Update History

[frattastan]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Frattastan
| Culture Officer: Harmoneia | Foreign Affairs Officer: Guy |
| Outreach Officer: MargiBoof | Officer without portfolio: Crazy Girl
Speaker of the Assembly: Vulturret
Diplomatic Announcement about the NPO

In the wake of allegations concerning the role of high-ranking members of the New Pacific Order in infiltrating and destabilising other game-created regions, and in hiding players shunned by the rest of the NationStates community, The Rejected Realms has closed its embassy with The Pacific.
The government statement on the topic can be found here. No further action is expected to be taken at this time.


An Islands TRReaty



Tourism from TRR to the 10000 Islands is expected to increase following the signature of their treaty.

Last month the Rejected Realms ratified the 10000 Islands – The Rejected Realms Treaty of Friendship, capping months of negotiations over the Treaty.

10000 Islands and The Rejected Realms have a long history of friendship and cooperation. On the military field, the regions had for years jointly participated in and coordinated joint defender operations through their respective militaries, and moreover regularly assisted each other in Delegate transitions and times of need. Cultural exchange and synergy between the regions has increased dramatically in recent times, setting the stage for a comprehensive treaty between the regions. This is not the first time a treaty is considered between the two regions – 10000 Islands participated in the negotiations of the XYZ Treaty, a multilateral treaty between defender regions, but ultimately did not sign it.

The Treaty thus sets in writing what the parties have already been doing for a long time, formally enshrining their close relations. It requires the parties to afford to each other diplomatic recognition, maintain diplomatic relations, provide military aid to each other, share relevant intelligence, cooperate in the World Assembly on certain proposals and undertake joint cultural initiatives.

In TRR, the treaty was ratified by a vote of 15-6, with six abstentions. While there was broad support for the treaty, an area of contention emerged relating to 10000 Islands’ policies on the participation of invaders in its community. An agreement was reached between the regions that all citizens be allowed to participate in joint cultural events irrespective of military alignment. This agreement was seen as insufficient by some members of TRR due to 10000 Islands’ general proscription on invader participation in the region.

TRR is confident that the treaty will see even closer links between our regions emerge, building on the existing strong bonds that have been formed over the past years. We congratulate our partners in 10000 Islands on this joint achievement, and we are excited to see what the future has in store for our regions.
Written by Guy
First RejectVision Edition Takes Place

Following the storied traditions of Eurovision and FRAvision, the Rejected Realms hosted its very own song competition: RejectVision. For the competition, Rejects and others were invited to enter any song they wanted to be judged by the other entrants. Unlike recent editions of FRAvision and Raidervision, they were not required - or even encouraged- to be original songs performed by the entrants.

RejectVision lasted two weeks from November 4th to November 18th with one week for entering and one week for voting. In all, there were an impressive 23 entries that ran the genre gamut from indie to metal to pop and even what has been dubbed “free form freak-out” a.k.a random noise. In order to aid participants in ranking the songs, a listening party was hosted on the TRR discord with the help of a music bot. Over those 2 hours, most everyone had a good time and bonded over music and conversation.

As for the final results, the tallies were done by the host, Deadeye Jack. In a not at all nefarious coincidence (honest!), Deadeye Jack’s entry ended up running away with RejectVision victory. Given the success of the event, it’s likely we will see future RejectVisions sometime soon. Below are the top three entries for reference:

1st Place: Deadeye Jack with 106 points Silver Lining by Mt Joy
2nd Place: Harmoneia with 83 points K by Cigarettes After Sex
3rd Place: Altasund with 69 points Old Fashioned by Panic! at the Disco

For a full view of all the entries and results you can read the RejectVision thread on the TRR forums: viewtopic.php?f=73&t=10029982
Written by Deadeye Jack
This is Halloween: Z-Day & More

Like every Z-Day, TRR gets plenty involved and still has time for Halloween festivities. This year we not only participated in Z-Day, we watched the cult classic horror film “Halloween”, held a zombie-themed flag contest, and a horror-themed short-story writing competition.

This Z-Day, we decided to embrace the horde. We themed ourselves after revenge-hungry Rejects furious about being banjected. Before you could say “BRAINS!”, almost all of TRR was zombified. In fact, we were #1 on the leaderboard for Most Infected and Most Dead. At first, there were quite a few residents attempting a cure, but we easily infected them!

In addition to participating in Z-Day, TRR watched “Halloween” to celebrate Halloween. For those who don't know, Halloween is a cult classic horror film about a serial killer named Michael Myers from Illinois who is constantly prowling for his next victim.

Lastly, TRR held two horror themed contests, one was a short-story contest, and one was a flag contest. Quite a few interesting pieces were entered for both contests, but only one person could win each one. Eventually, Glacikaldr/Nequedum/PowerPAOK was named the winner of the flag contest and Deadeye Jack the winner of the short-story contest.
Written by Marilyn Manson
Other news

• Delegate Frattastan has challenged the LKE Emperor Emeritus to a bake-off, to finally settle the longstanding dispute between defenders and imperialists. We eagerly await his reply.
• Harmoneia has started a book club for people with short attention spans. Reads so far have been The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, and Carbon by Primo Levi.
• General elections to elect the four government officers are ongoing at the time of this writing, and are scheduled to end on December 9. The candidates are Deadeye Jack, Marilyn Manson, Kyorgia, Vulturret, and Catalyse.

