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by Thalassian ministry of information. . 118 reads.

The Wave - Issue 2 - 07/23/2020

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Welcome, Dear Reader, to the second ever edition of “The Wave” Thalassia’s regional newspaper.

This edition has been a few months in the making, with a small dedicated team of 5 writers for this edition. We have strived to cover every major occurrence in Thalassia since I took office as Minister of Information. From Arenado’s reelection, Zentata’s election and a few fun stories to read. We had a few problems regarding the editing process which ended up leading to me changing how the process. Because of the trouble we faced, this edition is being published late and most things mentioned here will be outdated. Anyway, we are happy the present to you the second edition of The Wave, “news with a porpoise”.

Owl Archipelago, Prime Minister and Former Minister of Information



by Portugal brasil and the algarves (Luso)

Luso: Arenado, as you know, is our current Prime Minister.
He was one of two people who wrote the Monarchy Amendment, which is an amendment to officially turn Thalassia into a monarchy. He has helped both the region and me when someone tried to mock me in the region.

And so, I’m here to interview our Prime Minister, but before I do, I have to thank Pengu for helping me with gathering some questions for this interview. Now, without further delay, let’s begin.
How long have you been a part of Nationstates?

Arenado: I joined the site in 2014, I spent most of my time just answering issues and writing random factbooks, I do not think I even left the region I spawned in, the South Pacific, hahaha. I really started getting into more of the regional side of gameplay in 2015.

Luso: What made you decide to first join?

Arenado: I was interested in politics at the time, still am to a large degree, and my brother introduced me to the game since he was playing it at the time. It seemed fun so I joined the game.

Luso: What is one of your favourite memories of Thalassia?

Arenado: I remember being one of the first people on the public Discord. Seeing people file in and start to build a community there is certainly one of my fondest memories.

Luso: What is the best part of being the Prime Minister?

Arenado: Seeing the government in its entirety, the hard work everyone puts in together in all the ministries, the dedication of every member of government from a Minister to a staff member, day after day, making Thalassia a better place is, without a doubt, the best part of my job.

Luso: What is the most difficult part?

Arenado: Trying to manage burn out, to a large degree, trying to avoid becoming burnt out by the job. It's difficult but I would say I have been successful.

Luso: What are some changes you would like to see in Thalassia over time?

Arenado: I would like to see more of a regional culture develop as time goes on, to have a unique identity of our own. Freedom, liberty and democracy is great but, well, not really that distinct. Many regions are democratic, freedom orientated and liberty protecting. I would like to see a uniquely Thalassian aspect begin to build and take hold in the region.

Luso: What do you feel like are the region's best traits?

Arenado: I would say it is our tolerance and acceptance. We are, at our core, a region that accepts you for who you are. It is why you see such a wide and eclectic group of people from all walks of life and all around the world find a place here.

Luso: What is the story with your profile picture?

Arenado: Hahaha, I am a huge fan of baseball, my favourite team is the Colorado Rockies and my favourite player is Nolan Arenado (watching him play is sublime), my profile picture is Nolan Arenado. I picked that specific picture because the face he's making made me laugh, hahaha.

Luso: What advice do you have for new members?

Arenado: Just be yourself. Introduce yourself. Get to know people, a great place to do that is the Regional Discord, if you can join it. You will be integrated in no time.

Luso: What is a day in the life like for you when you are not online?

Arenado: Well, I'm in school so mostly studying, working on my course project and playing video games if I have time, hahaha. Sometimes I watch old Baseball games, like, yesterday I watched Armando Galarraga’s almost perfect game (he was robbed!).

Luso: Well, thank you for your time to answer these questions.

Arenado: Of course, thank you for the questions, Luso
I hope you have a great day!



by Crow metropolis

WA Secretary General Election Scandal!
Thalassia Founder caught rigging elections


An actual live picture of Sho (in a poor disguise) stuffing the ballot box

Nationstates rejoiced recently when the 10000 Islands Delegate Kuriko was named WA Secretary General. However, the elections could have almost gone in favor of candidate Lesbian Catgirls due to the attempted rigging by Thalassia Founder, Sho. According to eyewitnesses, Sho was seen at the World Assembly headquarters stuffing the ballots with Lesbian Catgirl’s name marked on it.

“She was just so blatantly tossing in the names without a care in the world. I was surprised even Violet didn’t stop her!” exclaimed outraged citizen McMasterdonia. “Sho...Sho...who was that again?” asked Nationstates Site admin Violet. “Thalassia...is that a dessert or something?” She added with a confused look.

