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nytemyre · 2 months ago

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My ban from Project Awesome and how i learned that imWheat was never the good guy

Original reddit post, because Reddit had removed it from my account:

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What is this post?

In August 2023, I received a ban from my old Arma 3 unit Project Awesome. The ban was given in an overreaction to a situation involving the /r/JoinSquad subreddit, of which I gave my own opinion about on the PA Discord.

Given my positive history with both Project Awesome and the unit-owner /u/imWheat, I expected that he would recognize the error and lift the ban. However, the situation escalated inexplicably into a permanent ban for reasons I just don't understand. Despite my efforts to explain the circumstances, Wheat labeled me as "combative" and "unreasonable." This only led to him becoming increasingly more hostile towards me.

This is a (not-so)-short summary and record of events that serve as proof of imWheat's shitty behavior during this time. And serve as a warning for anyone who would think of joining Project Awesome, or any of Wheat's community in the future.

My time in Project Awesome

I joined PA in 2017, when it had just recovered from it's 2nd (or even 3rd) staff walk-out that Wheat caused. At that point, i didn't even know about it's previous reputation or all the shit Wheat pulled before.

Anyway, when i joined PA, I liked it. It was a cool place with cool people, and the Arma 3 missions were fun and relaxed. Eventually, I started making missions for them, creating my own unique style.

Here are a few videos of missions i made and hosted for PA:

Recreation of ShackTac "Operation Mongoose"

Mission with a prerecorded briefing.*

A TvT mission

I pitched in with some other tasks too, such as updating old mission making guide on how to use the customized MURK spawning system, Mission making do's and don'ts and other helpful stuff. I even chipped in nearly donated about $100 to support PA server upkeep.

Anyway, during my time in PA, I received multiple praise from Wheat for helping the community in a positive way, and was even Member of the week once.

The end of PA's 3rd iteration

In 2020, there was another stir in the PA staff. You can find some details here. The PA staff aimed to tweak the direction of the Arma group, but it clashed with Wheat's original vision for how PA's Arma community should run. Interestingly, Wheat, who participated in Arma events, and wasn't familiar with the gameplay or the wishes of the Arma side of PA.

When the conflict proved unsolvable, mainly because Wheat resisted any ideas or suggestions from the staff, the majority of the Arma staff decided to break away and created /r/The_Misfit_Company. Many players, including myself, who enjoyed gaming together in PA, joined them. Despite this, I remained active in the PA Discord for a while. Over time, my involvement decreased, and after about a year, during a Discord cleanup, I chose to part ways and leave the PA Discord.

The /r/JoinSquad incident

In July 2023, there was a huge drama going on the /r/JoinSquad subreddit that Wheat is the headmod off.

The details can be read in this Subreddit-Drama post, this video by MoiDawg, or this Google Document

In summary, Wheat updated auto-mod to recruit for Project Awesome on the (un)official Squad subreddit, violating three of its own subreddit rules. This move received a strongly negative reaction from the subreddit. Additionally, various words like "Wheat," "Discord," "Banned," and "PA" were restricted in comments or posts. The situation turned chaotic, with JoinSquad facing attacks from MoiDawg fanboys and possible brigading from users on /r/subredditdrama

My initial & undeserved ban from Project Awesome Discord

I decided to check up on the Project Awesome Discord how things were going there. I already saw some posts on the new /r/PlaySquad subreddit where people making "Speedruns to get banned from PA" so i expected it to a shitshow there too. But to my surprise, it was rather….okay. There was a written statement posted on the General Chat by one of the Discord mods distancing themselves from the actions of Wheat.

Now, the following is what led to my ban. I, being a former member of PA, felt compelled to share my perspective on the situation, believing that others might value the insights of someone who was part of PA for several years and had numerous conversations with Wheat. In the General chat, I conveyed the following three points

Wheat recruiting was always good for PA and always made sure that PA had quite a lot of members

However, using JoinSquad to recruit for PA is not the way to do it

Removing comments with certain words in them however, is fucking childish

Within a minute of posting this message, I found myself instantly banned from the Discord. No warning, no private message, and no indication of the reason behind the ban—just an instant removal from the Discord server.

My initial thought that the moderator who banned was someone that didn't know me, and just saw a NEW tag next to my Discord name, and assumed I was another troll, looking to cause trouble. This was of course not the case.

