Elegarth

Bem-vindo ao Pacífico Ocidental

*Grave digging*

I only do this to feel shame of myself in 2013 

LOL

*Grave digging*

I only do this to feel shame of myself in 2013 

LOL

Archeological interest? 

Archeological interest? 

Hail the Crimson King! \o

Hail the Crimson King! \o

Your personality type is: Debater      ENTP-T
I have no clue what it all means, but that's what it says.

Firstly, I thank @Saint Mark. I joined NS at the time of Halo's reign as Delegate. He showed me that there was a lot more of NS beyond issues, and encouraged me to become a citizen and join the Discord server and forums. Although the delegate change happened not much time after that, I still remember Halo's delegacy, and I thank him for helping me.
I also thank @Ark for introducing me to Foreign Affairs, which was the first ministry I decided to join, and I thank @Bran Astor for being an amazing Delegate and helping me with the Speaker position after I was elected, such as giving me ideas on how to start the Regional Commendations.
Furthermore, I also thank @Reçueçn, @Elegarth, @TUMS and @Mediobogdum for being Trading Cards players that constantly trade cards with me and help keep the TWP Card Channel in Discord active. From all these card farmers, I think I should especially thank @Reçueçn for also encouraging me when I was seeking the last cards for my TWP S1 collection, giving me ideas to contact the players who had these rare cards, and showing me some tools to make card farming faster and less boring.
It is important to say, though, that those are all individual players. I thank the West Pacific as a whole for being a wonderful region! Without you all, TWP wouldn't be the same.

