TEXT VER:
Oh Yes, A Peaceful Pride Month
by Altnavia Cayo
Dear reader,
Thank you for taking the time to sit with us today to read the brand new issue of The South Seas Gazette.
June — Pride Month. What a colorful month it was, with all those pretty rainbow colors everywhere! Anyways, June was a peaceful month for the South Pacific, much calmer than the previous two months with all those chaotic events.
As a result, there were not much events to write on, but you know, TSSG isn’t all about news. As always, we have a new interview, a puzzle and a resident spotlight, and also new articles of course, so we do hope you enjoy. Thank you again for reading!
Best Regards,
ALTNAVIA CAYO
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific
Polling Landslide!
by X-8
As the second pollmaster Chum Chum’s term was ending, the South Pacific held a third edition of the Pollmaster elections, this time with six candidates.
The candidates were: Yusania, Colloppe, Grego, My peoples, Laus Val and El Cadron in TSP.
It was pretty obvious from the start who was going to win, with El Caldron taking 17 votes out of 26, which is around 65 per cent of the votes. In second place was Laus Val with four votes. tying in third place with two votes were Yusania and My peoples. In fourth place with one vote was Grego, and in last was Colloppe with zero votes.
A New Secretariat for a New World Assembly
by Heliseum
In the last week of June, NationStates as a whole came together to vote in the inaugural World Assembly Secretariat (WASec) election. The five-person body was one of the major reforms to come out of the GA2026 Working Paper announced last year, alongside a GA reset, compliance mechanisms and a few other minor changes. Once elected, each WASec member is empowered to “make publicly-advertised voting recommendations on all World Assembly resolutions at vote, both in the Security Council and in the General Assembly.”
The election took place over two rounds of voting: the first open to all interested candidates and the second narrowed down to the top twenty-five nations from the first round. The five nations with the most votes in the second round would win a seat on the WASec, with the highest and second-highest being named Secretary General (SecGen) and Deputy Secretary General (Deputy SecGen) respectively. During each round, regions were granted the ability to officially endorse a candidate, displaying that candidate in a banner above the region’s World Factbook Entry.
A massive 141 nations declared their candidacy in the first round, but only thirty-three managed to gather a double-digit number of votes. The dust settled with the following top ten:
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Varanius - 653 votes
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UPC - 492 votes
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Merethin - 310 votes
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Islandwalk - 307 votes
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Moduland - 306 votes
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Kirrlark - 305 votes
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Knights of LUSITANIA - 221 votes
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Tinhampton - 164 votes
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Eco-Paris Reformation - 125 votes
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Pengutan - 95 votes
The South Pacific declared its support for both UPC and Merethin. UPC is a veteran of the World Assembly looking to leverage their technical experience to support the health and strength of both chambers of the WA. Merethin ran on a platform of supporting new authorship and holding high standards for the post-reset GA. Both hail from close treaty allies of TSP that we were excited to partner with.
The second round produced a top ten very similar to the first in the end, though it was much closer and didn’t settle back until a good way into the voting period. At the close of voting, the following five emerged to fill the Secretariat:
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Varanius - 450 votes
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UPC - 412 votes
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Merethin - 396 votes
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Islandwalk - 386 votes
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Moduland - 377 votes
Thus, Varanius ascends to be the inaugural SecGen, and UPC ascends to be the inaugural Deputy SecGen.
The near success of the candidates in sixth and seventh place proved concerning. Seventh place Knights of LUSITANIA was a fascist candidate backed by the reprehensible Fifth Empire. They rocketed into the top ten in the early hours of each round, but slowed in the latter half, proving less of a real threat to the top five. Kirrlark, by contrast, was a candidate backed by the Communist Bloc and ghost of Raider Unity that spent much of the voting period as high as third place.
The Secretariat take their seats just in time for the GA reset and the dawn of a new age for the World Assembly.
The Great Fight For WASec
by El Caldron in TSP
Once upon a time there was an election, a very important election and that election was…
THE WA SECRETARIAT ELECTIONNN!
RAHHHH!
Part 1 - Candidacy declarations and round 1 of voting.
141 nations declared their candidacy for WA secretariat, some of them being well known (UPC, Islandwalk, Merethin) and others… (Newly founded nations, nations that have done nothing for the WA, nations running as a joke) let’s just say the pool was mixed… So after all of the candidates were announced it was VOTING TIMEEE!
