Pharaoh's Day [2022]

[Cretanja]

To celebrate this Pharaoh's Day, I was tasked with collecting all the anonymously submitted questions of the Osiran citizenry for our current and former pharaohs! You should know that I was so very honoured with being able to deliver these questions to our most respected community members. So, with the most joy possible, here are the questions that were asked, and the pharaohs' responses:

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Skies [incumbent, 23rd Pharaoh]
Q: Which is your favourite Harry Potter movie?
-My favorite Harry Potter movie is absolutely the first one! You get to meet all the characters for the first time, and really see the world come to life in more than words. Not that reading the words and using your imagination isn't fun, but the experience of watching what they did with the costumes and to achieve the effects of magic is quite wonderful in a different way.

Q: If you had to create a candle scent that represent Osiris, what would it smell like?
-Hm. Mahogany Amber Ocean Breeze?

Q: Which government position did you most enjoy serving in?
-The government position I've loved serving in the most was GA SV! <3 GA, and the GA group when I was SV was a fun one.

Q: What is something you find successful about your reign?
-I'm very glad to see Sekhmet up and thriving again, thanks very much to the efforts of many other involved folks there.

Q: Do you have a lucky number?
-4

Q: Is mayonnaise an instrument?
-Everything is an instrument if you try hard enough!

Q: What toppings do you get on pizza?
-Pineapple and spinach, unironically

Q: What is something that breaks your will to "be the bigger person" in an argument?
-When the other person involved is condescending towards me it absolutely breaks my ability to want to be a reasonable person in an argument.

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Ark [22nd Pharaoh] Q: How does it feel to be on this list?
-It’s an honor, I’m proud to have had the opportunity even if it was short-lived and under poor circumstances.

Q: What's your favourite colour?
-Definitely purple

Q: Which government position did you most enjoy serving in?
-Would have to be either Guardian or Pharaoh. Pharaoh was less because of the position itself and more because for that short period of time all of the region and our allies were working toward a common goal, and that felt really awesome to see.

Q: Do you have any regrets regarding your political career in Osi?
-I regret moments when RL forced my attention away and that led to others feeling they had to pick up my slack.

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Dakota [21st Pharaoh] Q: What do you think is the key defining element of Osiran culture?
-Think a defining element of Osiran culture is being resilient, we're a community who's ready to back up Osiris when we need to. Best example of this recently is an obvious one - I've seen is how shortly I watched the government and citizenry come together after I lost my delegacy, and then shortly after return to being a goofy fun-loving community. That's a fantastic thing for a community to do.

Q: Had your reign continued longer, what do you think you would've achieved?
-I had some plans - test out how Osiris would feel about becoming NatSov, a few generic cultural ideas, etc. I can't really say it'd have been anything out there and fantastic, just hopefully I would have hoped that I could have given Skies more time as HA to feel better prepared.

Q: Who was Pharaoh when you joined Osiris?
-Altino was Pharaoh when I joined Osiris!

Q: What's your favourite movie genre?
-Im not really a movie go-er to be honest. My favorite movie genre changes depending on whatever I got going on at the time. Currently on a Disney streak, but that'll change in a bit probs

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Altino [17th Pharaoh] Q: How would you define meritocracy as a unique ideology, and how do you think the concept reflects upon Osiran history?
-Meritocracy to me is really as simple as being the kind of person whose work speaks for itself. There's no form of government that is immune from questions about why someone rose to power - whether that be nepotism, popularity, pawn dynamics, etc. There's nothing you can really do to stop those questions because honestly they're pretty valid questions to be asking, but I feel like Meritocracy is the one form of government that eases the tension behind them. If you ask why a meritocratic leader is in their position the answer is basically "what do you mean? Like, duh." Their worth should be obvious and evidential. They work their way to the top, they prove that they're trustworthy, and you have a whole region full of witnesses to back that up. Osiris has a really rocky history and I think our greatest evidence of Meritocracy's success there is just the stability we've had for years now. We aren't beholden to anyone, we don't have to use sneaky tactics to stay afloat, we have just invested in trust and talent within our own region and that's made us strong!

Q: What is something you want to remembered for ( NSwise )?
I have put SO much energy into being a builder on NS. I work really hard to be the kind of person that can bring a project to life as soon as I invest myself in it. I guess mostly what I want to be remembered for is taking things that were quiet and struggling and making them something worth noticing.

Q: What is something about NS that, if given the opportunity, would you change or add to the site?
-I would fix recruitment, no contest. The whole system is so broken its insane. I know that's not even all the way the site's fault, all those vanity regions out there running on permanent stamps are seriously contributing to the problem. But it's such a huge problem.

Q: Which is more important in battle, brawns or brains?
Brains. Easy question, brawns are great if you want to punch a guy to win but brains brought us trebuchets. Why would I want to punch a guy when I could just throw flip a switch and throw big rocks?

Q: What flavor of ice cream best defined your reign as pharaoh?
-Mint chocolate chip. Obviously.

Q: What is your favourite movie?
-Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure! All we are is dust in the wind, dude!

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Reventus Koth [9th Pharaoh - Multiple Reigns] Q: I heard you like the colour pink, is this true?
-Whoever told you this is a scoundrel.

Q: ( If you drink ) What kind of beer is your favourite?
-There's a local brand of blueberry wheat ale that is practically the only drink I can really rely on whenever I get the itch to drink beer. It's got that nice fruity flavor that complements the wheat without becoming a "fruity drink", not that there's anything wrong with those! You just asked about beer specifically is all.

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Lynxi [18th Pharaoh] Q: Thick fluffy socks or thin silky socks?
-All socks are equal. No sock left behind.

Q: Favourite My Little Pony character?
-Fluttershy is best Pony. She is so sweet yet so vicious when she gets angry. There's just something about that dyanmic that really makes me love her.

Q: If you had to create a candle scent that represented Osiris, what would it smell like?
-An Osiris candle would both smell like sand and axe body spray. It's a desert kingdom full of nerds, of course.

Q: Do you have a favoutite bag of chip/crisp flavour?
-My favorite chip flavor is salt and vinegar. As the resident chip lady of Nationstates, I do not recognize "crisps" as a word.

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Syberis [16th Pharaoh] Q: How do you think the community of Osiris has changed since your Pharaohship? Do you think it changes uniquely fast?
-Since my Pharaohship, I would argue against this - that not a significant amount has meaningfully changed since the necessary rebranding at the beginning of Altino's reign to move away from some of the harsher aspects of Osiran culture and FA leading up to her service. Removing the shift from Johnny Cashsiris and our old FA strategies to the existing culture, I'd argue that Osiris' culture hasn't changed substantially in quite some time. There's a good number of new faces filling in roles, and there's the potential for fundamental change if that's the way the region goes, but ultimately the vibe of the community as a whole is largely the same as it's been the past 4 years. We've still got the same core of incredibly strong gameplayers, and though the new blood is doing a great job of bringing their own fresh take on things, at the core the region hasn't changed much culturally. Anyone looking into Osiris knows what they're getting into at this point, and I'd take 4 years of a consistent culture and community vibe versus the constant drastic shifts that marked prior instability.

This is part of Osiris' strength, people like Koth, Ark and Tethys maintaining Osiris to remain the same core vibe it always is. A lot of players shun a place where the vibe changes every few months, and a lot of regions don't enjoy trying to figure out what a region's alignment will be in 6 months from when talks began.

Q: What is your favourite underused word?
-Ornithopter. If only because they're a rad thing and if the word was used more it would be because we'd see plenty of the birdy bois going around - can you imagine a world where we take our ornithopter to work? Where instead of dealing with traffic on bridges we take to the skies to soar over them? I dream of a world where every man, woman, and child has their own ornithopter.

A vote for Syberis for President is a vote for universal ornithopter ownership with no background checks!

Q: Minecraft, Sims 4, or Skyrim - you can only choose one?
-Skyrim - I love Minecraft but it's TOO open, ya know? I don't like being thrown in a sandbox with endless tools and told to go wild. And if I wanted to worry about work and feeding myself, I don't think it would be through the Sims 4, I'd probably take better care of myself in the interim. Nah, I want to go out there, scream at people, smack a dragon, pick pretty daisies, and occasionally just be able to settle in to running around doing Mage Guild quests or Brotherhood missions. Plus the mod scene is dope.

Q: Favourite historical Osiris flag?
-The answer is the TBH flag holding the Empire sigil. I'll give you the factual answer for free.

[Cretanja]

Pharaoh Venico [9th Pharaoh - Coruler]

Q: How do you think the Osiris Fraternal Order has developed from the incarnation you helped found?
- In the times that I was a deep part of Osiris, including when I was founding the OFO, it was a deeply inhospitable place to be, especially to newcomers. That was something I aimed to really change with our coup and really start generating a sense of community amongst existing members as well as open arms to newcomers who seek to become Osiran. I very much see that has continued down the road and developed full fledged today.

Q: How do you think the culture of Osiris differs from other GCRs? Does our raider alignment factor into it?
- To me, what always made Osiris great was its size and familiarity between members. Sometimes if you go to a Feeder you are overwhelmed by the number of people and positions that exist and you need to interact with in order to do anything. File eight separate forms in order to vote properly, etc. Osiris to me has always had a more, that big family down the block who invites everyone over feel. As far as its raider alignment? Well I think that comes into play slightly. I believe the average raider is here to relax and play the game, which helps contribute to that more laid back feel compared to those who seek to build grand bureaucratic structures and socialize within in.

Q: Besides your obvious close friendship, what led up to iconic co-pharaohship between yourself and Koth?
- At that time there pretty much wasn't anything that Koth and I didn't do together. Part of making him Pharaoh was to share the responsibilities that were shortly coming with establishing a new government against outside opposition post coup. It would allow me to focus on some things that I do well, like community building and establishment of culture, while Koth could focus on backend priorities and creating structure. But ultimately, it comes down to the bond I have with Koth. He's my brother in all but blood and I couldn't have envisioned taking that step and establishing the Osiris Fraternal Order in the image of Malice, without my brother, and co-founder of both at my side.

Q: What is something about NS that, if given the opportunity, would you change or add to the site?
- Realistic answer? Opening the ban list for regions past 200. It's an easy fix that would allow GCRs to better regulate their community as well as how it affects gameplay arbitrarily. Community wise? I'd like to see Gameplay as a whole take a more relaxed approach when interacting with each other across the aisle. More good faith gestures, more benefit of the doubt, more sportsmanship. Coming back to this game as an older guy now, I see the amount of hate and vitriol some people have for their fellow players and it saddens me. Not enough life to be holding that in your heart.

Q: Favourite historical Osiris Flag?
- The Flag of Malice that we flew for the first day. Jokes aside though, I've always enjoy the eye of Horus painted purple on a field of gold. I felt it blended the two themes of Malice and Osiris very well.

Q: How did you decide which regions to build embassies with?
- Probably not a super fun answer but probably on a case by case basis. We had allies who we were negotiating with in order to secure their support of our legitimacy both diplomatically as well as in game with their endorsements. I don't recall too many circumstances where we had to have long deliberations of who were going to be establishing relationships with. I know we prioritized historical allies of Osiris and worked from there.