As part of The West Pacific's month-long recognition of Autism Spectrum Disorder, we present three essays from our friends on the spectrum.
Wymondham
          So, I suppose I should start by telling you all about myself. I’m Wymondham, Vizier of CA in Osiris, NSToday PR Director and Court Justice in Lazarus. But, I’m not here to talk about that. I was diagnosed with High Functioning Aspergers at age 13 and that helped explain a lot to me. However, to explain the rest of my story, we need to go back further to when I first started primary school aged 4. I had always found making friends difficult and the same was true at Primary school, I made 2 or 3 friends and was very close to all of them. I quickly found that, although I excelled at the work, I would misinterpret the teachers instructions and was often told off despite not really knowing what I had done wrong. When I got to the older years though I had an excellent teacher who seemed to really understand me and I cannot thank her enough for the ways she helped me. Whether it was from giving me instructions that I could follow and easily understand, to stretching me in terms of work difficulty by moving me up a year, which is an arrangement that I have continued to this day. Moving up to High School was difficult for me. I struggled very much to make friends and was bullied until the summer of last year. Without a diagnosis my teachers refused to make allowances for me. I got into a very heated row with my Head of House when he refused to give me some space to calm down following a fracas with another boy who had been mocking me because of my appearance. I’ve always struggled with expressing my feelings and, as such can often find opening up to people rather difficult. I was diagnosed aged 13 and it helped me understand a lot about myself. Suddenly certain things I didn’t understand why I did suddenly became a lot clearer and it has become a lot easier to develop strategies to control my often explosive anger. Routines are a major part of my day and since getting my diagnosis people have certainly been a lot more accepting off it. For example, when I go on discord, I will always say good morning to servers in a certain order: a friends personal discord server, followed by Osiris, then my two family servers, then Thalassia and finally Karma. Same goes for saying goodnight in PMs, I say goodnight to Rigel first and Altino last. I will have lunch at a certain time every day, go for my walk at precisely 2PM. Therefore, disruptions to my routine such as the Coronavirus can be extremely disorientating, I go to a boarding school which I find extremely useful due to the routine. Going home has required a readjustment to my routine and for the first week I was very very confused until I adjusted to the new normal. The internet and NS have been so useful for me as someone with Aspergers syndrome. It has given me the opportunity to interact with people without having to read facial expressions, which are the bane of my social existence - as a Brit I have grown up around Sarcasm so do not find that as difficult to deal with as other people with Aspergers. It has enabled me to meet people like Altino, Rigel, Halo, Rachael and Sho who have all helped me so much with my other mental health struggles which my tendency to hyperfocus does not exactly aid. So yeah, that’s me and Aspergers. If you’ve got any questions TG me or shoot me a discord PM (Wymondham#3478)
Dilber
          As a kid, I always was a little different.  I skipped speaking individual words and went straight to sentences.  My teachers told my parents I was far behind on reading, and that I had major learning disorders until all of a sudden, I could read paragraphs and was years ahead of my class.  When I was four years old, I was playing with a friend and he teased me mercilessly.  Instead of getting angry at the time, I waited a day, and then bit his finger to the bone.  My favorite book to read for years was volume A of the encyclopedia.  I received my initial diagnosis back when Aspergers was just added to the DSM.  My mom had read up about it, and was pretty sure I had it.  The psych, however, didn’t believe that it was a real disorder.  In the end, I was diagnosed with ADHD, Dysgraphia, and Non-verbal learning disorder.  I started therapy at 4 years old.  I don’t remember much of my early therapy, but one of the things I do remember was my writing therapist giving up on me.  I went to a writing therapist for four years, but by second grade I was using a laptop because the therapist didn’t know how to improve my motor skills.   I didn’t have a good experience with therapy until I was 8 years old, and we’d moved to a different city.  I got a fresh start with a new therapist that I would end up seeing for the next thirteen years.  Through middle school, I went to therapy 2-3 times a week.  I lacked very basic social skills and was unable to read people at all.  I was very young for my grade (made the cutoff for being in that grade by 2 days), and then skipped 4th grade.  My peers were 2-3 years older than me, and I just didn’t know how to interact with them.   Therapy was a very important part of my life and helped me learn how to function.  I was regularly bullied by some of the kids, and therapy helped me learn coping skills, and how to handle people.  I was very lucky to have incredibly supportive parents.  Therapy also taught me how to connect with my father.  We also conflicted when I was young, because he had issues understanding my actions.  I had a tendency to use my “logic” which no one else could understand where I came to the conclusion that something needed to be done.   The most common therapy that I did as a kid was “play” therapy.  The therapist and I would talk and play games, and he’d indulge all the rules changes I would make to the game.  This allowed me to open up more, and really helped me learn how to communicate.  Over time, I learned how to read body language better, while also getting really good at the made up version of connect 4 that we used to play.  I ended up repeating 8th grade, not for academic reasons but because I would have been going into high school as a 12 year old, and that would have made the bullying worse.  When I was 14 or 15, my psych admitted that I most likely had Asperger’s, but it wasn’t worth changing my diagnosis because it would mess with all the educational plans I had at school.  I would have been forced into special education classes, and taken out of my honors classes, and it would have really been detrimental to my social life that I’d finally managed to start developing.  In middle school and ninth grade, I always had a very small circle of friends but I started blossoming in tenth grade when I joined the school jazz band. Music helped me connect with people, and I was able to form close attachments with friends.  I still was the “weird” kid, but all of us were a little bit weird and that taught me it was ok.   Making friends was the next important step in development for me.  Back in middle school, I thought it was “cool” to sit by myself because it would impress the girls.  