and now, we desire.
So, enjoy your Christmas, next year be nice,
For this year, enjoying comes with a price.

Off-season, but very worthy of mention, from 21 May 2016 Christmas was occupied by The Reaper Council. Other regions supported the operation, bringing the biggest burst in regional activity as measured by RMB posts. First Mall santa held the delegacy, before passing it to Alpha force. They opened eight embassies with the regions involved in the occupation, though no embassy was opened with Conch Kingdom, whose Naval Reserve also played a supporting role.

The RMB read:

This region's hopes and dreams have been reaped by The Reaper Council!

None can hope to stand against the mighty armies of the Grim Reaper

Troops:

Scythe Branch Leader Dragonslayer3927
Death Branch Leader The melon empire
Cloak Branch Leader Ducklausin
War Branch Leader Greats of greatlandia
Colossus subbranch leader Hatville2018
Deceit Subbranch Leader Gucci empire

Special Assistance was provided by our fabulous allies Irisania and Sacred Order of Fire and The Reformed Union of Soviet Socialists



Oh and Pigeonakia stole Christmas

Over two weeks in, on 7th June, Alpha Force had an idea. Having built up influence, the officers were able to eject the long-standing natives. Next day, the plan was ready: “Now we got a method. Now we got to pair up officers with the right targets starting tonight.”

They called their ejection technique “tag and bag”, apparently after The fing motherland’s comment: ”You bag him, I tag him”. It seems one player would eject a native, and the other ban them.

Rulden ”formulated a Friendly/Hostile target list for this mess of a region. Hostiles are organized into two sections, Tier 1 Targets, and Tier 2 Targets. Tier 1 Targets are WA members who have not endorsed any one of the Security Officers. Tier 2 Targets are all unrecognized nations that aren't WA members and aren't confirmed to support us raiders.”

Although implied by the ejections, there’s no mention on the RMB of a plan to refound until 24 June. The Liberation order of course, made a refound harder, though not all the raiders were aware of this. Graale said: “we are all ejecting nativesso we can refound, while or WAD, Alpha Force saves up to password protect. Then we only need to Eject, and not Banject.”

Next day, Rhyphix reports ”Enemy Chatter Detected”. He later says: ”I've got another 27 WA nations moving in. For enforcement.”

Nine hours later, defenders moved in. In a dramatic first action, Jul hund *sets out egg nog and cookies for all*.

Gulden once again took the delegacy. Three weeks later, Niomez (who never posts on forums or the RMB) becomes delegate, keeping the peace for 68 days.

Jolly ole saint nick, who frequently held the delegacy throughout 2016, successfully held it again for Christmas. This time he stayed delegate for 83 days, the longest delegacy to that point. Speardame from The Invaders held the delegacy briefly on Christmas Eve, but not for long.

Jolly Ole Saint Nick had been working to improve the WFE. On 27 November 2016, the first external links were added.

He says "Adding the new links didn't seem enough with our MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! all alone. So I pondered. It seemed to me that Charlie Brown fit the place between the holiday celebration and the faiths involved. Christmas in NS should be for everyone, religious or not, raider or defender or otherwise. Respect should be given to all. And who can argue with "on earth peace, good will toward men" for Christmas? (I suppose Bears Armed might say it should say 'towards all sentient creatures' or something similar to be inclusive - a fair point in NS Christmas as a multi-species region.)"

So on 22 Dec 2016, more links were added, along with the Linus quote:

Merry Christmas!


| LinkCountdown to Christmas | LinkChristmas Music | | LinkSanta Tracker | LinkNorad Tracks Santa | LinkRudolf Racer Game | LinkChristmas Fireplace



"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Jolly Ole Saint Nick also set a Welcome telegram:

Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho!
Welcome to Christmas, %NATION%!

Feel free to pull up an igloo and make yourself at home. Christmas is a casual, neutral region, filled with nations of all types. If you'd like to know a little more about Christmas, take a look at the dispatch, A Brief History of Christmas.

A Happy Merry Christmas to you!

Snow stag also helped keep the season bright, running polls from December 2016 through to June 2017.

By summer 2017, Christmas was inactive, waiting to be haunted by the ghost of Christmas yet to come.

Read dispatch


I hope Santa's good to you all. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ContextReport