My appeal - Part 1 - ProjectAwesome Modmail

So instantly tried to contact Wheat on Discord PM to ask why I was banned. Certainly with my history in PA this was a mistake. I did the same on /r/ProjectAwesome modmail, to see if i could get a faster reply. Maybe from the mod who banned me himself.

The first one to reply was someone on the PA modmail. He didn't use his name, so i have no idea who responded.

The entire conversation can be read here

Basically, this mod says the reason I was banned was because I was hostile (by saying "fucking childish"), but later apologizes to me and says that the ban will be removed. And if I have any issues with Wheat should be directly said to him, and not the PA Discord.

My appeal - Part 2 - Discord DM with Wheat

After this conversation with the mod, Wheat responded on my DM in Discord.

The entire conversation can be read here

Wheat says he has no issue with unbanning me, but concludes that the only reason i rejoined the PA discord was just to bash on him. I say this was not the case, and that what i said wasn't worth an instant-permaban.

3 Days later

I noticed that my ban wasn't removed yet, so i PM Wheat again, asking why. Suddenly, Wheat informs me that he talked with the Discord mods and they do not want to reverse the ban, and that he doesn't want to go "against his team". He tells me to appeal to them directly and they will be reasonable.

Screenshot here (Part 1)

After I tell Wheat i already did contact them, there was a sudden change in his way of speaking. Suddenly, he was trying to find any excuse or any reason to justify the banned.

First he tries to get me to show my first appeal, suggesting that I was aggressive in that one. He can easily find that appeal himself since it was in the PA Subreddit Modmail, but he asks me to show a screenshot of it. Then he tries to catch me in a lie, saying that the mod in the PA Modmail told me to contact him.

Screenshot here (Part 2)

Then came an interesting part. Wheat, in again an attempt to try to justify the ban, says he will look up the original message i wrote that got me banned. I say I can recite the message that got me banned, and Wheat says: "If that's the exact message you wrote, you'll be unbanned.

So now I have two confirmations that my ban will be removed. From the PA Modmail, and from Wheat himself. Great right?

Screenshot here (Part 3)

Wheat then shows me some screenshot of other people, writing more hostile messages in the Discord that didn't got banned, so he expected me that I wrote something horrible.

This is also great for me…because what I said was not as nearly as hostile as the screenshots he shows me.

Screenshot here (Part 4)

Then there was a final attempt to find an excuse to justify the ban, by asking me what a deleted post was from the PA Subreddit. I told him that it was nothing, and it was simply the same question why I was banned, but I deleted it almost instantly and messaged Modmail instead. I asked him to stop looking for an excuse, because there simply isn't any.

Screenshot here (Part 5)

This was the end of the conversation with Wheat. I went on a short holiday to Las Vegas afterwards.

Wheat's decision to uphold the ban

After I returned from Las Vegas, i noticed I didn't receive a reply yet. So, i open the reddit modmail message and ask "Why is taking the removal of my ban so long". What followed was the following message from Wheat himself:

The way you talked to the team wasn't quite the way you explained it on Discord. Whether you meant it or not, you came across as combative and impossible to reason with. I've known you for a while and haven't seen this from you before but for whatever reason, you really came across as an ass. I know a lot of people on the internet might think I'm "Wheatler" and I'm going to do what I want but I listen to my team and work closely with them to build communities that others benefit from. If they think you shouldn't be unbanned, I'm going to listen to them and that's what I've done. It's also what I've explained to you in Discord DMs. It's possible you can be unbanned in the future but the way you talk to others (not me) matter and it will take time before anyone here wants to give you another chance. If it's worth it to you to wait, let your response to this message reflect that.

Screenshot of message here

This was absolute bullshit. First of all, both Wheat, and the PA modmail say that I will be unbanned. Then suddenly, there is a 180 on that decision because somehow, I wrote "combative" messages to the team.

So i demand an explanation.

At the same time, i also asked it directly to Wheat on Discord. Trying to get him into a Voice Call whenever he was online (which he of course refused to answer).

Screenshot here

Contacting other mods

Since Wheat stated that it was a vote by the other mods, i tried to contact them. I first contacted two mods in PA that was still on good terms with and had in my Discord friend list. The first mod however, stated that he didn't even know I was banned, and isn't involved in the politics of running PA.

Screenshot here

The second mod of PA also tells me he wasn't involved in my ban or the vote either.