I wasn’t any smoother in high school, but navigating social groups and bonds helped set me up for the learning how to become a functional adult.  This was also around the time I got into Nationstates.  Nationstates was great because on the internet you could be anyone, and no one had to know your struggles if you didn’t want them to.  Nationstates taught me a lot about online communication at the same time I was really learning how to interact with people in-person.   The next step for me was in college when I got into Improvisational Comedy. One of my long running-struggles was a massive need for “structure”.  Without structure, I was unable to operate and basically shut down.  Improv taught me how to play around with-in the rules, before later learning how to break them.  This was a big improvement over me as a kid, where I once tattled on my cousin for buying me ice cream when my mom told her not to get it for me because I knew I broke the rule and it wasn’t right.   I’m now a “slightly weird” adult.  I had a conversation with a former co-worker that told me that when I was hired, they thought I was going to be incredibly annoying.  I had a tendency to want to talk while they were doing work and wouldn’t understand their body language that they wanted me to back off.  This was a really important learning for me, and I’ve told my co-workers to straight up tell me “hey, I need to do stuff.”  Therapy helped me learn how to read people, but when I get excited I still run into issues.  I hyper-focus on this, and I get really excited about stupid things and then explain it to my poor wife.  I got really into smart home technology, and now I own three smart ceiling fans.   It’s interesting to think of what I would have been like without years of work.  When people think of the spectrum, they think of what they’ve seen in movies.  Not everyone needs to live in a group home, but if they do that’s ok.  We all cope and learn to do things different ways.  My business partner was diagnosed with Autism as an adult, and it made a lot of things in his life “click”.  We have discussions because sometimes it feels like we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of our preferences to do things, but because our brains are different that “normal” people we can understand each other better.  Normal is a relative concept.  Most people have no idea that my friend or I are on the spectrum, and many would be surprised to find out.  There is a stigma attached to the spectrum that needs to be cleared up. People on the spectrum can be just as unique from each other as they are to neurotypical brains.   If you know someone with autism, just talk to them about it.  Ask about their preferences or why they said something.  Be gentle, be kind, and be understanding.  This doesn’t mean be a pushover. Being on the spectrum is not a license to be an asshole, and I thank my parents, friends, and coworkers for giving me boundaries.   Awareness of the spectrum is key for the future.  There’s a whole gap between the public perception of “group home” or “rain man”.   Awareness is really important, and I’m glad that people are starting to learn more.
Ithobbit
          I think a lot has been written by people close to Autism, quite a number of articles, studies, notes and even projects that heralded new insight as to what Autism (and the spectrum) is. Not so much (or at least published in great numbers or popular in nature) has been written by the autistic to tell their part. The new found use for Social media and Social networking has shifted the balance here, everyone can get a platform to shed light on the things close to their hearts and to be able to express themselves somewhat. We know what the DSM says about Autism: "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fifth Edition of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM 5)*, is a complex developmental disorder associated with symptoms that include "persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts" and "restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities." But, from the point of view of someone in the spectrum, what does that really mean? To me, being on what used to be called Asperger’s and now is just a part of the ASD, it means that certain things are FAR more important or worthy of attention than others. That I’ll settle in and be comfortable with certain tasks and situations, while being absolutely unable to cope with others, and for each one of us, these are different. My son, also on the spectrum will tirelessly research, learn and go on to teach if allowed anything and everything he can about video editing, cinema and movies. He’s dedicated dozens of hours to analyzing the differences in DVD (or BluRay) menu options between different versions of a movie, and will gladly share everything he knows about it if you just sit down “for a minute”. Some of us are very prone to bouts of “self isolation”, alone playtime, going into closets, under beds, or dark places. Others are hyper and love moving about and doing all sorts of physical activity, but one major thing we have in common is that social “awkwardness” that prevails over most of our interactions; be it that we miss social cues, we take things at face value, or simply, miss absolutely anything relating to sarcasm or innuendo because we only really register the words, not the nuances. Overall it makes daily things hard. People may take advantage of it (we trust a lot) or be afraid of our aloofness or possibly even they fear that we may become irate “over nothing”; quick hint here, very rarely it’s over nothing. We on the spectrum obsess easily, that’s a great gift for learning, but we also don’t let things go as fast as others. Someone making fun of you stays, sometimes even for years, which lends itself for some really hard times when forgiving a slight. Eating is another “fun” time. Some of us have issues with textures, some foods that are absolutely enjoyable by most, are actually retch producing and we need to work around that daily. It all is variable, and some people seem very far removed from “neurotypical” while others are far more functional, but sometimes none of us get a chance to show how or why. I’ve taken my son out of more schools than I care to admit, we’ve tried different systems, education patterns, teachers and methods, and only some work, and not all the time. We’ve had parents force our kid out of the classroom because they are afraid that their children may miss classes, have a hard time, or, in the worst cases “catch something”. It’s been 11 years of schooling, Jr has moved to seventh grade now, he’s moved out of the city and into a more rural environment, people are somehow more open there, teachers try to explore different ways, and the fact that there is more space and nature, has brought anxiety levels down on all of us. Not everyone is this lucky, we had a choice, we were able to move him to a place where people were willing to not just shy away, but reach out; in times like this, don’t we need a bit more of reaching out, albeit metaphorically if not actually?