[Manson]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Deadeye Jack
| Culture Officer: PowerPAOK | Foreign Affairs Officer: Neop |
| Outreach Officer: The Pharcyde | Media Officer: Bormiar
Speaker of the Assembly: An_Dr_Ew
Rejectmas 2019: A Celebration to Remember


Deputy Officer Morover takes a quick nap on the floor of his apartment after a long day of cleaning Dramoon-colored stains out of the carpets of Capitol buildings.

The turn of the decade was greeted by the Rejected Realms’ annual hairy and very smooth Rejectmas Festival, flaunting a gusto that rivalled its popularity back when the event ran in conjunction with the NationStates’ World Fair. We invite you to learn more about the holiday’s traditions here or to consult our brief checklist.

With the regional holiday officially running from December 26 to January 1, our Culture Department prepared a series of ten activities for Rejectmas Festival 2019, hosted gameside, forumside and on our discord server.

Hosted Gameside, we had a poll-run popularity Unicorn Jousting tournament, where contestants came up with unique unicorns to represent their nations and competed in elimination play-offs. Congratulations to The Church of Satan whose sponsees, Rudolphon the Reindragon and Duke Christmas Goodknight, secured the title of Unicorn Jouster of 2019. The Lord of Misrule was also in full effect over on our RMB, causing what was essentially state-sanctioned chaos upon the region. Yet, do not let this description fool you, as the rules were strict and even more strictly enforced. A summary of the damage, in the form of suppressions and rule-inspired posts, as well as all the misrules throughout, can be seen here. Lastly, we also ran the Rejectmas Flag Guild.

Over on our discord server, we ran two games of Escadian Battleship. The first was played using the Classic gamemode, and was later converted into a dispatch that narrates and gives justice to the experience, found here. The second is where we tested an early version of the new expansion gamemode, which has now officially launched through The Rejected Times’ Issue LV as the Werewolf Expansion.

Turning our attention forumside, we saw the return of some old activities as well as some new and exciting additions; we saw the return of our old Rejectmas Tree, the return of Rejection Apologies, and our 3rd annual Rejectmas Chess Tournament, joined by the three new inclusions of Online Dixit, Pin the Tail uncovering the tail of the true Greymarshes’ Unicorn, and our popular group-led game of AI Dungeon. Congratulations to outboundstagnate for becoming our 2019-2020 Rejectmas Chess Champion, usurping Delegate Dead I Jack!


Unicorn Star Treaty Ratified

In a time of prosperity, The North Pacific and The Rejected Realms have come together again in order to draft a new treaty between the two regions. On December 9, 2019, with margins significantly in favor, The Unicorn Star Treaty was ratified.

A closer relationship with The North Pacific was a goal of the leadership of The Rejected Realms for quite some time. After cooperating with each other for N-Day, for the Epic Gamer Party, and to combat the coup perpetrated against our mutual allies,The East Pacific, it ultimately came to fruition this past December. Then Delegate Kyorgia and Foreign Affairs Officer Deadeye Jack worked with their TNP counterparts to write a new treaty that included mutual defense and built on the provisions of the old, non-aggression pact, The Unicorn Star Accord. In effect, the new treaty was simply a rise in relations to a formal alliance.

In the process of ratification, the treaty was very well-received on both sides, being ratified with 17 votes in favor and no against votes or abstentions in TRR, and 27 votes in favor, 4 abstentions, and no against votes in TNP.

We at The Rejected Realms are excited about this new alliance, and we are even more excited to see where the future will take our relationship with The North Pacific.


Electoral Dysfunction

The Assembly has been abuzz with various threads this past month. But, why? I'll take “Election Season” for 1000, Alex.

Several candidates lined up for the nomination/declaration processes, the first of which was for Officer Elections and began on November 30. Manson, New Wight, Glacikaldr (PowerPAOK/Nequedum), Neop, The Pharcyde, and Bormiar all made it through this process, but the latter four were the ones to come out victorious in the Officer Elections.

Not nearly as fiercely competitive, the Delegate Election was won by Deadeye Jack in a landslide victory. Early on in the nomination process, it seemed very likely of Jack to run unopposed. However, to combat this while retaining a sense of good sportsmanship, An_Dr_Ew (Gorundu) decided to run for the position of Delegate as well for the heck of it. Despite losing, An_Dr_Ew kept their chin up. This was not the last we saw of them in the election ring.

With the Delegate Election coming to a close on December 12, the Speaker Election was not much far ahead; its nomination cycle began on December 31. Two familiar citizens announced their candidacies for Speaker. The first being An_Dr_Ew, and the second being Morover. On January 9, the voting period had come to a close. With six votes to Morover's five, An_Dr_Ew had won the tightly contested election and filled the role of Speaker.

Congratulations to our newly-elected Officers, Speaker, and Delegate.


Flag History Project Launched


We're not even sure when this flag was flown over the region… (Flag made by Cuatela/A Raptor)

Regions change over time, and as a result of this, so do their flags. As far as many people are concerned, documentation is essential to the preservation of these remnants of a time long passed. It's evident that Culture Officer Glacikaldr (also known as PowerPAOK and Nequedum) had preservation in mind when he started The Rejected Realms' very own Flag History Project.