“Clearly Violet was tampered with during elections if she allowed such a disgraceful act to happen. Kuriko was the rightful candidate, and Sho must have tampered with Violet somehow.” Explained 10000 Islands CEE Woonsocket (Current CEO Markanite was unavailable for comment). “I mean, why else would someone want a candidate from The Black Hawks of all places to be the one to oversee WA affairs over Nationstates?” Woonsocket added.

The Daily Frugal tried reaching out to Sho for comment, but were unable to reach her. “Look, I don’t know what everyone else is saying about Sho. She had nothing to do with it, and in fact I can tell you right now who the real culprit was. The real culprit was actually Milograd wearing a Sho mask.” states Thalassia PR representative Arenado. “I watched as Milograd, who was supposed to be Delete on Sight, walked in brazenly, put on a Sho mask, and started stuffing the ballot box.”

“I mean I suppose it could have been a really bad Sho impression…” mumbled McMasterdonia, who seemed as if he was quick to hide evidence that he knew about the fake Sho in the first place. “But Milo? That’s a long shot.”

Did the Thalassia founder sink so low as to try to rig the Nationstates WA Secretary General elections, only to fail when Kuriko inevitably won? Or was it someone trying to ruin her reputation by putting on a mask and making it look like it was her? That, dear readers, is for you to decide.



by Laurentus

Zentata, as everyone knows, was elected as our WA Delegate in April. We interviewed him, and he was kind enough to tell us a bit more about his goals and inspirations in the WA.
We wish to note that all views expressed in the article are only representative of the individuals who uttered them, and do not represent the view of the government of Thalassia or the Thalassian community.

Laurentus: Alright, tell us a bit about yourself. What are you passionate about, and what do you most want to achieve?

Zentata: I'm quite passionate about food. Not to mention books. I like reading quite a lot, as well as trying new kinds of food. In terms of NS, I'm passionate about making Thalassia be at the top of the charts. I really think that we can do a lot, and I'd like to make this region a whole lot better than the best. I most want to achieve my endorsement program, as well as closer cooperation in terms of the WA between us and our allies. I've done some research and I think that Thalassiendos is within reach, and lots of progress has been made already in my term, in terms of all my policies.

Laurentus: Interesting, for those, quite like myself, who are newer to the region, could you briefly explain what Thalassiendos is?
Which policy are you most pleased by that has come to fruition?

Zentata: Well, Thalassiendos will be a program that will incentivize endorsing other Thalassians, and give out rewards to the nations that endorse the most nations, or something along those lines. It's still a program under construction, so more info will come soon, but I hope to get it out somewhat soon. I'm quite happy that my efforts to be more open with the people and to encourage debate have worked, and we are seeing the beginning of increased participation.

Laurentus: It sounds like your goals are progressing quite well. Would you like to state why Thalassiendos is such an important goal our community should be aiming for?
And as a WA Delegate, openness and transparency are vital, I agree. Do you have any intentions of ever authoring bills to be discussed before the WA?

Zentata: Yes I do have the intention to attempt to author a bill, probably in the GA. I'm not going to focus on that for a while, because I have a lot of other stuff to do first!
Thalassiendos will, I hope, help improve regional security, WA activity, and it will encourage morale.

Laurentus: What do you hope to leave as a legacy should your turn as WAD ever come to an end?

Zentata: I hope that I will have made this region more active in the WA and the WA community as a whole.

Laurentus: Alright, thank you for your time, and as a final question: which WA Delegate has inspired you the most in NS?

Zentata: Well, I've been inspired by Cormac, Llorens, and Dekks. (Not to mention all the feeder delegates, who have one hell (i.e.: difficult) of a job!)

Laurentus: Haha, those are excellent inspirations. And with that, we have reached the end. Do you have any final thoughts you'd like to share?

Zentata: Well, um, in the past few weeks since I've answered the last question, I've been made aware of some less than good things that Cormac did. I respect his leadership abilities, but there are some things he did that I do not approve of whatsoever. Also, Thalassia is truly a great region, and I'm happy to be your WA delegate.

