Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on June 04, 2023, 08:10:52 PMTurns out that the Sac and Fox Nation use an identical flag design to ours, and I'm sorry to say that there are flag listings that beat ours in price very easily.  If you don't have one still, this might be an opportunity: https://www.amazon.com/AZ-FLAG-Nation-Flag-Pole/dp/B076X3H7VN

I must reluctantly report that the flag is a perfect flag for Talossa, double-sided and durable.  I recommend it.

So that would neatly solve the issue - the Viceroy's blazon is perfect.  The emblazonment would just need to be adjusted to make the mute argent.

Quarterly vert and gules, in dexter palewise a muted horn argent, over all a cross ermine.

-NRH

I don't think so, tentatively, since the charge overall obeys the rule of tincture -- like, I think you could have sable, a rose sanguine slipped or.  But you raise a good point.  Maybe the mute could be sable?  What color are mutes?

-NRH

So, the horn is a pretty old charge, and it usually takes the form of a traditional hunting horn.  That's clearly not the intention here.  I don't know much about instruments, but if there's an easy way to more specifically describe the instrument (a trumpet?), it'd be good to use that.  Not a huge deal if it's just a generic modern horn.

Fox-Davies suggests that when the accoutrement of an item has a different tincture, and it's not a well-established convention, that should be mentioned -- as when a bugle-horn is "veruled" with ribbons of a different tincture.  So I'd suggest that the mute's tincture needs to be described.

Quarterly vert and gules, in dexter palewise a muted horn argent and sanguine, over all a cross ermine.

or

Quarterly vert and gules, in dexter palewise a muted horn proper, over all a cross ermine.

-NRH

Viceroy and Long Fellow and petitioner,

The muted horn appears to be argent and sanguine -- I'm wondering whether or not the mute should also be argent, or whether it should be blazoned differently, or whether this is fine.  I'm fairly sure that Fox-Davies has something on the subject, but haven't had a chance to look it up yet.

-NRH

Absolutely!  Ask about anything that makes you curious, and someone will be sure to chime in.  We're a friendly lot, here :)

@Tric'hard Lenxheir , @Ian Plätschisch , should we give this a go this term?  There's still enough time, I think, for us to make any needed revisions to our respective constitutions and put this up for provincial referenda.

Welcome!  The wiki is the best way to get to know a lot of the broad facts about our little nation -- a short time exploring around will get you a lot of info about our government, history, culture, etc: https://wiki.talossa.com/Main_Page

But you're also in luck to be coming to the country at a time when things are really booming.  There's been some big successful cultural events, like the fantasy cycling competition TCAT or the archery club, and the national conversation here on Witt has been almost nonstop.  I hope you'll find something that interests you, and that you'll join in!

Quote from: Glüc da Dhi S.H. on June 04, 2023, 02:16:43 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on May 29, 2023, 04:20:41 PMCould we put these episodes in the TalossaWiki library? Despite the lamentable header image, it's currently our biggest repository of cultural knowledge, and it would be good to ensure stuff like this was never lost to posterity.

Sure, good idea, though you'd have to talk to Lüc about the logistics once he gets back from vacation.

The watchalong wasn't recorded in the end, so I'm afraid that's a case of 'should have been there', although I'm sure we'll do another one.

I can take care of the logistics without any problem!  I don't know even a fraction of what you guys know about cycling, but as an avid fan I'm just happy to contribute at all.

Really, again: TCAT is such a huge and fun success, and I hope you guys keep it going.  Can't wait until the next leg!

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on June 06, 2023, 08:42:52 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on June 06, 2023, 04:46:59 PMIt's a really bad idea for political parties to begin recruiting prospective immigrants, since it will politicize the process in a way that can't possibly be good for the country.  If political parties start  hectoring potential citizens before they even immigrate, then it's going to lead to really obvious bad outcomes.  We've managed to avoid this for the most part for many many years, completely voluntarily, because as a community we've agreed not to turn the citizenship process into a partisan contest.

No one here (I think) is disputing this.

Great! Let's please try to all help each other maintain this norm in the future.  Given GV's behavior and Miestra's spirited defense of same, the FDT position on this was not obvious.

The TNC has had a quick discussion about this over chat, and no one in our party has been broosking prospective immigrants in any way.  As Carlus affirms, we try to be really firm about it, since -- as you can see! -- we think it's pretty unethical and bad for Talossa.  If we hear that anyone from the TNC is broosking, either publicly or privately, we will act immediately.

As long as everyone is agreed on that, I am happy to consider the matter closed.  I'm not sure it's productive to argue about the public image of your party.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on June 06, 2023, 04:23:53 PMConsidering that the TNC have been monopolising recruitment of new citizens right out of the pipeline for most of the last year, I doubt they have a right to complain about the Free Democrats* attempting to redress the balance. In fact, we might consider that doing so openly is more honest and democratic than doing so via private message, where Allà knows what new recruits to the ruling party are being told.

It's a really bad idea for political parties to begin recruiting prospective immigrants, since it will politicize the process in a way that can't possibly be good for the country.  If political parties start  hectoring potential citizens before they even immigrate, then it's going to lead to really obvious bad outcomes.  We've managed to avoid this for the most part for many many years, completely voluntarily, because as a community we've agreed not to turn the citizenship process into a partisan contest.

You guys are indeed doing this publicly, and I guess that's better than doing it privately, but it's still a really bad idea for the country.  It could start a race to the bottom that would hurt our whole civic life  Even if your party has been having trouble lately, this "unofficial" (winkwink) new approach is not the solution.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on June 06, 2023, 04:23:53 PMBut in any case GV is only providing information, rather than doing a "sales pitch".

"Vote Free Democrats of Talossa (FREEDEMS).  We speak truth to power, and when we are back in power, we listen to truth from others."

@GV , I'm not sure it's appropriate to keep advertising your party so heavily to prospective immigrants.  You've spammed the same message to twenty-three different immigration threads, and we have a really longstanding prohibition against turning the immigration process into an exercise in partisan recruiting.  I understand that it's not quite spam because you add in a phrase or sentence each time, and that broosking is only unethical and not actually illegal, but is this really the direction we want the country to go?

I made it bigger and it looked a lot better, but you're right.  It definitely lacks a lot of the same zest of the crown.

-NRH

If we can find them and get details on the designs, I'd bet we could also sell them.

Unrelated: turns out that the Sac and Fox Nation use an identical flag design to ours, and I'm sorry to say that there are flag listings that beat ours in price very easily.  If you don't have one still, this might be an opportunity: https://www.amazon.com/AZ-FLAG-Nation-Flag-Pole/dp/B076X3H7VN