Revealed to the public on December 12, 2019, the Flag History Project is a program dedicated to archiving and documenting each notable flag flown over the region, at one time or another. Striving for accuracy, Glacikaldr has begun to list details about the flags that some would consider unnecessary. For example, he has collected information on when the flags were first flown, when they were made, and who crafted them.

Historically, The Rejected Realms is a storied region. The Flag History Project has seemed to be a worthy cause and does well in its initial task of making citizens knowledgeable about our past as a region. Here is what a couple of citizens had to say about the program:

I believe pursuing knowledge of our historical change and continuity is essential in understanding of The Rejected Realms' culture, and that the Flag History Project, while it may be difficult, is a beneficial way of achieving this.

Vexillology is as much an artform as it is a field of study. One only need look at the continued appeal of heraldry to understand that symbols and images continue to be one of the most effective ways a person has to convey, at a distance and in a moment, who they are, and for what reason they are here. The basic rules of vexillology, well-known to any of the game's RP communities, are designed around the idea of a flag as a self-descriptive, self-contained, immediate identity-in-motion. It is no small coincidence that here on NationStates, our least-used rule is the one that 'flags must be flag-like' - they continue to be a statement more of ourselves than of the game. The Flag History Project is a groundbreaking initiative that continues on what, so long ago, was recognized by defenders - that flags are worth preserving. It recognizes the reality that a flag is, uniquely, its own interpretive context, and in continuity with each other an evocative timeline of TRR's personality and collective identity. An image is worth a thousand words, but a gallery is an entire history.

No matter where the future takes The Rejected Realms, we must not forget our past. Mementos such as flags are not the limit. However, they're an excellent place to start.


Other news

• Two horrific reanimated corpses have been found wandering around The Rejected Realms harassing citizens. Oh wait, it's just Sedge and CG!
• Popmaster has made a comeback.
• >_>!

[Nequedum]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Deadeye Jack | Culture Officer: Sarah Bread | Foreign Affairs Officer: Kyorgia | Outreach Officer: Bowshot118 | World Assembly Officer: Bormiar | Speaker of the Assembly: Chimes

Double election bonanza
By Kyorgia


Kyorgia being announced as the winner of his officer seat

On April 5th Rejects once again headed to the ballot box to decide who would govern them for the next four months. However this election was different than most since there was elections for both officers and the speaker of the assembly.

The election was one of the most contested in recent memory with six people running for four officer positions and two people running for the speakership. incumbents Sarah Bread, Bormiar and Manson ran for reelection, with Bowshot, Kyorgia and Agalaesia also running for the position. Following a close vote Sarah Bread and Bormiar was reelected and Bowshot and Kyorgia also being elected. Sarah was made culture officer moving over from outreach the previous term, Bormiar was given the new World assembly officer role (you will be able to read about that later in the update), Bowshot was made outreach officer and finally Kyorgia was made the foreign affairs officer.

The speaker election was less contested than the officer but no less important to the region. At the end of the challenge period there was two people running for the position, Former speaker Fauxia and Chimes (also known as Jamie). In the end Jamie won in a landside victory of 14 to 1.

World Assembly Affairs: A new start for TRR?
By Morover


Officer Bormiar informing the region of the latest World Assembly resolution

The Rejected Realms has gone through a rather large internal change recently! In the recent officer election, candidate Bormiar ran and won on a primarily World Assembly Affairs-based platform. This has sparked a large shift in the internal structure of TRR, as the Media Officer is replaced with a World Assembly Officer - a vast expansion of the department of the World Assembly.

Applications for becoming a staff member of the Rejected Realms World Assembly Department have since opened, and the summarizations released by Morover prior to the election have been replaced with a more descriptive pros/cons list, the first few of which have just recently been rolled out. The WA Ping program which was in place prior to Bormiar's election is still in place, and you can be added to it by contacting either Bormiar or Morover with the request.

Alongside the new pros/cons list, there has been the addition of World Assembly logs, which track and congratulate people for discussing and voting on the on-site threads for at-vote World Assembly proposals.

While it is still early in development, this addition should expand the activity of forumside interaction with the World Assembly. How the Rejected Realms World Assembly Department will prosper and grow is yet to be seen - but so far, good things have come of it and better things still should continue to arise.

Internal discussion surrounding The Rejected Times
By Bormiar


Citizens calmly discussing The Reject Times' matters

Over the past months, the Rejected Realms has been working on World Assembly development, including the creation of a WA Ping Program, WA Voting Awards, and a collection of pros and cons to assist voters. When delegate Dead I Jack decided that there was enough work in the World Assembly to justify its own officer position, he would have to replace something with it. Per the constitution, only four officers may be elected at one time. Of the contemporary officer positions, Outreach, Culture, Foreign Affairs, and Media, only Media had its own internal community that could manage the Rejected Times. Dead I Jack appointed Bormiar as World Assembly Officer and opened up a discussion in the Assembly for how TRT management will continue.

While Dead I Jack and the rest of the government had originally postulated that because the government usually runs TRT, the new head of TRT, the Editor-in-Chief, would be appointed externally from TRT, such as by election. The Grim Reaper quickly attempted to legislate a TRT head elected internally, but this came under fire as TRT was made by the TRR people and created by the government. Additionally, the elected head would have the power to edit the TRT staff members, thus being able to adjust the voter base to defend their position. The other side cited the RRA’s separation from the government (the RRA was created before the government, rather than by it) and claimed that they required editorial independence in order to create unbiased news (TRT is not independent). They also noted that the Editor-in-Chief was already a position, albeit not used. Other ideas, such as a treaty between TRT and government popped up. The delegate continued to manage all the different ideas to help the discussion.