Laurentus: Thank you so much for your time, Zentata, and I hope your term is going to be a long and fruitful one. 😊



by Crow metropolis

Owlmageddon Strikes Thalassia!
An Eyewitness Account to Covid-19 measures gone wrong

It was something that hit the region pretty quickly: the news that businesses in the region would be closing their doors to prevent spread of the virus. The Hooting Owl Tavern, the go-to place for conversation was also hit by the new measures, choosing to comply with the Portuguese government and limiting its service to take-out only. But this wasn’t something that stopped people from attempting to use the service as normal.

Anyone who had attempted to sit down was quickly ushered out with a to-go cup of their drink of choice in their hand. I myself had sat down on the stool, enjoying a lovely tequila sunrise as I heard the loading sound of a shotgun behind me. Owl, the manager of the tavern, was standing behind me pointing a shotgun, warning me to get the hell out of his bar. Before I could react, another customer Adoric-Marrick had stepped in, only to be met with a shot from the gun without warning, leaving as he bled profusely to get medical attention.

It was strange to see the attention shift away from me so quickly as things only escalated further from there. As I sat there with my cocktail, the ground around the tavern began to shake violently, as Adoric-Marrick then called out to Owl from a loudspeaker; apparently he had found and brought a tank to the party, much to Owl’s surprise. In turn, Owl had panicked and began grabbing bottles left and right, preparing Molotov cocktails.

I was startled when the sound of the tank fired, destroying much of the street and the bar. I should have ran at that point, but something had begged me to stay in my spot...as if my comfy little stool I was sitting on was going to keep me safe from the approaching fire. I just stayed there glued, wondering how things would go as Owl continuously threw Molotov cocktails in an attempt to make an impact. Between the fires from the cocktails and fires from the tank bullets, I was sure I was going to die.

It was at that point that I saw Luso screamingly wildly and throwing what looked to be paper balls at both sides, laughing like a wild man as he did so and claiming the paper balls were “nukes” and “mini nukes.” Owl and Adoric-Marrick both seemed perplexed by this sudden burst of oddness as he then started throwing blocks of cheese, calling them “missiles.” Admittedly, I couldn’t help but quietly laugh at his antics. I was lucky my laugh had gone unnoticed as the three bickered about Luso’s choice of weaponry.

Eventually Owl got tired of listening to Luso’s lunacy as he shot at him relentlessly with a rocket launcher, keeping the bar barricaded with him safely inside. It was sort of amusing to me that he had gone through all of this effort to keep people out to basically start a war, yet he had still not noticed (or perhaps just not cared) that I was sitting there at the bar, glued to my seat as I slowly sipped my way through my drink.

But the amusement factor died down a bit as Bad had stepped into the bar. Before he could say more than a single word, Owl shot and killed him as he then continued his assault on Adoric-Marrick. Luso, who had finally regained a moment of sanity, joined Owl on his assault.

This relentless assault felt like it went on forever, both parties chasing each other down the tunnels under the bar and firing at each other madly. I remember sitting on my stool and listening to the gun fire as I could hear both screaming and rumbling happening from within the tunnels; apparently the ceiling had begun to cave and fall.

Things continued to escalate as more people, and unusual people, began joining the fight. First it was troops from both sides, which caught me by surprise that Owl, a tavern owner, even had troops at his side. But then as I was sitting there, I swear I saw Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) fly through the bar and down into the tunnels. By the end, I swear I saw figures such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Dr. Strange, and many other superheroes appearing to join the fight...or at least, they were all people that were dressed like them.

In the end, Owl proposed an Armistice as Adoric-Marrick agreed. The two of them shook hands (metaphorically because of the virus and all) as their armies retreated. The sun seemed to rise once more over the broken ruins of the bar as the warriors stepped out of the tunnel, practicing social distancing of course despite their intense battle.

It was truly a magnificent battle that I feel like will be remembered for many years, and not just because it was the day that I was finally able to finish that tequila sunrise.




Hello, and welcome to the 2nd edition of Ask Arenado, where I do my best to answer questions be they big or small, opinion or fact. Today’s 2 questions are:

How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?

Personally, I dislike all forms of vegetables. Be it broccoli, spinach or anything else green I tend to dislike it in general. But pineapple, in particular, is especially distasteful for me.

I find the taste somewhat slimy, even if barbecued, and the sweetness of it is distracting from the best part of the pizza, the meats (if it has any) and the cheese. Putting pineapple on a pizza is, to me, an unwelcome and unnecessary distraction from the main attraction. My favorite pizza is a simple 4 cheese pizza with some Prosciutto spread liberally on it. Oven bake it and, presto, instant perfection. The thought of adding pineapple to it is somewhat, well, disgusting to me.