Screenshot here

The third mod, which i had to add as a friend on Discord first before i could contact him, was involved in my ban and finally gives me some additional info. He tells me that the reason my ban will not be removed is because of a comment I wrote on the /r/PlaySquad subreddit. Specifically this comment where I explained that I was banned from PA for giving a simple opinion, and then concluded that PA screwed me over despite my positive contributions to the community. This was however misread as "Screw PA", instead of "Screw Nyte".

Screenshot here

The mod further explained that he voted to only ban me for 1 week. I explain that Wheat (initially) wanted to unban me. Finally, the mod says that I should continue on the PA modmail again. Our PM's stopped after this.

Screenshot here

I turn back to Wheat's DM and also explain that the "Screw PA" was misread. However, Wheat had at this point removed me from his Discord friend list, so he wouldn't receive my messages anymore.

Screenshot here

The accidental "Reddit mute"

So, things got messy here. First of all, i received a temporary mute from PA modmail. Which send me into a bit of a frenzy. Since Wheat had removed me from Discord, i send him a Reddit PM with "Are you fucking kidding me". He quickly explains that it was a misclick, and that I should stop PMing everyone because I am annoying them, which was a lie because there was only one mod I was talking too, and we already closed our conversation at that point.

Screenshot here

At the same time, Wheat also responded in the Modmail that the mute was accidental, and that he would respond later.

Screenshot here

I record a video

At this point, I was pretty fed up with the situation. Wheat was being extremely difficult for no good reason. He was lying and manipulative, and tried his best to justify the ban by baiting me into being hostile. And i think he kind of succeeded with the "accidental" mute.

At this point, i record a video on my webcam with a message to Wheat to say…. "Don't bother…". There was no way that, even after i would get unbanned, i would be on good terms with Wheat again. Even though there was a short moment before the ban that made me think playing Arma with PA again, Wheat destroyed any trust I had for him, or that PA was an enjoyable community with him on the helm.

The video is currently private, but here is the transcript of it:

You know what Wheat. Don't bother anymore. Don't bother removing the ban because frankly, I don't even care anymore. I'm done wasting my energy on this situation. You've shown to me that you are unwilling. UNWILLING to help me out. You tried multiple times to find some sort of justification to uphold the ban. And there weren't any. There was no reason at all to justify the ban. And you continue to keep giving me these bullshit reasons. I was banned, simply because the Discord had a moment that it was flooded with trolls, and i gave my opinion on the situation at a bad time. Whoever banned me saw this NEW tag on my name, and removed me for something that wasn't even worth a warning. A comment maybe. A comment like "Hey Nyte, we don't want to discuss this topic here so please stop bringint it up" But no. Your incompetent mod insta banned me. I was just caught in the crossfire of some trolls flooding your server. And to think that i defended you on the Squad subreddit. To think i reported every post about "fuck wheat" and called out every brigading dipshit coming from the Subredditdrama subreddit or from MoiDawg's video. I never had a problem with you Wheat. I was never part of the Arma staff back when the split happened, so i have nothing against you. The only reason i joined Misfit Company was because everyone I enjoyed playing Arma with all left to join Misfit And I enjoyed playing with those people. They made playing in PA fun for me so I joined them too. But, I still stayed in the PA Discord for a long time. I still replied in the Arma channels and mission making channels now and then. For me, there were no ill feelings towards PA. But, eventually i used the PA Discord less and less. And one day when i decided to clean up some servers, PA was simply one of them. But then came the shitshow at the Squad subreddit, and I decided to check on the PA Discord. I imagined it was a shitshow there too, but it was pretty mild, at least when I joined. Quagmire had just posted a statement in the General chat about the situation and i thought, i will give me own opinion about the whole ordeal. Maybe some words from an old member has some value. And even at that point, when I joined. I felt a bit of nostalgia. I was even considering being more active in PA again. Play some Arma again. I still have some unplayed missions ready that I could host. And while i was typing that typing something like "Hey, i got some ready-to-play missions I could host…" I got banned. No warning. No reasoning. No nothing. And that was a major kick in my balls. And then when i tried to get answers, try to reason with you. Try to explain the situation. That there was no ill will at play at all. You just kept giving me bullshit. Over and over again. It's honestly disgusting Wheat. You are the founder of PA, and you could have vouched for me. You could have brought up all that I did in favour of PA. But it meant nothing to you. You said "Screw Nyte" and you and your mods have said it clearly over and over again. So considered that bridge burned. Even if you still decide to remove the ban. And at this point, you will most likely won't I will NEVER return to PA Because you have a shitty mod team. And you have shown that you are a shitty person.