The discussion brought forth a “Constituting Act of the Rejected Times” by the Grim Reaper to address the devoid lack of legal structure behind TRT. The legislation declares the Editor-in-Chief as the head of TRT who will be appointed by the delegate but has the ability to be challenged by a citizen and vacated by the assembly. The Church of Satan and Dead I Jack, two citizens who had originally been in staunch disagreement, worked to create this draft based on Grim’s original proposal that makes the amendation to force the Editor-in-Chief to have to be a TRT staffer, and only allows the EIC to be vacated by supermajority vote. Other proposals, such as one from Gorundu and the Church of Satan’s draft, which interestingly attempted to enshrine the rank system into law and appointed the EIC through senior staff members being nominated by the TRT staff and confirmed by the Assembly. Grim’s proposal gained traction, however, and will go to vote eventually upon a second by another citizen.

RRA promotions announced
By Frattastan


Commander Karputsk rallying the troops for a liberation

Taking advantage of Commander Wopruthien's absence the rest of the RRA's leadership seized the moment to purge him, reducing him to 'honourary' status and leaving him with a worthless thank-you note for his years of service and valuable contributions while treating him as the lowest common soldier. At the same time a few promotions have been announced.

Karputsk of FRA fame, stellar liberation commander and arguably one of the best defenders around at this moment, is now devoting his full attention to the RRA after a few months spent in the wilderness. He has been promoted to Commander, the army's second highest rank, being the first person to achieve this in more than half a decade.

Sarah, best known as the incumbent Culture Officer of TRR, has been made a Lieutenant. While newer to gameplay compared to some other RRA officers and soldiers, she has shown more initiative and goodwill than anyone else, and we believe she will bring her superb organisational skills to the table, along with more traditional update-leadership abilities. And all this from a phone!

Finally, Jamie has been made a Sergeant. Returning to the game only recently and showing renewed enthusiasm, Jamie attended an impressive 64 updates between April and May, often taking the lead during major updates and trying his hand at triggering. This promotion is no surprise, despite his disturbing love of detags.

Karp, Sarah and Jamie have already been at work to build upon the RRA's current strengths, making sure we continue to be an effective force in the good fight, a fun place to be in, and that we can represent TRR well. Ongoing internal changes include a revamping of training materials and protocol, and a dubious commitment by High Commander Frattastan to use at least one exclamation mark in each statement.

Rumours that Crazy girl came back for a single day to declare herself as "Supreme High Commander" so she can "outrank everyone" are complete lies, also.

In other news:

• Between January 19th and January 26h the fourth edition of TRRs very own music show Rejectvision was held with Kyorgia being announced the winner with the song “typisk Norsk”.
• On March 12th another meme contest was held in the region with delegate Dead I Jack winning with this meme.
• On March 15th a short story competition was held in the region with Nakarisaune being declared the winner.
• The Reject Awards 2019 winners have been announced. Congratulations to all the winners!

[Nequedum]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Sarah Bread
| Culture Officer: DeadEye Jack| Foreign Affairs Officer: Catalyse|
| Outreach Officer: Robespierre| World Assembly Officer: Makdon
Speaker of the Assembly: Chimes Delegate is Toast

Rejects's greatest fears have come true as #bread coup, a movement, and some would say conspiracy, that sought to replace every reject with a bread version of themselves, became a reality when on the 12th of July Sarah Bread became the new delegate.

The newly elected breadoligarch and former culture officer won with 20 votes on the second round, while the second place was awarded to Bormiar, former officer, known mostly as the "WA-person" and most likely a dog. Other candidates included perennial candidate, John Laurens, whose joke candidacy, much to the chagrin of joke candidate fans, did not get enough traction for him to win the election and resigning right after. It has happened before, maybe it could happen again.

A fourth candidate, and possibly second joke candidate, though their ways remain mysterious to us, so we're not sure if we should assign humorous intent to anything they've done, Puppet2 was removed from the ballot after under a different alias, Holor/Bataus Novak, attempted to gain citizenship, which led the Citizenship Council to remove their citizenship, and upon appeals, the removal was maintained.

Officer Elections

Summer is election season in The Rejected Realms, and soon after the election of a new Delegate, Speaker of the Assembly Jamie made the due preparations for the Officer elections, standing for ninety-six straight hours in front of the assembly hall playing a flute in an attempt to get the attention of any would-be candidate. His shepherding was successful, and eight candidates emerged from the Assembly's floor, albeit no incumbent officer was entranced by the Speaker's song.

The candidates were DeadEye Jack, culture and events maverick and previous delegate who refuses to give off of his culture policy decision making even after he's done being Delegate, Robespierre, who promised to revolutionize the way Foreign Affairs are done in TRR and to also do a head counting and see if there's any superfluous one, Lansaka, aspiring Outreach Officer and TRR's very own first let's player, Gorundu, who promised to terminate a very particular embassy, and other things too, he said, Mekhet, former Delegate and resident K-popevangelizer who vowed to enact a campaign of terror on the region's RMB, Catalyse, who due to conflict interest we have been informed we may not describe in very accurate and agreeable terms, Makdon, who is very not the same person as the former WA Officer, and Dolphin, whose only highlight is that we had no recollection they were a candidate prior to writing this.

