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My mum has this big folder that's full of recipes. It was started by my great granny, passed down to my granny, and then to my mum. There's a mix of all sorts of food in there, both family recipes carefully handwritten, and things tried from books or magazines cut and pasted. My mum is gonna add in her own recipes and then pass it to me to add mine some day.

I figured it could be kind of cool to do a CalRef version of this. Maybe you have perfected a recipe over many years or you just found one online last weekend that worked out great, it's all allowed here!

I'll start with a recipe for my favourite soup, it's really common in my part of Ireland and always reminds me of home.

Ingredients
1/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup split peas (you can sub a cup of garden peas of you can't find these)
1/4 cup lentils (any colour)
1½ pints vegetable stock
1 large leek
2 medium or large carrots
3 sticks of celery
25g parsley
A sprig of rosemary
Some thyme
A bay leaf

Method:

1. Put the pearl barley, split peas and lentils into a large soup pot and add the vegetable stock. Put the pot on a high heat.

2. Chop the leek, carrots, celery and parsley and add them to the pot.

3. Using a bit of string, make a little herb bouquet with the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf. Alternatively you can just throw them in, but the string makes it easier to fish out later.

4. Turn the heat down to a simmer and leave for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf (or don't, it's up to you), add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves between 4-8 depending on how big you want your portions. This soup goes great with a nice crusty bread as you don't blend it and the bread soaks up all the broth.

Freezes well for 6 months.

This is a kinda sad and probably rambly one, sorry in advance friendos!

Four years ago today, a good friend of mine died, and so I've been feeling really sad about that this evening. They loved rats and art and mostly they loved their friends. We met on a forum and never got to meet in person, although we both drew each other pictures of us hanging out together and sent them to each other.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking today, and I think the best way to honour their memory is to tell my friends that I love them.

And CalRef, you are all friends that I love. I'm not very good at telling you as often as you deserve, but I do mean it. This community is one where I have fun and love talking to you all. I think you're all so cool and interesting and talented at so many things. I love hearing you all talk about the stuff you love, even when, especially when I don't really know anything about the topic. There are so many times you've made me laugh till I've cried. I love how everyone here uses their talents to try to do nice things for other people and to make this world a more interesting, creative and welcoming place to exist.

I know resolutions are typically a new year's thing, but I do not recognise the dictatorship of the Gregorian calendar, so I'm resolving to be better at telling you that I think you're great, and why I think you're great. Cause y'all are important to me, and it's important to me that you know it.

Anyway, please enjoy these cute rats and tell the folks you love that you love them.

There's a well known phrase, "there's no such thing as a stupid question." Every so often, my brain puts that saying to the test. If yours does too, here is a place to ask the questions to which the only answer a reasonable person would give is "did you hit your head?" This space is for questions which do not require an answer, but by all means feel free to discuss.

Today's question: Why isn't ice tennis a sport the way ice hockey is?

[c. In the event that a Resident chooses not to be in the World Assembly but would otherwise be able to do so, for example for the purpose of better control over their stats, or on the grounds of national lore, rather than apply for an exemption they are encouraged to move a puppet with World Assembly membership into the region. After seven days when it receives Member State status, they should then inform a Councillor that they would like their non-WA Resident nation to be considered as a Member State instead of the puppet for the purposes of the map, entering Member State restricted contests, and running for Council positions. The puppet must both reside continuously in Refugia and as a member of the World Assembly in order for the main Resident state to retain these benefits. If the puppet leaves the region, the World Assembly, or CTEs (Ceases To Exist), the Resident main nation will no longer be considered an honorary Member State.]

I'm proposing an amendment to the Member State exemption in RRS 5 which to my knowledge we already do in practice with regards to the map, but hopefully makes it a little clearer in law and adds in a Council benefit. Any feedback is appreciated!

5. Residents may apply for Member State status in conditions where admission to the World Assembly is declined, rejected, or impossible.

a. Residents applying for a World Assembly Exemption must have resided within the Region for a period of time not less than fourteen days and receive the unanimous approval from the Regional Council to provide the exemption.

b. In the event that an exempted Member State accrues influence in another region, requests their status be revoked, or is ejected from the region, the Member State's exemption status is revoked. The Member State can apply to have this status reinstated, following the same protocol as laid out in RRS 5(a).

c. In the event that a Resident chooses not to be in the World Assembly but would otherwise be able to do so, for example for the purpose of better control over their stats, or on the grounds of national lore, rather than apply for an exemption they are encouraged to move a puppet with World Assembly membership into the region. After seven days when it receives Member State status, they should then inform a Councillor that they would like their non-WA Resident nation to be considered as a Member State instead of the puppet for the purposes of the map, entering Member State restricted contests, and running for Council positions. The puppet must both reside continuously in Refugia and as a member of the World Assembly in order for the main Resident state to retain these benefits. If the puppet leaves the region, the World Assembly, or CTEs (Ceases To Exist), the Resident main nation will no longer be considered an honorary Member State.