It is ALWAYS Dilber's fault

I watch both, but I must admit that the Winter Olympics feel simple more magical. 

Crimson Press Release
From the Office of the Crimson King
The Crimson Order, Press Release #2
March 5, 2020

Greetings Friends and Members of The Crimson Order,
May the Sun shine down upon you with the Abundant Blessings of Max!
 
Reformation of The Crimson Order,
Phase Three: Ascension

Reformation of The Crimson Order out of the blessings of The Sacred Order have reached the third phase that brings the completion of the cycle of Reformation.

(For the short version of the directory of membership see this Dispatch:)
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1327822
 
Transcript of The Pageantry of The Ascension
The Fist Ascension
The College of Cardinals


The Ascension of The Cardinals that Are
The Crimson King gathered together the Four Translated Cardinals of The Sacred Order and prepared them for Ascension to The College of Cardinals of The Crimson Order. 
Part I.
The Cardinals of the now former Sacred Order were sent gifts from The Crimson King.
To Each of you I give the following:
A Horse of the Apocalypse,
A Hooded Robe of Crimson,
A Sash of Gold,
A Cloak of Inquisition,
A Scroll of Title,
A Seat in The College
And of course,
A Key to the liquor cabinet.
"Your Crimson Title is written upon your Scroll of Title. You may claim your Title, Position, and Authority by riding your Horses to the Entrance of The College of Cardinals. Climb the Seven Stairs, and hand your Scroll to The Herald that awaits you."
The Four Cardinals adorned themselves and mounted their Horses, following the golden path to The College.
Four Crimson robed figures approached the Gilded Marble entrance of The College of Cardinals, riding upon the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.
One by one, they dismounted their steeds and ascended the Seven Stairs. Each of the Seven Stairs is engraved with one of The Seven Concepts, the Foundations of The Crimson Order. As they approached the Grand Doorway, the Great Eye above the door rotated and gazed upon them.
The Guards upon either side of the Grand Doorway came to attention, and The Herald of The College walked forward from his post and called out in a loud voice, 'Halt! And be recognized!'
The first Crimson robed figure approached The Herald, removed the Scroll of Title from his sleeve and handed it to The Herald. Then pulled back the hood of his robe from his head.
The Herald untied, unsealed, unrolled, and scrutinized the parchment.  After a moment, The Herald looked up at the figure and nodded to him, then turned toward the Grand Doorway and called out, 'A Cardinal Approaches, Open!'
The great door opened silently, and light shone out from inside. The Herald again called out in a loud voice -  
"Behold! The Cardinal of the Most Evil, Bhang Bhang Duc!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
The second Crimson robed figure then approached The Herald, and again handed the Scroll of Title to The Herald, and tossed back the hood of her robe.
The processed continued as before, and again The Herald turned toward the Grand Doorway and called out, 
"A Cardinal Approaches! Behold! The Cardinal of Chocolate Righteousness, Darkesia!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
The third Crimson robed figure then approached, and handed the Scroll of Title to The Herald, and slid back the hood of his robe.
'A Cardinal Approaches! Behold! The Cardinal Protector of the West, Wickedly Evil People!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
The fourth Crimson robed figure then approached, laughed beneath his hood, handed the Scroll of TItle to The Herald, and refused to toss back the hood of his robe.
The Herald quirked an eyebrow as he untied, unsealed, and unrolled the scroll.
'A Cardinal Approaches! Behold! The Cardinal of the ƐէհҽɾҽąӀ Ꭰմղցҽօղʂ, Yy4u!"
The Cardinal then The College.
'Close the Door!' called out The Herald. "The Cardinals that Are have Ascended!"
Thus ended The First Ascension.
-------------------------------------------------
The Second Ascension