After four days of interminable ballot submissions, one candidate abandoning the race and another never having appeared on the campaign trail, the results were out. The winners were DeadEye Jack, TRR's event oligarch was returned to his role as Culture Officer on the promise of following a very precise schedule of cultural activities, accruing enough votes to defeat all candidates on the first round, Catalyse, who won on the promise of keeping things very much the same in Foreign Affairs, Robespierre, who dueled Catalyse on the counting and recounting of votes and was assigned Outreach, and Makdon, who has continued former WA Officer Bormiar's program in the relatively newly established position of WA Officer.

"My cultural agenda is full right now, can we do something next year?"

Fresh back into a government seat after his Delegate term, culture maestro Deadeye Jack announced an ambitious plan to integrate several initiatives, old and new, into a weekly calendar of activities. Some happen onsite, others on Discord. Some were already staples of TRR's cultural scene, some had been done before not on a regular basis, and some are brand new.

The week starts with the controversial Wacky RMB Rule Day, an exercise in arbitrary tyranny where all messages not following a randomly made-up rule are suppressed. Some will say that it's the kind of idea that would have made Jeffersonborg proud, but I believe it's a reflection on how nonsensically oppressive power can get under the guise of 'law'. Whatever it is, watching people trying to make their posts rhyme or include colours can be pretty funny.

We move to Discord on Tuesday, where people fashion their avatars and nicknames for Theme Day, with the most original combination earning a symbolic recognition. Recent winners include Catalyse's killer car tire for the category 'villains', and Gorundu's impersonation of outboundstagnate for the theme 'orange'. If you don't remember outbound, lucky you.

If you consider yourself a problem-solver and love logic-based games you're certain to enjoy Puzzle Day on Wednesdays, when we publish a game of Boggle, sudoku or a cryptogram for anyone to solve. And lovers of NS cards should make sure to tune on Thursdays, when they can send to Jack a card that they own and that fits in a specific theme, with the first few people doing so earning an Epic card in return.

Fridays are for the time-tested idea of Community Nation Issue Answering, where people vote on how to answer issues for The Unicornian Isles. Many regions have done this before, but it never stops being entertaining. Contrary to the expectations of many, biker gangs haven't been spotted yet, but the industrious and fiercely patriotic Unicornians already live in a paradise of compulsory nudity and violent sports. Definitely how TRR would be if it were a nation.

Greater free time on weekends allows for more elaborate events.
Saturday is for Trivia Day, and our most famous trivia is Popmaster, the ever-popular contest (organised in turn by various citizens, or even non-citizens) where we gather in voice chat to listen to songs and guess artists and titles. Actually winning it is hard since you'll have to beat Nakari and Jamie's musical knowledge, but it can still be a nice way to pick up more tunes, goof around with your regionmates, and occasionally torture your family members. In addition to this, Jack has been trying to diversify a bit the scope of trivias, and we recently had runs for Cinemaster (guessing movies from stills) and a history trivia focused on the French Revolution.

Finally, on Sunday we all relax with some games on Discord, with Werewolf, Spyfall, and Codenames making an appearance so far. These are all well-known board games which involve deduction and a little bit of creativity, and a good way to bond with your regionmates (or maybe get angry at them).

Whatever you enjoy best, make sure to check The Rejected Realms. We'll be sure to have something for you.

[Nequedum]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Sarah
| Officer of Culture: Nakari | Officer of Foreign Affairs: Nequedum |
| Officer of the World Assembly: Jamie | Officer Without Portfolio: Robespierre |
Speaker of the Assembly: Dyl

Birth of TRR's Diplomatic Corps in earnest
By Nequedum


Neq holding a press conference after a long meeting with his secretary, Ann

Although our ambassadors have long been referred to internally as our Diplomatic Corps, our recent embassy assignment overhaul and adoption of new expectations have led to the birth of the Corps in earnest.

For you, this overhaul means either someone new has been assigned as your ambassador after preferencing your region highly or your continuing ambassador has had some of their prior ambassadorial duties divvied out and can now focus more time on our friendship with your region.

As for how our new expectations will play out, you are going to be seeing our ambassadors a lot more! Our ambassadors will continue to play their pivotal role of delivering our Foreign Updates, keeping you up-to-date on all things the Rejected Realms from upcoming events to the latest happenings, but they will also now be inviting you to our events in your RMB (and Discord servers) in a more consistent fashion. We want to build an enduring relationship with you that goes beyond posting infrequent updates!

We hope this more personalised experience will encourage more of our allies and friends to attend our regional holiday celebrations as well as participate in our interregional and invitational projects, such as The Rejected Times' Outlander Program. We look forward to seeing much more of you as well!

Officer Elections Conclude in the Rejected Realms
By Aga (from The Rejected Times)


Speaker Dyl removing Minsk after he was eliminated

The Rejected Realms' December 2020 Officer elections concluded on the 9th of December, with Nakari, Jamie, Robespierre, and Nequedum emerging victorious, in that order. Nakari was assigned the role of Officer of Culture, Nequedum made Officer of Foreign Affairs, Jamie given Officer of the World Assembly, and Robespierre assigned as "Officer without Portfolio".

