- Pronouns
- He/Him
Introduction
My name is Xecrio, more commonly known as Nate. Of course you already knew that, but I find that it's polite to introduce oneself in a story like this. Yes, this is a story, a story about how I got to where I am today. A story of many chapters and one that relies on my memory working well for once. This is my NationStates journey so far.
The Beginning
It was a Monday evening on the 25th of July 2016, and I had just finished watching the evening news. Around this time I was mildly interested in politics and wanted to explore it some more. I wanted to see what a country would look like if I implemented my own policies. I grabbed my tablet and googled "control your own country." Naturally, NationStates was the first result, but I had no desire to create an account so I visited various other websites to begin with. Unfortunately I can't recall can't recall any details about these websites so we shall forget about them. I turned my attention back to this NationStates website and created a nation.
Creating a Nation
My main nation; Poulton-with-Fearnhead, is named after the place I grew up and was also the only name I could think of since I didn't like the recommendations NS gave me. I filled in my currency, my national animal and everything else. Of course I was angered that I couldn't label my capital city. I knew I wanted my nation to be socialist since that was the ideology I had aligned myself with at the time.
Choosing a Region
I clicked "confirm" and I was greeted with the main nation page for the first time. I spent a whole getting to know my surroundings, I applied for the World Assembly almost immediately followed by answering a bunch of issues. My telegram inbox was receiving an influx of new telegrams every minute and me being me, checked them. I should point out that I thought the telegrams were sent by bots and that I was The only human in the game. I remember replying to telegrams signing off as "the Leader of Poulton-with-Fearnhead." I received a telegram from a nation known as Trinnien, who resided in a region known as Europeia. The telegram was gripping and I took the decision to join. You might ponder and say "If you've been around for so long, how come I didn't see you before?" My time in Europeia didn't last long and I transferred myself to another region, sending a telegram to Trinnien with the words "It is with great sadness that I rejoin from your region." 14 year old me did not know how English works and now 18 year old me still struggles to grasp the concept of basic grammar.
Early Region Life
The LCRUA is where I was called, and where I have spent the majority of my NS career. A small community of 200 nations, close-knit and fun to be with. I pestered the President on the first day asking to be added to various things such as the birthday calendar and roleplay map. I also made my first flag around this time, well actually, someone else made it when I asked for it on a forum. That flag isn't the one I have now, it has gone through many changes. I joined just before a council election and was able to get my membership approved just in time. I had barely even said hello and already I was throwing myself in the deep end. Of course, with me having next to know experience and no-one knowing who I was, I came last in the poll with a grand total of one vote. That one vote being me. I spent some time getting to know the region. I read up on laws, chatted in the RMB and participated in the roleplay.
Getting Involved
The time came around for the tribunal elections. I didn't want to be stuck doing nothing so I signed up. Miraculously, I received the most votes and became chief justice as a result. My time in this role was limited, there were very few cases that had to be dealt with and with council elections looming I wanted something more challenging. I also liked the sound of suppressing RMB posts. In November 2016 I resigned as chief justice and ran as councillor. This was only my second time, but I managed to garner enough votes this time round to ensure I got a seat. I became Councilor of information, similar to Europeia's minister of communications. I ran the weekly newspaper and ensured all articles were re-published in all of our embassies.
The Big Jump
January 2017 comes round and I'm already eyeing up a new challenge. The presidential elections were right round the corner and I took it upon myself to throw my hat into the ring. I ran against one opponent who had joined the region at roughly the same time I did. The final votes revealed a 15-14 win for my opponent. However, later vote counting revealed that one of his votes was cast by a resident and not a member. Further examination revealed that my opponent had used one of their puppets to push themselves over the line. My opponent losing two votes meant that the results were now 14-13 to me. After 6 months in the region I got the honour of becoming president of the LCRUA.
Presidency
My Presidency lasted from January to April 2017 and was filled with some mild success. I had dreams of making the region more known in the wider NS world. I initiated a 5 step plan that would boost recruitment, boost council activity and get us involved in other NS events. I had the region's raison d'etre rewritten and got the councils to formulate new ideas. During this time the population went from 160 nations to around 285. By the time April came around, I was tired. I had run out of steam. All my Energy had been burned in the first half of my Presidency. In mid April 2017 I announced via mass telegram that I would be resigning. In my place, my vice president would become the new president after confirmation by election.
Defending
I'll take some time to discuss my time in NS raiding and defending. I defended on behalf of AIR, FORCE, and SWORD as a lieutenant for The LCRUA military. R&D was not something that I particularly enjoyed. We rarely managed to perform a liberation, but when we did it was a good feeling. I eventually stopped defending in late 2019.
The Big Sad
Things went from bad to worse, the region slumped in activity. The new president had not taken any initiative to resolve matters. By May things were abysmal. We had no newspaper, no roleplay and embassies were being closed left, right and centre as part of an embassy review. By the end of May I had had enough. I closed the NS tab for the last time and ceased to exist.
Revival
I eventually logged on to NationStates in October 2017. I had heard that the region was regrowing and I wanted to be a part of that. When I rejoined a lot had changed. The biggest change was that the region had actually moved. The old region had died and this was a new region called "The LCRUA." Another change was that councillors no longer had specific responsibilities. I decided not to run for council and instead wanted to grow back into the region. Eventually, at the beginning of 2018 I plucked up the courage to run for council and won. I can't really remember much from this time, so I'll skip to July 2018. In this month, our president at the time, became something of a tyrant. He would enact legislation without council consideration, he would banject nations without a proper trial. In late July the council and I got together to initiate a plan to remove the president from power. On 19th July 2018, we staged a coup on the president forcing him to leave the region. This plan didn't go very well and we were put on trial, which you can still read if you're interested. The president was removed from power and subsequently banjected from the region. The council members responsible for the coup were removed from the council and were banned from running in the next council election.
The End of an Era
The time did come where I was able to run for council again, and by now, I was a common sight in the council. Activity remained steady for the rest of the year. In September 2018, the council passed the Constitutional Repeal of the President (CROP) amendment. This, we later learnt, was a huge mistake. With no one to properly lead the region, there was mass confusion. We had passed the amendment due to another president becoming tyrannical. The amendment resulted in the population declining due to a lack of council activity.
The Start of Something New
On the 2nd of July 2019 I created an account on Europeia's forums and became a citizen. I was still a councilor in the LCRUA during this time. I had already moved my nation to Europeia and I was dismissed as a councillor on 16th July 2019.
A Fulfilling First Term
I didn't start my Europeia career immediately and actually lost citizenship within the first month of joining. I didn't partake in anything during the summer and it wasn't until September 2019 that I started getting involved. I joined as many councils and ministries that I could handle. Most notably I started writing weekly updates for the ministry of communications, the first one being on the 5th of October. My dedication in the remainder of Pichtonia's final term as First Minister earned me a Sapphire Star given to me by Siph, and the gold pen given to me by then Minister of Communications, Istillian.
Run for Senate
Calvin became First Minister on November 22nd and as a result had to resign his senate seat. I took the opportunity to have my first taste of Europeia election experience. Izzy, Bowzin and I all ran for senate. Bowzin and I reached the run-off but Bowzin was eventually victorious. Istillian appointed me as Deputy Minister of Communications for the term. Unfortunately, Istillian resigned and I was confirmed as Minister of Communications on 6th December 2019.
Minister of Communications
I like to think my term as Minister of Communications was successful. I struggled with dispatches for the first portion but managed to get the dispatch squad up and running thanks to Kuramia showing me her Comms spreadsheet. I appointed Maowi as deputy minister of communications for my first term.
Run for First Minister
At the end of the term, I stood candidate in Europeia's first all British First Minister election with GraVandius as my running mate. I was confident about the election. However, my performance in the first minister debate was poor and something that I believe may have cost me the election. Maowi swept the floor with me to become Europeia's First Minister. I retained my position as Minister of Communications for the term.
Second Term
I appointed Cookiespaigentland as deputy Minister of Communications. My first few weeks of term went well, I think. I handed control of NS dispatches to the Council of External Engagement and we managed to get a few articles out. However, activity eventually slumped and I blamed myself for the lack of articles published by the EBC. I appointed Hezekon as deputy Minister of Communications per Cookiespaigentland's resignation, in a hope to revitalise the ministry. I eventually put my pen down and resigned on 3rd March 2020. I took a break for around a month to focus on my A-Levels which have since been cancelled.
Here We Go Again
Since returning in mid April 2020, I have gradually re-joined various ministries and slowly begun getting involved again. I am so glad that I can call Europeia my home. I hope I can stay here for many more years and watch the region grow even more. If you made it this far, congratulations on reading the whole article!