"That was the Ascension of the Cardinals that Are. Now Comes the Second Ascension, The Ascension of the Cardinals that Will Be!"
Dispatches were sent out to gather 'The Three That Will Be', and The Crimson King prepared them for their Ascension to The College of Cardinals of The Crimson Order. 
The Cardinals that Will Be were given their gifts from The Crimson King.
"To Each of you I give the following:
A Horse of the Apocalypse, (Yes, there are more than four. Foaled in the green and broad meadows of the Estates of the King.)
A Hooded Robe of Crimson,
A Sash of Gold,
A Cloak of Inquisition,
A Scroll of Title,
A Seat in The College,
And of course,
A Key to the liquor cabinet.
"You have each applied yourself, given your service, and displayed your love of NationStates and it's players. You have proven your understanding of The Seven Concepts. You have stood in patience, waiting upon the Universe, and now your time has come. 
"Your Crimson Title is written upon your Scroll of Title. You may claim your Title, Position, and Authority by riding your Horses to the Entrance of The College of Cardinals. Climb the Seven Stairs, and hand your Scroll to The Herald that awaits you."
The Three That Will Be adorned themselves and mounted their Horses, following the golden path to The College.
Three Crimson robed figures approached the Gilded Marble entrance of The College of Cardinals this time, riding upon Three Horses of the Apocalypse.
One by one, they dismounted their steeds and ascended the Seven Stairs. As before, as they approached the Grand Doorway, the Great Eye above the door rotated and gazed upon them.
The Guards upon either side of the Grand Doorway came to attention, and The Herald of The College walked forward from his post and called out in a loud voice,
'Halt! And be recognized!'
The first Crimson robed figure approached The Herald, removed the Scroll of Title from the inside pocket of his robe and handed it to The Herald. Then pulled back the hood of his robe from his head.
The Herald untied, unsealed, unrolled, and scrutinized the parchment.  After a moment, The Herald looked up at the figure and smiled towards him, then turned toward the Grand Doorway and called out,
'A Cardinal Approaches, Open!'
The great door opened silently, and the light shone out brightly from inside. The Herald again called out in a loud voice -  
"Behold! The Cardinal Dragon of Pacifican Menace, Elegarth!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
The second Crimson robed figure then approached The Herald, and again handed the Scroll of Title to The Herald, and tossed back the hood of his robe.
The process continued once again, and The Herald nodded and turned toward the Grand Doorway calling out,
"A Cardinal Approaches! Behold! The Cardinal Mediator of All Things, Mediobogdum!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
The third Crimson robed figure then approached, bowed and handed the Scroll of Title to The Herald, and flipped back the hood of his robe.
'A Cardinal Approaches! Behold! The Cardinal Confessor of Moral Obligations, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark!"
The Cardinal entered The College.
'Close the Door!' called out The Herald. "The Cardinals that Will Be have Ascended!"
Thus ended The Second Ascension.
--------------------------------
The Third Ascension

The Crimson King sat upon the Throne in The College of Cardinals and addressed those assembled.
"The Seven Cardinals have Ascended The Seven Stairs of The Seven Concepts and are hereby fully empowered with the Authorities of The College and Inquisition. May the Blessings of Max be upon you!
"With the Consent of The College, I Hereby appoint The Cardinal Dragon of Pacifican Menace Elegarth to be Regent of The College of Cardinals. The Regent shall also serve as a member of The Court of The Crimson King to represent The College.
Now comes The Third Ascension, the Introduction of The Knights and The Heroes.
The Herald of The College walked into the College and came to a stop, tapping his staff upon the marbled floor three times.
"My King and My Cardinals, I present to you, the Heroes of The Order"

Grand Hero of the Order, Prefect of Rebellion, and Headmaster of the Mystery of the Marsupial Conspiracy, TAO the Watcher
Lord Ambassador General and Hero of the Anti-Glitter Squad, Dalimbar
Champion Commander of the Order, Archsium
The Bishop of The Forbidden, Holy Keeper of the Pantheon of Flags, Tweedy
Holy Minister of Silly Walks, Tunapocalypse
"The Heroes of The Order are recognized by The Crimson King for their contributions to NationStates, it's regions, it's communities, and it's Spirit, in accordance with The Seven Concepts. Membership in The Crimson Order is not necessary for recognition as a Hero."
The King and Cardinals rose from their seats and applauded the Heroes.
The Herald again tapped his staff three times upon the marbled hall.
"My King and My Cardinals, it is also my privilege to present The Knights of the Order"

