Project Moirai:
An Interview with Kuramia
Interview conducted by Istillian
(Europeia - February, 2022) For the third and final interview in the series of articles written under the banner of Project Moirai, the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation reached out to an established and powerful Europeian. Known for their tenacity and purpose when presented with the responsibilities of minister, their leadership as president, chief of state, or vice president, and their perseverance under pressure in the senate, to name but a few of their well known roles. Our interviewee was asked thirteen questions, with this interview taking a strong focus on LGBTQ+ representation, and addressing pronouns and gender in foreign affairs across NationStates (NS).
Having helped organise events like EuroPride, facilitated and spoken at major interregional events, and even voted as one of NationStates Today's Power20 in the January of 2021 for enabling Europeia to "foster its good reputation in the eyes of the interregional world", Kuramia has truly shone amongst others as a leader in NationStates. But going back to their beginnings, before Kuramia had made a name for themselves, we asked what led them to NationStates, and how they went from being a nation gameside to exploring forums and Discord.
"Way back in 2015, I was looking for a new online game to play. I didn't have much in the way of a gaming system or games (or the money for it) so I looked for online browser games to play back then." Kuramia continued to discuss their interest in roleplay with nations gameside, and how they then went to find Europeia. "I loved to roleplay my characters back then too. So I created Vhearun as a nation and tried to find a good place to roleplay. I even found a fantasy historical region to roleplay in, called The World of Chimera, and roleplayed Vhearun as the leader of his empire. It was quite fun, but they died quickly, as some small communities do, and I was left answering issues and riffling through the forums.
"I did end up in two sections of the forums I enjoyed: Gameplay and the World Assembly. I spent a lot of time there reading up on then latest drama and learning who the big players were. So ... when I resurrected one of my regions and got an invite to Europeia, I finally got into the actual political roleplay...and fell in love!
"At first, I mostly remained on the forums. Skype was a messenger we used much like we employ Discord now, but it had much less utility and wasn't as desirable a platform to actually play another side of Nation States on like the forums were. I still have all those old convos though and can look up the gotving and tea-sipping I did, and that's fun. When discord became a thing we used, I simply switched over to it. In fact, Europeia is why I even use discord at all!"
Given the passion that Kuramia displayed early on in Europeia, and their quick and eager attitude to taking on new things in the community, we asked what some of their leadership roles were, particularly early on. "It was the age of a constitutional convention and the Citizens' Assembly. I wanted to jump right in, and the people in Europeia were quick to welcome me, but I also wanted to do some work and really get into the politics. I'd taken some business law in college and really loved it, so I thought 'why not?' Calvin Coolidge was CA Chair at that time, and he immediately gave me a job as a deputy. I worked hard and, before I knew it, felt like I understood the laws and culture of Euro. So I ran for CA Chair.
I was very proud of my first platform. It had a banner with a kitten riding a unicorn with rainbows and really was over the top and passionate. I had no problem winning the election and spent my time as CA Chair organizing and making sure conversations were on-going while managing those in the CA. It was a real eye-opener to what kind of work I'd be doing in almost every role I've taken since then: herding cats and making sure trains run on time."
Furthermore, Kuramia then discussed some of their key goals when becoming a little more established with the fundamentals of Europeia. "My goals in Euro were two-fold: get access to the EAAC and become a Senator. I never imagined things like FA Minister and the last President and first Chief of State during the executive split would be part of it. I certainly didn't have lofty ideals of becoming an honored citizen. Honestly, I just loved having a vision for a position, running with all the energy I could muster, and then carrying that energy to a popular and successful term. I ran into a few bumps, made some political rivals, took a break, and came back renewed and ready for more. And I'm not done yet! There's still so much work to be done, and I want to keep the spirit of this community alive for as long as I can. It's been the place I've felt the most welcomed and less stressed about since I joined!"
Bouncing off of what Kuramia had mentioned with wanting to gain access to the EAAC, and with them now being quite renowned in Europeia for their multiple terms as FA minister, we asked about what experiences outside of Europeia Kuramia would see as barriers for women in NationStates regions.
