Denial

Well, the vast majority of us did get it, without the need for an explanation. Hence, hilarity.

Oh, deep down, you were always a softy.

We just need a reinvigorated campaign from the "nukes are immoral" crowd and everything will once again be as it should.

If you're referring to the Vox agent in the upper tiers of Continuum leadership, I can only second Rebel Virginia's post above. If you are referring to the Vox agent or agents within Pacifica, I doubt their expulsion from the alliance would halt the production of TWiP issues. After all, I imagine it would be relatively easy to plant a new spy capable of viewing the general membership areas in any alliance, particularly those catch-all alliances that possess hundreds of members.

Though it was largely comprised of old news, it was certainly the most entertaining issue of TWiP.

On average, about 1-3 hours per day where I'm actually doing something productive. Less on the weekends. I tend to leave IRC on for much longer, but a response from me is less than guaranteed outside of that 1-3 hour window where I'm active.

Any treaty signed with any alliance should always be read very carefully. Though, you are indirectly correct in one regard - that is, documents written in the style of the Writ de Credo should receive increased scrutiny. However, this should be the case no matter the alliance that produces them, as there are only two reasons why such unnecessarily verbose, tedious legalese would ever be used in a Cyberverse treaty: i) The alliance incorrectly believes the use of this style of writing exudes professionalism, or ii) The realisation that very few denizens of the Cyberverse will even bother to read something so long-winded, and of the opportunities for the inclusion of 'hidden' terms that this apathy provides. Frankly, I feel very little sympathy for those signatories of the Writ De Credo who were surprised by this 'exposé'.

I agree. I still firmly believe that the addition of a secret foreign aid feature would dramatically change the dynamics of Cyberverse politics. It's a shame that admin caved to the lobbying of certain groups, motivated by entirely IC circumstances, and removed the secret aid feature just a couple of days after it was added once before.

Thank you, porksaber. Without your continued support, I am unsure whether we would be capable of purchasing any nuclear weapons at all! You are our uranium, my friend

This is almost too beautiful.

Not since a bros topic have I seen the words "I remember" used so extensively. Congratulations on both topping bros, as well as the anniversary

We all know QTUN has no friends

Ah, a truly seaworthy announcement.

Gee, it's a shame that TSO had no qualms with publicly admitting they recruited "from the inside" and in a manner that was harmful to MCXA then, huh?

Instead, they and their allies were instead reprimanded via backchannel manipulation and scheming whilst they were defending themselves against The Legion. Nevermind the fact it was an ex-member of Universalis, taking on a different AA after resigning from the alliance, who attacked TOP. You are correct, it is not the case in Vanguard. When we sign on the dotted line at the bottom of an obligational treaty with another alliance, we take the good with the bad. We are binded to an ally and must defend them against any breach of their sovereignty, even if they have arguably provoked said breach. The exception to this is a clear and blatant OOC attack. The key is to only sign agreements with upstanding, honourable alliances that you share a strong friendship with and trust will not make such mistakes. Edit: Typo fix and slight revision.

Indeed, TOP not upholding a binding treaty would be no different than MHA or NPO not upholding a binding treaty; each choice would be equally dishonourable and ignominious. However, what is interesting is that you are suggesting that two of your allies would consider not honouring their agreements, and have designated internal mechanisms through which this is achievable. Is this sentiment widespread throughout the Continuum bloc? I must admit, I am not familiar with the intricacies of the Pacifican and Mostly Harmless charters, so perhaps we can gain some clarification from the aforementioned alliances' respective governments and discover whether your claims are indeed correct. On your assertion that "very few" alliances are without methods of avoiding their obligations, I beg to differ, and direct you towards Vanguard's collection of current allies. Either through actions or words, these alliances have proven that they will consistently follow their treaties, in both letter and spirit. The same could be said for some of TOP's own allies; I highly doubt admirable and stalwart alliances such as FOK or Umbrella would utilise loopholes or government procedure to avoid their commitments. So, an underhanded operation where a sizeable portion of an alliance's leadership plots to abandon its alliance, recruits as many fellow members as possible to the cause, departs said alliance in the midst of a governing term, and then openly flaunts this process in public is more acceptable than a quick, relatively silent departure? Or, perhaps TOP and TSO are not beyond criticism and are capable of imprudent policy and poor decisions? Perhaps people are informed, and rather than posting out of boredom or malice, post because they hold a different perspective on issues and choose to voice said perspective? No, what matters is that TOP has and, as you have mentioned, will likely continue to persecute any Paradoxian-based splinter alliances, whether innocent or not, while being more than willing to bestow impunity to those off-shoots forming from the membership of other alliances. Even if those off-shoots publicly provide substantial evidence towards their own malevolent origins and actions, and the numerous objections from the remaining constituents of the metropole - as can be seen through the postings of TSO members and MCXA members, respectively. That is an understandable policy, yet you must admit that a protectorate status has only been sought by TSO and bequeathed by TOP due to the controversial actions and guilty conscience of the former. Had TSO formed under more honest and respectable circumstances, I highly doubt an alliance of well-established nations, totalling over 2 million strength and armed with several hundred nuclear weapons, would require protection from another alliance in such a commanding political position. Overall, as shown by the title of this announcement, this is nothing other than one more assembly of reprobates escaping justice by hiding behind a well-connected, well-armed protector and asking "What are you going to do about it?"

Really? I would like to direct your attention to this admission, made by the current Grand Hospitaller, just one month ago. Call me handsomely cynical, but I would not place too much reliance on a group that votes on whether to honour an obligational and legally-binding document. An unfortunate result at the polls and TSO could find themselves with no protection! Now, this is certainly intriguing. According to your post, the primary difference between the CEN and TSO situations, and thus the very core of your justification for TOP bequeathing TSO with protection, is simply that MCXA were allegedly not looking for retribution, whereas TOP would pursue and systematically annihilate a similar splinter alliance. Do you not see that this is half of the reason why “hypocrisy” and “TOP” are two words that have been consistently linked throughout this discussion? For if this situation was reversed, TOP would hold no qualms in obliterating the newly-formed off-shoot, but today is more than happy to grant impunity to a collection of leaders and high-ranking members that abandoned their alliance - an ally of TOP's, I might add - that openly admit to recruiting from said alliance in a manner that was detrimental to continued stability and success. I was certain to place "allegedly" in the above paragraph, in regards to MCXA looking to reprimand the members of TSO for their flagrant and highly public disregard of sovereignty, for reasons that have already been adequately explained by Gairyuki: Given that TSO possessed adequate time to draft plans and strategies for alternate methods of abandoning their alliance, to organise sanctuary behind the shield of an alliance with high levels of both hard and soft diplomatic power, and to recruit additional MCXA members to their cause - all facts that have been admitted by TSO within this discussion - I would say they had more than enough time to "organize themselves internally" and "figure out what TSO is really going to be". Actually, Bob's commentary is spot-on, considering how glaringly obvious and pitiful watchman's attempts are at both spin and diversion.

Mickey Rourke and I were both robbed. Robbed! And thank you for the welcome

Congratulations to Umbrella and Poison Clan!

Oh, I know

You're a modern gentleman.

I am rather fond of both of you.

A little from column A, a little from column B.

I got Archon pregnant. It seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do.

Let's just say that man knows who to bribe.