Westwind
Bhang Bhang Duc
Darkesia
Wickedly evil people
Mediobogdum
The Holy Principality of Saint Mark
"Knights of The Order are recognized for their military service to the benefit of NationStates."
The Herald then tapped his staff once upon the marbled hall, turned around walked out from The College.
Thus ended The Third Ascension.
--------------------------------
The Fourth Ascension

An attendant approached the Throne of the King and bowed before him while presenting Four Scrolls upon a Crimson pillow. The King took the scrolls and thanked the attendant who then withdrew.
"These are the first four Mystery School Charters of The Crimson Order."
The King signed and placed his seal upon each scroll as he announced each Mystery School.

The Mystery Schools
- The Mystery School of The Sacred Chocolatology, lead by Lady Darkesia
- The Mystery School of The Marsupial Conspiracy, lead by Headmaster TAO The Watcher
- The Mystery School of The Sacred Numerology, described by The Ancient Sacred Texts of The Crimson Order
- The Mystery School of The Warrior's Path, lead by Nagual Westwind
The King stood and handed the Charters to each of The Mystery Schools to their leaders, and placed the Charter of The Mystery School of The Sacred Numerology upon the Bookcase of Ancient Sacred Texts that resides in The College.
"These Mystery Schools, and those that are to come, represent the many concepts, ideas, and philosophies that are found all across NationStates. These and more support The Seven Concepts of The Crimson Order."
The King returned to the Throne.
Thus ended The Fourth Ascension
_______________________
The Fifth Ascension

"The Fifth Ascension is the beginning of the Many Ascensions to come. It is the Ascension of the Individual and Regional Members of The Crimson Order, who are those that have given their Agreement and Assent to The Seven Concepts."
"Four regions of NationStates have applied given their assent thus far, and The Crimson Order is Honored to accept their application with appreciation for their contributions to NationStates. The first four member Regions of The Crimson Order are:
The Crimson Order
The Watchtower
NEW TAO ORDER
Equilism
May Max and ADMIN bless and keep each of our member Regions!"
Applications for Individual and Regional membership are now being accepted.
Assent to The Seven Concepts and Approval of the King is all that is required for membership.
-------------------------------------------
Thank you for your kind attention, this concludes Phase Three of the Reformation of The Crimson Order.

Order has Arrived.
May the Blessings of Max and ADMIN be upon each and every one of you!
Hail The Crimson Order!
The Crimson King, Westwind
Duke of Zhoushan and Youxia of The West Pacific
Emeritus Rex and Co-Founder of Equilism
Founder of The Watchtower
"Former Everything"
 

Hail the Crimson King!

I can bring free vodka xD

Hail the Crimson Order! Hail the Crimson King!
 
o/

It’s Drunken Conquerors - what do you expect? Backed up by that other perennial dirtbag Block.

Man that white list proposal is so disgusting

Man that white list proposal is so disgusting

o/ @Bran Astor
o/ @Saint Mark
TWP continues its path towards a glorious future

o/ @Bran Astor
o/ @Saint Mark
TWP continues its path towards a glorious future

o/ @Bran Astor
o/ @Saint Mark
TWP continues its path towards a glorious future

That's cuz you are heavy in the cool end...

Sounds good to me!

++Grave digging++
I don't see the need to make another introduction thread to be honest, lol.

So my intention is to come back to full activity within NS and TWP, and hence I have just posted my application as citizen (which, iirc, I had resigned to a few months ago to take care of stuff).
 
Likewise, however, and while the regions of The Pacific and The West Pacific currently do not have formal foreign relationships, I'd like to be recognized as the current Foreign Affairs Envoy of The Pacific to TWP, at least in case that you need to officially communicate any diplomatic info to us. This is, of course, a formality only, and it is not intended in any was as a normalization of relationships.

So, hello, and thanks for all the fish!