"I'll start by saying that outside of even Nation States I always identified as male. At the time I wasn't trans, I just felt safer as a female online saying, nope I'm actually a male. Without that, I knew from experience that harassment would follow. If not harassment, then at least men would begin to treat me differently as soon as they found out I was born female. I took that into Nation States at first. Vhearun was played by a male. So was Kuramia, but it didn't take long for that to change once I entered Europeia. For a while, I was insular, staying inside the region and forgetting that discrimination and danger still existed. Then I started learning about things that happened on Nation States. While I myself never faced any discrimination that I could notice, I talked to, listened to, or just joined groups of women who faced harassment or were just treated as if they weren't as competent and intelligent as their male counterparts.
"I knew it was all bull[redacted], and I was eager to join in and become a voice alongside them. In later years, I feel like the culture has shifted. People who were kids back when are now more mature. We've talked about the harm these attitudes do to real people that we've come to know and love, and the dangers of being a women online have been exposed. That's part of the reason I joined the admin team in Euro. I like being in a position where I feel like, at least, I can help out in Euro."
At this point we were very curious if in the past, or even now, Kuramia had seen behaviour in Europeia that could be considered as a barrier for women rising into leadership roles, or even to getting involved more generally in the community. "I could have missed something, but in my own experience, I haven't had anyone treat me differently or harass me because of my birth sex. I've experienced it at work, in my home life when I was a child, and even in an online gaming community (that was quickly shut down by the others in the community though). I've never caught a whiff of it in Europeia. If someone is running for something, they're judged on their merits and their platform and vision. I don't think anyone actually ever cares what their gender is. In fact, we've had people come out as trans, and the reaction is instant acceptance and respect for pronouns. I'll never forget when I finally nailed down my own gender identity and Forillian referred me as "they/them" in an article. I felt such euphoria! While we've had some bad actors, we've also been quick to come together as a community, even ICly, to smack them down. I'm proud of Euro, and I don't see anyone capable of changing our accepting culture."
Leading perfectly into our next question, we queried how important gender diversity was to Kuramia as a player, and how they though our leaders should focus on this. "Diversity is important because every person has a different experience, be that man, woman, or trans. Just like having someone from Australia and someone from North America can lead to debate and discussions about politics and how they might apply to our game, so can gender diversity. I remember when Kari spent so much time updating the pronouns in our law. That's a perfect example of why we need all kinds of voices. Kari was willing to step up and do a ton of work and now the language of our laws represents our culture even better! I think our leaders should take note of that, be open to suggestions and comments from different wakes of life, and be aware that if they aren't, our citizens will definitely make sure their voices are heard."
Regarding this diversity, we asked if Kuramia had seen any disrespectful attitudes inside or outside of Europeia specifically regarding peoples pronoun use, for which they were quick to respond: "Not yet. Why do I need to go smack someone?"
Thankfully in this interviewer's experience, no smacking of anyone was required. We did however dig a little further into LGBTQ+ identity and support, and asked how well Kuramia felt Europeia welcomes diversity in the region, specifically how it represents LGBTQ+ players, and also how could it do better. "We're immediately accepting of any and all when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusivity. I think that's mostly because HEM set this place and demanded that level of inclusion, and the community grew around him and those who began with him. Anything else got tossed out. I know pronoun usage is important in many communities, so I think a way to be able to put pronouns in a visible place would be useful. I know a lot of the time, I won't even know what pronoun to use, which is fine, I just avoid a pronoun altogether. But it'd help for those of us, or all of us here in Euro, to be able to see what pronouns someone uses so we can respect that."