RAHHH!
Us in TSP were supporting Merethin and UPC!
Over uhm… Holds up 10 fingers this many people voted! Varanius won the first round with 653 votes! That’s a lot of votes! But let’s see who else made it to the next round…
AHEM AHEM
Yeah there’s no way I’m doing this, you are able to check it here:
https://www.nationstates.net/page=wasec_history?election=1&round=1
Anyways… NEXT PART!
Part 2 - Round 2 of voting.
25 nations… but only 5 spots, who will get those spots? Well we know now so there’s no more suspense!
The top 5 were:
Varanius - 450 votes
UPC - 412
Merethin - 396
Islandwalk - 386
Moduland - 377
So uhm… BOO it’s been spoiled! Evil cackle
Of course congrats to all of the winners! And to everybody else you get uhm… Puts hand in pocket a bottle of coke! Wait why was that even in there!? HOW DID THAT EVEN GET IN TH-
So what have we learned from this? NOTHING! But what do we have? WA secretariats! Yayy! And the ones we supported are now WA secretariats! (Merethin and UPC/The GOATS)
But uhm… What do they do?
Part 3 - What do WA secretariats do exactly?
They uhm… Wait idk… Goes on NS
Look I found it!
The World Assembly Secretariat (WASec) is a body of five nations who are empowered to make publicly-advertised voting recommendations on all World Assembly resolutions at vote, both in the Security Council and in the General Assembly. The head honcho of this group will be the Secretary-General.
And that’s it! Thank you for reading this!
Resident Spotlight: El Caldron in TSP
Q: So how long have you played NS, and what would you say got you into the game?
A: I’ve played NS for 2 years, I was really interested in creating a country so I searched up “Online country creator” on google and here we are now! I also was really obsessed with football at the time so I just used it for a fantasy football league for 6 months XD
Q: That is definitely a unique way to find Nationstates! So at the start you were interested in fantasy football and incorporated it into your Nationstates experience. How did you do so?
A: I used the challenge feature and I would put the first 3 nations that I challenged into my dossier and play them again and then I would just challenge nations until I made it to the final, most of the times I won so that was nice.
Q: Very interesting! I’ve never heard/seen of that mechanic being used in such manner. You really put a lot of thought and care into the project and the way you implemented it. May I ask if you still do it to this day, or have you moved on from it since?
A: I have moved on, but I might do it again since it was quite fun.
Q: This would seem like a very fun idea to integrate into TSP! Speaking of which, when did you come to TSP, and how did you hear about them?
A: I used to be in TSP with my main but moved for some TNP event, but I really liked TSP so I created an alt for TSP.
Q: Very interesting! Another topic to touch on is your progress in TSP as you are currently the RMB Mayor. How has your journey been so far, and do you have any future plans in store?
A: My journey has been one bumpy ride, I think if I become poll master for the second time I’ll just float around I guess? I don’t know how to really describe it, I’m kinda focused on TNP rn.
Q: Completely understandable! We understand there are things that occupy us and we do what we can. To conclude I would like to ask if there is anything you would like to say to your fellow TSPers?
A: Uhm… Live laugh heehee ha ha all the way through.
Resident Spotlight: Peoples Guerilla Armed Coalition
Q: A lot of people come and go from TSP. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in our community?
A: I think getting involved has improved quite significantly from when I was new to the region. My best advice to someone new is to start out small: apply for citizenship; join the South Pacific Special Forces, our regional military; and join any of the ministry teams. I think these positions are truly what will get you situated in the region, teach you about how the region works, and meet a bunch of new people. If you are interested in roleplay, I’d recommend joining one of the roleplay canons or Knowhere. Also, for people that are into lawmaking and legal discussion, being a legislator is a really fun part of being in TSP.
Getting your name out there, participating in a plethora of projects and discussions, and other things of that vein can be immensely helpful for assimilating within the region and getting to know it. TSP is split up into ministries and different institutions, so trying out a bunch of positions throughout your citizenship can help you pick one that you like and rise the ranks of it.A lot of people come and go from TSP. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in our community?
Q: What’s the biggest challenge we face as a region?
A: Ooh, that’s a hard question. I think one of the biggest challenges we face is ensuring that our institutions remain accessible to newer members. The South Pacific has a well-developed government and many opportunities for participation, but that can sometimes feel intimidating to someone who has just arrived. Making sure that new members understand how they can contribute and have their voices heard is important for maintaining a healthy democracy.