The elections were highly competitive, with Kral and Minskiev also running. You can read more, including coverage on each of the elected Officers' campaigns, from The Rejected Times in Brief News III.

Your Invitation to Rejectmas 2020
By Nakari


Neq having a serious chat with Rejects about keeping AI Dungeon contributions PG this year

We invite you to celebrate another hairy and smooth Rejectmas with us!

Every year, from 26th December to 1st January, the Rejected Realms celebrates Rejectmas. This is a holiday to celebrate being a Reject! (Though non-Rejects are welcome to join in, of course.)

Activities will again be divided between gameside, discordside, and forumside (yes, discordside is a thing now, shush!).

Gameside we have the Lord of Misrule taking over our RMB, a Card scavenger hunt, and a flag contest where the winner will have their flag flown during New Year's Day! Discordside we have a Home Alone movie night on the 29th and a game of Popmaster on the 26th! And last but not least, forumside we are yet again decorating the Rejectmas Tree, adventuring thanks to AI Dungeon, and running our 4th annual chess competition!

Show Rejectmas 2020 some love by upvoting our dispatch, and keep an eye on the dispatch as links and updates are added throughout the holiday.

Sneak Peek: Harry Potter and the Festival of Friends
By Nequedum



Harry Potter and the Festival of Friends, this year brought to you by the Rejected Realms, 10000 Islands, Greater Dienstad, The East Pacific, and The South Pacific, will be taking place once again. From the 30th of December to the 6th of January, there will be everything you have come to expect and much much more!

Activities will include art and writing competitions, Yule Ball roleplay, a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game, multiple movie nights (I bet you can guess what we'll be watching), and a whole range of games!

The Discord server will be advertised on the 28th, allowing for sorting to commence—although Slytherin will no doubt win again.

In other news:

• Updated embassy guidelines and an improved FAQ have been released.
• The Discarded Card League, TRR's regional card program, has launched with membership open to non-Rejects.
• The Rejected Times' Outlander Program welcomes article submissions from non-staff and even non-residents! You may also like to subscribe to The Rejected Times.

[Dyl]

Visit our Discord and our Forum

WA Delegate: Jamie
| Officer of Culture: Nakari | Officer of Foreign Affairs: Glacikaldr |
| Officer of Outreach: Agalaesia | Officer of World Assembly: Robespierre |
Speaker of the Assembly: Dyl

TRR Government Unrocks the Boat
By Glacikaldr


Delegate Jamie sharing their family's experience the following morning.

Following the December 2020 Officer elections, former Delegate Sarah introduced the Officer Without Portfolio position in place of the Officer of Outreach to appease Officer Robespierre who had no interest in Outreach, assuming Outreach duties herself.

However, this changed upon the election of Delegate Jamie on January 25, 2021. The former Officer Without Portfolio, Officer Robespierre, was now happy to take the Delegate's prior role, Officer of World Assembly. Agalaesia was later elected uncontested for the vacant position of Officer of Outreach.

Hence, the Rejected Realms' (TRR) is now enjoying a return to normalcy: where the Delegate may proceed with their duties unhampered by overseeing the Department of Outreach, which is now led by a dedicated Officer of Outreach instead, and the Officer Without Portfolio role remains no more. But were these both the right decisions?

Hypothetically, having a delegate also act as the Officer of Outreach can increase a delegate's emotional attachment to and personal stake in the successful integration of the gameside community into the citizenry. As for the Officer Without Portfolio role, it presented an unprecedented opportunity. The Officer Without Portfolio enjoyed the freedom of not having an established department to oversee, allowing for creativity to flourish.

Delegate Jamie, justifying this unrocking of the boat, explained: "Listen, it's late. To be frank, I simply made that decision because the currently elected Officers' interests lay in the more traditional Officer roles. I didn't forcefully get rid of the Officer Without Portfolio position! Can you please just leave me and my family alone now?! Hey, stop throwing rocks through our windows!"

In future, there may be an Officer candidate who stands with a first preference for Officer Without Portfolio. It remains to be seen whether the region will be able to reap much reward from such a role in action for a full term.

Meet the Partnership for Sovereignty
By Glacikaldr


The Partnership's logo, which invokes shields
forming a quasi-testudo, utilising the
color psychology of blue.

On January 26, 2021, the Partnership for Sovereignty was announced in a dedicated NationStates Gameplay subforum thread alongside its Charter.

The Partnership for Sovereignty is a Security Council voting bloc created to defend the values of self-determination, positive community, and respect for the World Assembly (WA) and its processes. Its member regions agree to collaborate to set voting recommendations in line with the principles of the Partnership and to coordinate campaigns on relevant proposals.

The Partnership's current member regions include 10000 Islands, The South Pacific, The Union of Democratic States, The Free Nations Region, Spiritus, and us, TRR.

Importantly, member regions are not required to have their WA Delegates vote according to the recommendations. As we attempt to ensure member regions generally share similar values, this was considered unnecessary. Instead, the real value of this voting bloc for its founding member regions comes from having access to the necessary infrastructure to run larger and more impactful WA campaigns.

If your region is interested in joining the Partnership for Sovereignty or wishes to explore possible collaborations, please flag this with WA Delegates from the current member regions.