However, I know that, to many people, a little bit of a sweet taste on such a salty food vastly improves the taste for them, not to mention the health benefits to it. Given that it helps with things like blood pressure and digestion those benefits are not negligible. That and, quite simply, people like the taste of pineapple on pizza. So I say, if you enjoy the taste of pineapple on pizza, have at it! Sprinkle that on there like candy, if it makes you happy, go for it!

That just means I get more pineapple free pizza all to myself :]

If you punch yourself and it hurts, does that make you weak or strong, or is it like a video game where you max out your attack stat and ignore endurance/constitution/defense?

This one is a bit of a difficult one to answer. Let me begin by retelling an experience of mine.

When I was receiving PDT (defensive training) they made us test the moves they taught us, including palm strikes (striking with a palm, not a fist, is better for you, less likely to break your fingers and easier to control, not to mention being able to strike faster) on each other. So we did get hit in our training and that was a key component. When I was asked about it I was told it was so that if you were in a fight you would not be as afraid of being hit as you were. If you knew what it was like to be hit, what it felt like, you would not be as afraid of it as you would be if you were never hit since it would not be an unknown sensation. So, in a strictly combat sense, being hit does, in fact, level you up, so to speak, at least in my experience.

On a physical level, however, being hit does not, in any large scale sense, level you up. As far as I have been able to find there is some evidence that being struck repeatedly does make you more resistant to that kind of pain, however, you would need to be struck many, many times over a sustained period. I’m talking months before any such effect takes hold. And you must also consider the downside to being hit, you can receive injuries such as intense bruising, broken and dislocated bones and even death if you are unlucky, not to mention long term damage to your tissue and bones.

In brief, in a strictly defensive viewpoint being struck does improve your ability to be hit but the key point is that it is a question of your mind being more familiar and thus less afraid of it, not that the strikes themselves make you stronger, and done in a controlled environment with professionals. On a physical level it is incredibly dangerous to do so and could result in grievous harm and even death. Would I recommend punching or hitting yourself to try and level up? Absolutely not, especially when you are not in a controlled environment with medical attention nearby. Do not, and I cannot emphasize this enough, do not try to punch or hit yourself to ‘level up’.

Thank you very much for the questions, I hope you enjoyed reading and feel free to submit more questions! See you in the next edition!



by Zentata and Owl Archipelago

A debate about the future of Thalassia

Recently Thalassia had an amendment to change the pretitle of Thalassia . We became a constitutional monarchy as the referendum to change from being a republic to being a monarchy passed with 31 votes for aye and 9 votes for nay. The amendment required 75% of the vote to pass. At first, the vote seemed to be a no go, with the votes being roughly even, but it pulled ahead for the “yes” voters in the long run.

This amendment was written by the Prime Minister Arenado and the MoI, Owl Archipelago Their reasons for writing it was because Thalassia’s form of government already resembled a monarchy, with the founder as the de facto monarch, they, as well as others, felt that calling Thalassia a republic wasn’t being honest to our citizens and to our embassy region and NS as a whole. This amendment was then presented to the cabinet and afterwards to the public.

Before the amendment was presented to the cabinet, Owl Archipelago conducted an unofficial poll to try and find out which monarchy title was liked by most. However, due to their wish to keep the amendment secret before the official announcement (therefore not disclosing the purpose of the poll) and the limitations of them conducting it on discord, the result was skewed. As such, the poll being used as the final answer on the exact name of the monarchy was heavily criticized and it was decided that another poll should be held game-side to ensure a fair result after the amendment. The choice of “Kingdom” won.

Now that the amendment has passed, new opportunities lie ahead for Thalassia. A titles system, rp opportunities and more await. While certain citizens believed that the Monarchy Amendment would lead Thalassia to dictatorship, so far only democracy has reigned. Go to the future, Kingdom of Thalassia, look to the future.

We at The Wave would like to send a belated welcome to the new government! And a special thank you to our readers!

Prime Minister: Owl Archipelago
Minister of Information: Crow metropolis
Editors: Sho, Owl Archipelago, Crow metropolis and Arenado
Staff: Laurentus, Mizeri, Ylministan, Kina handoro, Badivermeraed, Zentata, Portugal brasil and the algarves, El Hierro, Grey county, Tugaliza

Thalassian ministry of information

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