Leaning into experiences with those on NationStates that are not in the LGBTQ+ community, we were curious with how Kuramia felt that we are we developing a culture of authentic allyship in the community. "The first time we had our Europride, we had people from all corners of Nation States show up. They quickly took the ally mask, and then we just all had fun together. Any upstarts got a swift kick to their membrane or a gentle reminder of what's appropriate. In fact, I don't think during any Europride event we've had anyone come in and actually try to make a mess. We did have one infamous nation make a comment on the first Europride NS embassy thread we have, but they were quite quickly shut down by a lot of other nations, all in different regions. I think that was a great moment of allyship because that's the point of being an ally. You recognize there's still a battle being fought, and when someone is under attack for their identity, you provide support and sometimes, figuratively, firearms. Nation States, as a community and a culture, has shown a good track record of support in Gameplay. I hope that never changes."
Bringing our specific questions on gender and LGBTQ+ support to a close, and given Kuramia's experience in working in the foreign affairs field across NationStates, we wondered if the experience is different if people know your gender, and if Kuramia had seen any barriers if people don't reveal their gender online. "I, personally, never cared about someone's gender while working with them for foreign affairs. I did, however, see some that tended to treat women differently than men. Just hints of it like the kind you'd see in real life. Mostly it would be a look in hindsight of a situation and seeing how a person would act differently toward a female or a male. Mostly based on perceptions of how emotional women are often encouraged to be. I was a member of the now defunct and disbanded Purple Velociraptors, not even as a part of FA but just to join a group of women in NS, and the stories there were quite surprising. For a long time, I didn't reveal my birth sex online, and I found it advantageous. The default and assumed gender for anyone online is male, and so I would use that. It worked, but the barrier I see for not revealing your gender is more internal than external. How horrible is it that someone online would chose to either lie about their gender or just not reveal it at all in order to avoid harassment or being treated unfairly? Not being able to be who you really are is not, as the kids would say, based. In fact, it pisses me off a lot now. Not just for all those that do it now, but for me because I wasted decades online being someone I wasn't just to spare myself drama and danger."
With both the danger of some online communities, and the optimism of finding a place to call home like Europeia, we asked Kuramia if there was any kind of advice that they would give to people starting their careers on NationStates. "Above all, be safe online. I've seen a lot of the younger players just telling everyone everything about themselves. Play the game first, find a community of people, not just one or two people, and make sure you feel safe around them. Now a lot of the time this comes with experience, but people-watching is a great way to pick up tells and attitudes. If something makes you feel weird or uncomfortable, listen to your instincts and walk away. Never put the game above your safety. I've seen way too many laugh off serious dangers just because they want to stay in this game. It's not worth it! If you find people you trust and they prove themselves to you, be yourself around them! And work to keep their culture the same one that was worthy of your commitment."
Kuramia had certainly hit the nail on the head with this advice for players. We also leaned in to some reflections on their own career, and asked what kind of work or contributions are now most rewarding to them as a player. "My number one favorite is when someone in our community comes out as LGBTQ+. That means we're doing something right. We've got a space where people feel safe, where they're respected, and where we can also learn. It just gives me warm fuzzies they they feel they can share such an important moment of their life with us!"
The unintentional rewards of being a player in this community were incredibly heartwarming to hear, and we couldn't help but probe Kuramia a little further on what they were most proud of accomplishing in their time on NationStates. "It really is hard to chose, but I think it'd be my first term as Minister of Communications. That was me actually getting into the executive, and I worked hard and succeeded in getting people behind me to do the work and keeping track of everything. In fact, that first tracker I used has evolved, but is still used by MinComm ministers' to this day! That's a pretty lasting achievement and one I'm proud of."
As with all things, our interview was soon coming to an end, and what a delight it had been to query Kuramia on their experiences across the game, and to uncover their proudest accomplishments, and uncover the many experiences relating to gender diversity, both the good, the controversial, and some of the bad. Kuramia's passion for forging a better community has been unwavering, in fact, if anything it only seems to have grown more unrelenting, and more eager to be involved in helping others. All that was left for us was to find out what comes next, to see Kuramia's goals and aspirations for the future, and we were not disappointed. "With the F/S update in the far future, I want Europeia to be a contender on the Nation States scene. Whether we pick Frontier or Stronghold, we need to touch base with our allies and make some new friends. We need a strong and organized military, a foreign affairs in touch with citizen and regional engagement, and a legislative body ready to tackle the issues."
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