Cards, Cards, Cards! Cards Everywhere!
By Jamie



TRR officially launched its card scheme on November 13, 2020. This scheme, The Discarded Card League, seeks to both complement and encourage the growth of the card community beginning to form in TRR. The scheme, open to all resident nations, relies on voluntary donations that, in turn, fund awards and competitions. However, as the scheme's founder, I also regularly 'farm' cards to keep the deck of our card nation stocked with a desirable selection of legendaries.

This scheme was created with a number of different purposes in mind, from adding to our festivals and foreign affairs' events to encouraging the development of TRR card collecting to the point of it becoming a new cultural activity in its own right. Although the NationStates cards community is already wide and varied, I intend to help TRR emerge as a major player.

We are now planning our first solo pull event, which will be of either Season 1 Crazy Girl or Season 2 Frisbeeteria. This has been inspired by the success we enjoyed co-hosting a pull event with 10000 Islands and The South Pacific as part of the Partnership for Sovereignty's launch.

But why am I doing all this? Well, see, my own experience with cards has been one of positive self-discovery. I began as a casual trader who just bought cards of friends as well as some legendaries that I came across from time to time. I later became a serious card player towards the end of last year. The current collections I’m working on include collecting Season 2 legendary cards and completing a ‘The Rejected Realms’ card collection. Working towards complete collections is a fun and fulfilling experience that I encourage anyone with an interest in cards to look into. Start off by pursuing a collection near and dear to your heart!

In other news:

• The Rejected Times' Outlander Program welcomes article submissions from non-staff and even non-residents!
• Subscribe to The Rejected Times here.
• Our weekly RMB Award Winners are announced here.
• See our embassy guidelines and FAQ here.

[Dyl]

Visit our Discord and our Forum!

Government

---

World Assembly Delegate: Chimes

---

Officer of Foreign Affairs: Dyllypoly

Officer of Culture: Grea Rejectopia

Officer of Outreach: Agalaesia

Officer of World Assembly: Crowheim

---

Speaker of the Assembly: Minskyiv


Officer Elections result in Major Turnover

---

by Fauxia

---

The beginning of April always brings about elections for both Speaker of the Assembly and all four Officer positions. Minskyiv emerged victorious over Gorundu in the race for the Speakership. In the Officer elections, Dyl (Dyllypoly), Chipmunker (Crowheim), Agalaesia, and Grea Kriopia (Grea Rejectopia) were elected over the four-round format, a group which contained only one incumbent Officer. They were assigned the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, World Assembly, Outreach, and Culture, respectively. You can read more detailed coverage in The Rejected Times Issue LXVII.

Reject Awards!

---

by Dyllypoly

---

Hoping to celebrate the light of a year that brought so much dark, Culture Officer Nakari (Budgie Snugglers) brought forth the fourth-annual Reject Awards in early March. After a week for nominations and a week for voting, an awards ceremony was held and the recipients were recognized.

The awards were designed to highlight the contributions of Rejects in a variety of areas. Two recognized efforts in the Rejected Realms Army, honoring WA Officer Chipmunker as RRA Newcomer of the Year and Delegate Jamie (Chimes) - recipient of the Sir Lans Award at the 2020 Defender Awards - won the Greymarshes Achievement Award.

The three government-focused awards saw the first two sets of five joint victors. Jamie, who had been both an Officer and Speaker during 2020, and former Delegate and Officer Sarah (A Leaf on the Wind) earned an equal number of votes for Best Government Member, while Culture Officers Deadeye Jack and Nakari were awarded with Most Outstanding Officer. Best Staff Member - awarded for contributions made without holding office - was won by Chipmunker.

Other awards recognized contributions to other aspects of the region. Guy and The Grim Reaper (Siam Meow) both won Best Legislator for their work in the Assembly, Outreach Officer Agalaesia earned the Pen and Paper Award for his efforts as the first Editor-in-Chief of an independent TRT, and regional pollster Thepeopl won Most Outstanding RMBer. Rejects had two favorite events this year: Harry Potter and the Festival of Friends and the existence of Outbound, a notorious Reject who was banned last March. Meanwhile, a post denoting the levels of Frattastan's joy won Quote of the Year.

The final set of awards focused on general regional contribution. FA Officer Dyllypoly won Newcomer of the Year while Jamie and Frattastan IV jointly won the Veteran Reject Award. Lastly, in the most notable award of the event, Deadeye Jack won Reject of the Year for his extensive efforts and time spent as Delegate and Culture Officer during 2020.

In all, the 2020 Reject Awards were great fun and commemorated the highlights of a year in which we all needed just a little more light.

Regional Holidays bring Fabulous Festivities

---

by Dyllypoly

---

Two smaller-scale events were held in late April to commemorate notable dates for The Rejected Realms and the world, respectively.

Earth Day - designated as April 22 - serves as an important day to denote support for environmental protection and show care for the planet on which we all live. In recognition of this, small festivities were planned in order to commemorate the day: an environmental poll was held, fun facts were shared on the Regional Message Board, a discord theme day was held, and former Culture Officer Nakari led a nature-themed Popmaster that weekend. Our friends from Forest, Spiritus, and The East Pacific joined in on the events of the day: each region colored their World Factbook Entry green and many Regional Officers shifted to environment-themed flags. In the end, the event was great fun and we thank all participating regions for their involvement.