I've intentionally left off voting benefits as to my knowledge these are defined by NS data to Dot for vote.calref, and by NS itself for WA-restricted polls such as BOAT.

Author: Tiralta
Second:

Saving this to come back and do the OOC links to wiki etc in a little bit.

Main thread: https://forum.calref.ca/index.php?topic=242.0

Usual encouragement to discuss stuff here or in the roleplay channel on Discord! :D

Sometimes, life is like a rowboat slowly filling with water.

That was the thought going through Mallie's head as she clung on the sides of the castle for dear life, the prison guards at the window above her, and a steep drop to where the ocean crashed below her. Okay, maybe this had not been her brightest idea yet, but it sure beat dying for the crime of "piracy". She hadn't even set foot on a boat in her life before this morning to swipe the ring that had landed her in all this hot water. How was she to know it belonged to the Princess, or that the soldier who caught her would want to make an example of her? And yet here she was, the only thing between her and a world of pain her measly grip on a couple of uneven bricks. Escape may not have been her brightest idea, but who on earth decides to build a prison hanging out over the ocean!

Just as Mallie was giving up and debating whether it would be quicker and more comfortable to fall into the ocean or surrender to whatever the prison guards had in store for her, Fate herself intervened - a ship! Heading right underneath her, and if she timed the jump right, she could probably make it on to the mast... maybe? Deciding that this was currently the only course of action that wasn't going to result in a 100% chance of death, Mallie committed to her third less than bright idea of the day, closed her eyes, whispered a quick prayer to Fate under her breath, and leapt.

A few heart-pounding moments suspended in mid-air, and as she began to wonder if she'd missed and was just hurtling towards the ocean, suddenly she smacked her face against the wooden post of the ship's mast, getting tangled in the ropes that held the sails. Perhaps that idea would have been better if she'd kept her eyes open. But, she thought as she tentatively opened her eyes and gently brought a hand to her bleeding cheek, still alive! She slowly shimmied down the mast, keeping an eye out for anyone who might notice her and turn her in to the soldiers again. At least if she got caught, she'd somewhat earned that piracy sentence now, ha. Near the bottom, she suddenly heard a voice, and panicking, wrapped herself up in the furled-up sail.

"This is the Captain of The Harbor speaking. Ready yourselves for transport in 30 seconds, folks! All arms and legs inside the ride!"

"Who on earth names their ship The Harbor?" thought Mallie. "And what a strange announcement to the crew! What on earth could they mean by transport in 30 sec-"

Suddenly, the whole ship began to shudder and tremble violently, and a feeling came over Mallie like her insides had been taken out, braided together and then put back not quite right. Her entire body felt like it was being squashed down by some outside pressure and she gritted her teeth to stop yelling out in pain, when the feeling stopped as quickly and unexpectedly as it had started. Too terrified to even breathe, she grasped the rough material of the sail more tightly, trying not to be sick over herself. It could have been hours or minutes, but eventually her racing heart calmed, and the silent tears streaming down her face stopped, and she finally, finally built up the courage to gently lift her head and peek out at her surroundings.

Mallie couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her. The ship, which had a few minutes ago been on the ocean near the castle, where ships belonged, was now in a sort of... bubble? And beyond the bubble, endless darkness, which would have been a void had it not been for the millions of stars that twinkled in every direction as far as the eye could see, with no sign of land or ocean anywhere.

Sweet Fate, what have I got myself into now?

[[redacted]]

Get that classified information off your chest, like you're a Victorian writer who wants to namedrop without namedropping, or a newly released national document that looks more like blackout poetry.


Today I was talking to [redacted] about my feelings about [redacted] and they said [redacted]. Wow, rude.

[Question 1: What genres do you like? Choose as many as you like.]

It started, as many things do, with a book club. And a dream that perhaps it could return.

15 people responded to the calling to share their thoughts, which are below. And then my thoughts on those thoughts! And you can reply with your thoughts on my thoughts on your thoughts. INTERDEPENDENCE. SYNERGY. THE CIRCLE OF LIFE.

Question 1: What genres do you like? Choose as many as you like.
13 votes: fantasy, and sci-fi
8 votes: classics
7 votes: historical fiction
6 votes: action and adventure
5 votes: crime/mystery, and young adult
4 votes: romance, graphic novels, and dystopian
2 votes: horror, and nonfiction
1 vote: autobioghraphy/memoir, and thriller

We lean very heavily to fantasy and sci-fi, shared interests are nice! 