Q: Let’s think a long time down the road just for a second. What is a legacy that you want to leave here in TSP?
A: I would like my legacy to be that I helped make the South Pacific a more welcoming and accessible place for new members. TSP has given me many opportunities to learn, contribute, and meet new people, and I would like to help ensure that future generations of players have the same experience. I hope to leave the region stronger than I found it.
More than any specific position or achievement, I would like to be remembered as someone who consistently contributed to the region and helped others become involved. If, years from now, some of the people who joined during my time are still active and contributing because of something I worked on or helped create, I would consider that a legacy worth leaving behind.
Q: Everything in our interview is fascinating stuff. What are some other interests you have outside of NationStates?
AI have quite a few interests outside of NationStates. One of my main hobbies is reading, a hobby I have picked up recently, especially books covering topics such as politics, philosophy, history, and religion. I also enjoy programming, although I still consider my skills not to be the most spectacular 
. Beyond that, I enjoy going on walks and exploring my city.
Q: Thank you for this interview Jay! Is there anything else you’d like to share with us before we conclude?
A: No, thank you for your time.
Resident Spotlight: Life in TSP?
Great Cassels: Most Harmonious Galactic Leader
Hi TSP, I am Andromeda of Great Cassels! I joined NationStates a little over a year ago, but I wasn’t really into until recently. Last year, I came in second in the 2025 song contest that we all know as SwanVision. I love music, and I play guitar (both acoustic and electric), piano, a few smaller instruments, and I’m in band. I just became a section leader, and during marching season I play marimba on front ensemble. I had a teacher I was pretty close with recommend NationStates to me a while back. It wasn’t until I got bored one day and decided to create a nation. Great Cassels started as me just answering issues, but now I enjoy talking on the RMB and making friends :)
Ice Cream [Official Review]
by lordnwahs (Differences-In-Differences)
In this regular feature, TSP’s most infamous ice cream extremist will review whatever ice cream he can get his hands on…
After the disaster that was the KitKat ice cream that I reviewed last time, I decided to go for something far more standard. Everyone loves a good ol’ pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and I sure love drinking coffee every morning. What could go wrong?
Well, at least the crunch and toffee bits were very satisfying. I found the coffee a bit overpowering, and not in a particularly pleasant way: it made the ice cream feel too much like drinking a cheap iced latte that you’d get from a convenience store or someplace.
I would not say that this is the best coffee ice cream out there. Maybe I’d stick to making my own affogato or something next time.
Editor’s note: he rated this ice cream three out of five stars.
Eternal Raven’s Pie Review
by Eternal Raven
Everyone always asks. Is cake or pie the better choice for events, holidays, and get togethers? Honestly, I think my preference is pie! Why might you ask? The truth is I enjoy the diverse variety of flavors they offer. My favorite is a nice blackberry pie. Those blackberries you spend picking and bringing home so grandma can make some homemade pie. It’s one of the precious things I can remember about her. The house would be warm with a pie in the oven. I didn’t care if it was apple, pumpkin, or my favorite, blackberry. There’s something about that first bite that cake doesn’t offer. Throw some ice cream on top, and you are gonna have all the great fixings for a hearty dessert. Cake just doesn’t have that same vibe or even diverse options. Sure, you can have flavors. But it’s not the same and my grandma was all about homemade. My sister and I would always fight over that first slice. Sometimes I win and sometimes I just take the whole pie for myself. Oh no, mom was there too. Yeah taking the whole pie wasn’t so smart because I got grounded. It’s just a precious memory I treasure of my dear grandma. She left us a few years ago. There’s never a holiday, birthday, or get together where we don’t reminiscent about her baking skills. I wished I listened more closely and learned her secrets to how to make those pies taste great! Most importantly, I got to spend time with her and the pie was just a perfect cherry on top!
A Rudimentary Exercise
by Heliseum.
WAHEI was the first to solve last month’s puzzle by Heliseum!!!
EVINEA was the first to solve last month’s puzzle by Eternal Raven!!!
Captain Vic’s radio is down again! But what’s this? She appears to be tapping out some sort of message. If only I remembered my fundamentals… They’re numbered somewhere, aren’t they?
You can submit answers or ask for hints by sending a telegram to Heliseum.
First to get it right gets a shoutout! Those who get it correct will be awarded an Epic card!
Thanks for Reading!