A few days later, The Rejected Realms celebrated an important milestone, turning eighteen on April 27. A pull event was held for long-time Reject Crazy Girl’s card and a regional Spotify playlist was created to show the diverse tastes of our citizens. That night, a regional history Jeopardy game was hosted by The Church of Satan, with Deadeye Jack blowing away the competition for an impressive win.

In all, the two events provided for some pleasant festivities and two wonderful opportunities for greater bonding.

Reorganized Ranks in the Rejected Realms Army

---

by Dyllypoly

---

In late February, RRA Commander Frattastan IV announced a reorganized ranking system for tracking soldiers’ progress in the Rejected Realms Army. From lowest to highest, the new ranks were Scout, Trooper, Lancer, Specialist, and Corporal. Most include a specific set of benchmarks needed to attain the rank, while Corporal will be awarded solely by recommendation from an RRA Officer. The higher leadership roles, however, will remain by appointment and separate from the new ranks.

These new ranks also came with an improved system for tracking involvement in the RRA, and at the beginning of April, Chipmunker (Crowheim) became the first soldier to be promoted under the new system.

In other news:

• Check out the May Culture Calendar and come join us for some fun events!
• The Rejected Times' Outlander Program welcomes article submissions from non-staff and even non-residents!
• Subscribe to The Rejected Times here.
• Our weekly RMB Award Winners are announced here.
• See our embassy guidelines and FAQ here.

[Dyl]

Visit our Discord and our Forum!

Government

---

World Assembly Delegate: Agalaesia

---

Officer of Foreign Affairs: Dyllypoly

Officer of Culture: Grea Rejectopia

Officer of Outreach: A Leaf on the Wind

Officer of World Assembly: Vacant

---

Speaker of the Assembly: Minskyiv


A New Delegate Arises

---

by Dyllypoly

---

In early May, Jamie (Chimes) stepped down from their position as World Assembly Delegate. In the days that followed, a five-way election for a replacement was held. Outreach Officer Agalaesia, Editor-in-Chief BowShot (Toerana), and citizens Goobergunchia, Frenchy, and John Laurens (USS Merrimack) competed for the position, with Agalaesia emerging victorious in the end.

Aggie downs his opponents as Rejects watch on.

Elections, Elections, Elections

---

by Crowheim and Dyllypoly

---

After Agalaesia ascended to the delegacy, the officer spot he had previously occupied opened up and an election for it was held. John Laurens, Bormiar, and Fauxia initially ran, but John Laurens dropped out early leaving only the latter two to compete on the ballot. Bormiar called for streamlining and automating parts of the Outreach office - the presumed portfolio for whoever would become Officer. Fauxia ran on a more conventional platform, largely focusing on continuing already-existing programs.

The election ended with a 12-12 tie, leading to a tiebreaker - the victor would be the candidate the Delegate had voted for, who in this case was Bormiar. Unsurprisingly, he was assigned Outreach.

In June, both Chipmunker (Crowheim) and BowShot stepped down from their positions as Officer and Editor-in-Chief, respectively. In the days that followed, Sarah (A Leaf on the Wind) challenged for the vacant Officer position, while Fauxia and Hya (Rejected Purple Hyacinth) declared their candidacies a few days later. The Church of Satan challenged for the Editor-in-Chief position, but made clear that they would rescind their challenge if another willing candidate stepped forward. This came in the form of Gorundu (Vuy), who put forth a platform and faced a confirmation vote as a result. Gorundu was confirmed as Editor-in-Chief, while Sarah was victorious in the Officer race and initially assigned World Assembly, the portfolio previously held by Chip.

Defender Olympics

---

by Dyllypoly

---

The annual Defender Olympics - a defending event containing a wide variety of defending-related activities - wrapped up in mid-May. The Rejected Realms Army (RRA) joined in the competition, placing third overall with two silver and two bronze medals.

The RRA’s first medal came as a result of Corporal Fauxia’s efforts, as he won silver for off-update raid spotting, while High Commander Frattastan IV doubled the RRA’s tally with a bronze in trigger calling.

RRA’s final two medals came in the pile-off - a competition in which the participating forces competed to have the highest endorsement count on their lead in the target region. RRA earned bronze in the pile-off, as well as a silver in the pile-off artwork contest for their unique puppet theme and flag - Mario Kart! In all, the Defender Olympics were well-enjoyed and a good outing for the Rejected Realms Army.

Rejects Celebrate Pride Month: A Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Activists

---

by Dyllypoly

---

In recognition of Pride Month, The Grim Reaper (Siam Meow) has released a series of in-depth articles detailing the stories of LGBTQ+ activists and their work to aid the LGBTQ+ community. Two articles have been released thus far, with more expected in the near future. The first focused on Magnus Hirschfeld, a gay rights advocate who founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and World League for Sexual Reform. The second, meanwhile, detailed the story of Laxmi, a transgender rights activist and one of India’s most prominent LGBTQ+ figures. These can be viewed by selecting the images below.

In other news:

• Check out the June Culture Calendar and come join us for some fun events!
• We've updated our guidelines for embassy and consulate applications - check them out here!
• The Rejected Times' Outlander Program welcomes article submissions from non-staff and even non-residents!
• Subscribe to The Rejected Times here.
• Our weekly RMB Award Winners are announced here.

[Newhania]

i will not be online from Monday-Wednesday