Question 2: Which three of the following would be most important to you in a CalRef Book Club?
7 votes: a dedicated space to talk about the book and share reviews/fanart, prompts, and thoughts or questions from others while we read
5 votes: free options (e.g. available through online libraries), voting on book suggestions, reading genres I like, and reading books I've never read before
3 votes: accessible options (e.g. audiobooks)
2 votes: diverse authors, reading at the same pace as others, and somewhere to share my reading goals
1 vote: books that are also a film/tv show

The top two are fairly simple! This thread can be our dedicated space to share our thoughts, and I can do my best to come up with some prompts if things are quieter, although I would love it a lot if we all shared questions and ideas.

The ones with 5 votes are a bit more varied. Voting is easy and can take place via emoji in Discord, and reading genres we like is hopefully doable with the handy-dandy answers to Question 1 above. For reading books we've never read before, that should hopefully be covered in the voting. For free options, there are online libraries which will be fine for classics and older books, but if we're reading anything relatively more recent the best option is honestly probably to support your local libraries and ask if they use apps like Borrow Box or Libby!

Question 3: How often should Book Club run?
9 votes: every month
3 votes: every 2 months
2 votes: reading a chapter per week
1 vote: every 2 weeks

This is a pretty substantial majority preference for once a month, that's easy! Although of course, you still don't have to join in every month to renew your book club membership.

TLDR: why aren't you reading, this is Book Club >:)
One book a month, will probably lean heavily to sci-fi and fantasy, we love democracy and encouraging the support of local libraries!

Well, now what?
It would be nice to start the book club on 1st February, as it will be easier to remember when the month starts and ends if we follow the calendar. I'll post some book club voting options tomorrow (31st January), and after 24 hours to vote, I will post February's book in this thread! Don't forget to add the Book Club role on Discord to get voting pings.

Inspired by the two telemarketers who fell in love and went to Argentina to sell dishwasher insurance in the Discord chat. <3

Not as much plot control as an RP, more plot control than a one word story: take it whichever direction you like by adding a line at a time.



The thing you should know about dragons is that they're actually a lot smaller than you'd imagine.

[aka: share up to 3 songs you have on repeat at the moment]

aka: share up to 3 songs you have on repeat at the moment

For me it's currently I'd Rather Be A Ghost by Semler.

[however they are not prevented from running for more than one position for which they are eligible in the same election.]

You Can Only Occupy One Seat In Both Musical Chairs And Refugia

PREAMBLE: Noticing that there is no provision for the event of a candidate running for multiple Councillor positions within Refugia;
Impressed by Lethodus' initiative in this area with their recent campaign Dax for Councillor of All Things;
Seeking clarity should this phenomenon occur again in future and a candidate should win in multiple seats;
Therefore enacts the following amendment:

13. Elections will consist of a one week candidacy period where an eligible Member State may declare their intent to stand for office, a one week voting period where all Member States may vote for their desired candidate, and a one week transition period to acclimate the incoming Councillor with their roles and responsibilities. Terms officially begin the 22^nd day of February, June, and October.

a. Candidacy declarations must be given in one or more easily accessible areas as designated by the Arch-Administrator.
b. Residents must qualify as Member States as defined in RRS 4 to be eligible for candidacy.
c. Member States are prohibited from occupying more than one seat at any given time or occupying the same Council seat more than two times consecutively, however they are not prevented from running for more than one position for which they are eligible in the same election.
d. In the event of more than two valid candidates for a single seat, instant run-off voting will determine the winner, where candidates are ranked by preference on the ballot and eliminated by fewest votes during each round of ballot counting.
e. The election for each seat is resolved in favour of the candidate with the most votes at the final round of ballot counting.
f. In the case of a candidate running for multiple positions and winning more than one of these elections, their position will be decided as follows:
i. If one of the seats won by the Member State had only one candidate and the other(s) had multiple, the Member State that ran for multiple positions is automatically selected for the seat in which they were the sole candidate, with the other seat(s) going to the runner(s)-up.
ii. If the winning Member State was the sole candidate for all positions to which they were elected, or if there were multiple candidates for all positions to which they were elected, they shall declare a preference for the seat they would like to take, and the other seat(s) shall go to the runner(s)-up.
iii. Should the winning Member State fail to declare a preference for one of their successful seats within 3 days of the conclusion of the election, the Arch-Administrator may call a vote of the region to decide which seat they would prefer to see the Member State occupying.
g. In the event of unexpected absences or positions that cannot be filled, the Arch-Administrator may act in that position's capacity, or appoint an individual who may serve in that position's capacity until the following election produces a regular appointment.


Authored by: Tiralta
Seconded by: