[President] Food for Thought

Day 2,858, 11:07 • Published in USA USA • by Aeriadne
Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress, taking today what tomorrow never brings...

A Dinner Invitation
Our Colombian brothers and our French allies both have rather discerning palates. They've been craving Iberian cuisine for quite some time. However, their eyes were bigger than their stomachs, and I was informed by their serving staffs that there would be leftovers aplenty for days thereafter, and that if we were obliged to, we were invited to feast with them.

Of course, it being rude to not accept dinner invitations from friends, we accepted.


Now, I do love me some roast pig. But you know when you get in a mood for something different, and nothing will quite hit you just the same if you eat it? Well I was in a mood for breakfast for dinner, and what I really wanted - more than anything else - were some bacon pancakes.

I know: to request such a radical menu change partway through a meal would be a considered the highest form of incivility one could offer. Refusing what you're offered at the table of your friends is a grave insult. So, we will wait, and when our meal with Colombians and French is finished, we shall raise a glass to them, and then we shall feast again.


Dio willing, upon the rich Spanish swine we shall feast.

Because you see, too often do we have to make this quick jaunt over to Iberia to satiate our need for pork products. And then, just as quickly, we disperse. We lose out on the longer visit, the one where we reap long term benefits like the ones we gain in North Korea. I think the fertile Iberia can more than provide for us in this manner.


Terms of Endrearment
If you missed Blande's article about this week's Harvest Festival events, do go give it a checkout. There's one competition, a Scavenger Hunt, that will award the winner ten gold. And it's important you hunt thoroughly, because one of the clues is in this paper right here.


I hear some dude and a dog are already hot on the trail.

And while the various activities presented have been enjoyable, and people have given good feedback, there's been a quiet cloud of dreariness collecting over the country. It's hard not to notice it and feel the grasp of its fatigue. The weary rains of autumn seem to have doused more than the fires of summer, but the kindling in our own hearts.

And sure, we've had small turnouts before in Country President elections. But these last three months, without a doubt, have been the lowest it's ever been. 549 people voted in September's election. That is the least it has ever been.

And yes, I know parties are consolidating for the winter months. Some shakeups with sixth parties have occurred, and many members have been shuffled about between the various top 5 to try and get parties in before the Congressionals. But I can't help but notice that this is the first time the Federalists have dipped below 200 members perhaps since their inception.

Now, I don't mean to be Mr. Doomandgloom, but it's hard to ignore these signs. These are the signs of our times, the terms of our endrearment, and we have to recognize them for what they are.


A big pile of poop.

I could spoonfeed you bullshit about Harvest Festival helping, or me seeing the strong activity of my own cabinet as a ward against our decline, but it simply isn't true. The simple fact of the matter is that this game is headed into a decline that we all knew was coming and there is nothing we can do to stop it. No amount of baby booms will stave it off, because the mechanics of the game itself aren't fun, and the community we've grown is partially entwined with them.

We who remain do so out of loyalty, out of dedication to our friends, and out of the shared communal watering hole we've made for ourselves. This is common ground, where friendships have been forged. And I, for one, will continue to enjoy it for however long that is.

Lest despair against the night, let us celebrate with light. Let us be kind to all (no matter who they be), let us attack and war with true invigoration, and let's find each other's reasoning for staying here. And just enjoy it.

Cus that's what games are meant for.


Next time, we talk about what interesting war looks like, and what surprises this old halfling still has for the country. Week is off to a muddied start, but we'll rally. Like we always do.