The final judgement

Even though i recorded the video, i withheld it from sending it to Wheat, having a sliver of hope that the ban would still be undone. Despite I already set my mind that I would not return to PA ever.

Then I received the following message from Wheat, putting the final nail in the coffin.

I thought about it and I really don't have the energy to continue this conversation. I trust the mods that removed you and based on how you've acted since you were banned makes me not want to have to deal with you again. If you come back in the future calmer and more reasonable, I'd be willing to have that conversation but we're at a point right now where people are having to block you on Discord because you keep asking about your ban. You've been told why you were banned and that message on r/Playsquad really had no bearing on why it's not being removed. You're acting like you deserve to be in that Discord. Like we're taking away your rights to complain to people that don't want to hear it. It does NO ONE any good unbanning you at this point because we have no reason to think you have any interest in actually being in our community. You know PA. Have you ever seen us let people come to our Discord and give others a hard time? You might say, "But Wheat, you shared your Discord server and you shouldn't have", etc, etc. I shouldn't have done that the way I did. It's over. People have had their say. The Discord link is no longer being shared in posts on r/joinsquad. I won't be responding to this post anymore and if you get rude, I'm just going to mute it. I've answered enough of your questions that at this point, you should understand. Sorry dude.

Screenshot here

At that point, i send him the video, and made a final message, proving every point he made in his message wrong

Screenshot of my reply

This reply ended up giving me another mute to the PA modmail. Which made me decide to post my video in the /r/ProjectAwesome subreddit for everyone to see. But it was removed within a few minutes, earning me a permaban from the subreddit.

Update 22 December 2023

/u/imWheat finally banned me from /r/Joinsquad for this post for "breaking community rules" without any further explanation or reasoning. I knew he was just waiting for any excuse to permaban me from Joinsquad, and I guess he just found one.

Update 22 December 2023 - 2

Here's proof that imWheat wanted to have me banned from the /r/Joinsquad subreddit from the start. Also, the fact he's making up shit like "He's reaching out to my family" is a very sad attempt to get people on his side.

Update 1 January 2024

In another "conversation" with Wheat, he now shares that he accuses me of sending emails to his mother, signed with "Nyteman" as the only form of evidence.

Afterwards, he threatens me with trying to get my reddit account banned and contacting my local authorities.

Update 2 January 2024

I have reported Wheats threats to Reddit, and he received a Reddit ban for it. My 2024 started off great

Update 16 January 2024

Sadly, it was only a 2 week ban. Shame. Because he deserves to be permanently removed from Reddit

Update 4 February 2024

Speculation ahead: So, my Reddit account and LinkedIn account were getting regularly "FORGOT PASSWORD" and "1 TIME LOGIN LINK" mails lately. LinkedIn however, shows where this request was made, and interestingly enough, they always came from Cincinnati in the U.S. On a hunch, i decided to check imWheat's account with RedditMetis, and i found an old comment from the /r/cincinatti subreddit, where he wrote that he was planning to move there.

When I confronted him with this… he immediately nuked his entire Reddit account, deleting all his comments and posts. I'm not saying he's actually doing it, but nuking your entire account for that is SUS AS FUCK

Update, 8-9 February 2024 - Wheat wants to negotiate

In a sudden move, i receive a PM from Wheat. He wants me to remove this post because it makes him look like the bad guy (no shit), but also because in the last update, i was hinting where he was living.

I decided to accept and tell him one more time what i want: Remove ALL my bans (PA Discord, Subreddit and JoinSquad), and will remove this post. I even tried to explain to him that I never had bad intentions in mind when i was to be unbanned.

Wheat replies that he can unban me from /r/JoinSquad, but will only unban me from the PA if I promise not to join it, or take part in PA activities. Stating that if he will unban me, the current PA staff will leave the community. This is of course no different than a ban, but I'm willing to help if it will remove the bans.

Screenshot here

So, despite I feel that i shouldn't even need to do this, I decided to write a super formal ban appeal on the /r/ProjectAwesome modmail. Explaining that it was just unfortunate circumstances, and that my initial ban appeal was mostly fuelled by emotions for being banned from a community i used to love.

Screenshot of my appeal here

A few hours later, i receive the following reply from /u/Tenebo, who is hiding his name. (I know who banned me because of inside info from one PA moderator, who was still on my side)

We say no and have no intention to ever change that stance. ~ Signed, the rest of the Project Awesome team. Typed by the person who initially banned you.

I ask to elaborate

We don't want anyone in PA who harasses people. The fact this has been going on for months and you're still updating your reddit post shows us that you're not someone we want there. The obsession is quite worrying. As you have said in your final judgement, you have already set your mind that I would not return to PA ever. We do not intend to remove the ban.

Screenshot here

Given that the PA moderators do not want to unban me, i return to Wheat and give him the following choice:

Remove my /r/JoinSquad ban, and i will remove all updates since 22 December

Remove ALL my bans, and tell your mod team to suck it, and i will remove this post

Wheat replies, saying that he can't do either. He points to the text of my video from 6 months ago, where I stated that I will never return to PA, and that it doesn't make sense that I still want to be unbanned. Well true, i will never return to PA after what happened, i simply want my bans removed.

Screenshot here

My final message to him was: "Goodbye Wheat"

and i blocked him

Update, 19 February 2024 - Wheat steps down as headmods on all his subs

Still another update. So, Wheat seems to have stepped down as headmods of all the subs he was moderating. He's still mod at /u/FindAUnit, but he's not the headmod there. I'm currently still muted in the /r/JoinSquad modmail, but i will see if they will unban me.

Update, 13 March 2024

And i'm unbanned from /r/Joinsquad. I had to wait till Wheat's mute expired, but after messaging the new mods, the ban was instantly removed.

#imWheat #Project Awesome #PA #Arma 3 #Arma #Community

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fandom · 1 month ago

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Celebs

Here comes Hugh Jackman out of nowhere with the steel adamantium claws.

David Tennant +2

Hugh Jackman

Pedro Pascal -1

Neil Gaiman

Michael Sheen

Oliver Stark +46

Ryan Reynolds +18

Ncuti Gatwa +84

Walker Scobell

Nicola Coughlan

Ryan Guzman +49

Jensen Ackles

Misha Collins -6

Vivienne Medrano

Luke Newton

Hugh Dancy +13

Assad Zaman

Mads Mikkelsen +10

Sam Reid +11

Zendaya +12

Ewan Mitchell +23

Jacob Anderson +14

Leah Jeffries

Elon Musk -23

Sebastian Stan -1

Tom Hiddleston +25

Lou Ferrigno Jr

Margot Robbie -22

Nicholas Galitzine -8

Joseph Quinn -19

Ayo Edebiri +23

Drew Starkey

Sofia Coppola

Ryan Gosling -25

Ryoko Kui

Catherine Tate

Taylor Zakhar Perez -17

Eric Bogosian

Jenna Ortega -25

Josh Hutcherson

Sydney Sweeney +35

Kristen Stewart

Joe Keery -17

Jonathan Bailey

Taika Waititi -26

Emma D'Arcy

Rhys Darby -24

Alex Hirsch

Hayao Miyazaki

Austin Butler

Marilyn Monroe +8

Mike Faist

Lily-Rose Depp -19

Olivia Cooke

Akira Toriyama

Tom Glynn-Carney

Matthew Lillard

Kathryn Hahn

Cillian Murphy -16

Tom Blyth

King Charles III

Aubrey Plaza

Chris Evans -47

Jacob Elordi

Matt Smith +7

Jeremy Allen White +8

Toby Fox

Barry Keoghan

Selena Gomez -2

Delainey Hayles

Hayden Christensen -32

Peter Capaldi

Millie Gibson

Glen Powell +10

Kate Middleton

Matthew Gray Gubler

Andre Braugher

Emma Watson

Maggie Smith

Noah Schnapp -58

Jared Padalecki

Florence Pugh -17

Scarlett Johansson +16

Jacob Wysocki

Matthew Perry

Tom Holland -41

Timothee Chalamet +3

George Rexstrew

Simone Ashley

Monica Bellucci

Manny Jacinto

Gillian Anderson

Alexandra Daddario +1

Ana de Armas -32

Anne Hathaway -20

Anya Taylor-Joy -3

Emily Ratajkowski

Joe Locke -50

Owen Wilson

Jodie Whittaker -13

The number in italics indicates how many spots a name moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded names weren’t on the list last year.

Did you know you can now create a dedicated fan Community for your fave here on Tumblr and discuss their merits with others?

#year in review #celebrities #tumblr2024

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uss-edsall · 7 months ago

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In a previous post, I spoke of my adoration for ArmA III’s primary campaigns.

The game is ten years old and feature complete, except for “Community DLCs”, that is, third-party expansions given official sponsorship. As such it is unlikely the game will get any further official content. The game’s lore is scattered across every aspect of it - tutorials, challenge scenarios, single-player scenarios (there’s one memorable scene in particular snuck into a free charity event mission), and of course, the campaigns.

Each official DLC added their own singleplayer scenarios, mini-campaigns, etc - aside from the Karts DLC, which started as an April fool’s joke. Some of these campaigns are in and of themselves very neat, if much shorter than the main campaign. I might someday go into detail about them, but for now, I will focus on my favourite, and perhaps, the most important of them all.

Spoilers below.

Preamble

The Laws of War DLC from 2017, four years after the game released and today nearly six years old, came out of a very strange event. The following information comes from this article.

In 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross began a research project where one man, a Swiss ex-artillery officer, spent two months looking into videogames, and depiction of virtual war crimes. It was not a very important project, not one with priority. Certainly nobody, at the ICRC expected what came next. After he presented his findings at the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, news organisations started shitflinging. In attempting to call some small amount of attention on war crimes being portrayed in games (and all too often without the casual player being aware the action in question would be a real life crime), the media took ‘hey, we should be more aware of what we’re depicting’ and went “the Red Cross wants to prosecute six hundred million gamers for war crimes!”

Albeit having to backpedal and go, "no, that's not at all what we meant," the ICRC realised they’d struck a nerve. For the first time, thousands of people were talking about International Humanitarian Law who would otherwise have never touched it. So they sent out letters to major game developers (particularly of shooters) asking if they would like to meet, to talk, to collaborate. Most ignored them. Those that didn’t chose not to reveal they happened; “they think their gamers or their fans will get scared that their games will turn into training courses or that morality, as they say, will take over everything and games will not be about shooting anything anymore.��

One studio didn’t.

One studio was quite interested in collaborating and creating with the Red Cross publicly.

On 3 September 2017, Bohemia Interactive released as a DLC for the military simulator ArmA III…

Laws of War

War does have rules. . . In a firefight, things aren’t easy. . . We just ask you to remember. Actions have consequences.

ArmA III’s Laws of War DLC is the result of that collaboration between the Red Cross and Bohemia Interactive. It adds a fictional Non-Governmental Organisation, International Development & Aid Project (IDAP). Equipment includes a van, a utility drone, press gear, new bags and helmets, and most curiously of all… In order to depict war crimes, they had to add munitions for committing war crimes, in the form of an APERS mine dispenser and cluster bomb munitions for aircraft. ArmA previously hadn't had it, being one of few games to try to avoid including banned weaponry.

“Everyone on the forums says, ‘Yes! Thank you! Give us civilians and humanitarian workers and cluster munitions and we will use these new guns to eradicate as many of the first group as possible . . . But by saying that, it means that they will have consciously been saying, ‘We are going to break the law.’ It means that, even if it's at a very low level, they now have an understanding that there was a law in the first place.”

Those are the bones of the DLC. The meat of it is in the Remnants of War mini-campaign.

Remnants of War

The trailer for the DLC linked at the start telegraphs the intent of the campaign's story. Every side is depicted in the trailer. NATO forces, AAF troops, FIA guerrillas, CSAT spec-ops - they’re all there. All of them are depicted in the midst of conflict, at the cusp of committing a war crime.

The DLC takes place after the end of the primary ArmA campaign. “All’s over but the crying,” right? Not quite, not so. Even now, the actions taken back then have consequences. People are still dying. Questions remain unanswered.

The Brother - 15 August, 2035

The first mission begins with you in the shoes of Markos Kouris, the man on the left above. Five days ago, 10 August, 2035, the short but fierce war 'Altis Incident' that saw Akhanteros overthrown and the nation devastated once more, came to an explosive end. Peace returned to the country, shaky, unstable, but peace all the same. But the memories of the fighting in the fallen rebel stronghold of Oreokastro a year ago remain. The knowledge that your brother Alexis was killed in the fighting only days ago weighs heavily - now that the war is over, perhaps you can enter the obliterated town, find his remains, and bring him home for the last time.

When you step close to the ruined church, a hidden landmine triggers, detonating, and killing you - killing Markos Kouris, one more victim of the destruction of Oreokastro.

The EOD Expert - Several Days Later

You next take the role of a man named Nathan MacDade. A middle-aged American, he is a former marine who fought in Chernarus in 2009 (ArmA II), and after leaving the military, joined IDAP as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician. His job is to find unexploded ordnance (UXO) and safely disarm it, or failing that, detonate it safely without harm to human life. He’s good at his job, and has been at it for over twenty years. He’s on a voice call with Katherine Bishop, a journalist pursuing the story of Oreokastro.

As Nathan explores the town, he’ll find mines to defuse, unexploded ordnance to disarm, tripwires and hidden explosives… and several flashbacks. During these flashbacks to earlier events, Nathan MacDade narrates, speaking to Katherine Bishop asking questions, together depicting the various actions you can choose to do. If you take up arms as a civilian he’ll comment on it; if you choose to execute wounded combatants he’ll condemn it; so on and so forth. She'll share a draft of her article at the end of the campaign, which changes depending on the actions you take within it.

From here on out the DLC can be taken in non-chronological order. The flashbacks can be done in whichever order you find them. For the purposes of this post I will write of them in order of events.

The Peacekeeper - 28th May, 2034

Nathan’s been to Oreokastro before. Prior to the ‘Altis Incident’, IDAP had an aid camp within the town. As unrest in the nation grew stronger and bullets began to fly between the dictatorship’s troops and FIA guerrillas once more trying to fight for freedom, it became clear that aid supplies would not get to Oreokastro by land. They’d be ambushed or stolen, by both guerrilla forces and government troops. Thus, you put on the combat boots of an American peacekeeper of Task Force Aegis, Staff Sergeant Adams. The peacekeepers are unable to prevent the conflict, but they do arrange for aid supplies, IDAP priority, to be airdropped in. You drive around to collect aid supplies dropped by parachute, and defending some against a guerrilla attack. This is a short and simple mission.

ArmA is no stranger to the dangers of the remnants of war. Staff Sergeant Adams’ role is swift but deadly in the main campaign; he is your commander in the first mission, leading you to safety when TF Aegis is attacked… until he steps on a landmine, injuring you (Corporal Kerry), and killing him, leaving a terrified logistics driver to make his way alone out of the minefield and find allies in the CTRG.

The Guerrilla - 30th September, 2034

After NATO was pressured to begin withdrawal from the Republic of Altis & Stratis by Colonel Akhanteros (on the orders of his new CSAT puppet masters), the civil war began to truly heat up. Kostas Stavrou, a charismatic leader, took the reins of the FIA guerrillas. He encouraged the citizens of Oreokastro to rise up and take control of the town, with its high ground and natural terrain advantage, and turn it into a fortress.

As the Altis Armed Forces (AAF) lay siege to the town, the guerrillas prepare. One such guerrilla is Alexis Kouris, the brother Markos was searching for. In his flashback he lays mines on the road to Oreokastro - mines that you as Nathan MacDade just disarmed - and search the town for vehicles to use as roadblocks (one of which can be an IDAP van, which is a crime to do in and of itself, using humanitarian aid and stealing from humanitarian organisations for war purposes).

The roadblocks work. The mines work. The AAF’s offensive is frustrated…

… and so Akhanteros orders a brutal measure to gain victory.

The Redacted - 13 October 2034

You take the shoes of a CSAT special forces team - supposedly. Paradropped behind the guerrilla lines into the castle ruins overlooking Oreokastro, the three-man team silently eliminate the guerrilla sentries and set up an overwatch position on the town. They observe - and use a laser designator to call in a cluster bomb airstrike. It matters little who lives or dies, as long as you don’t directly hit the IDAP camp - though there’s an optional objective to try to avoid hitting an IDAP doctor in the town. Akhanteros wants the town obliterated for rising up against him so successfully.

The airstrike comes in and destroys everything. Roadblocks go up in smoke and flame; buildings collapse; men are eviscerated; and the AAF offensive begins.

This mission is the most blatant crime. Over a hundred countries banned the use of cluster munitions in 2008. Dozens die at minimum due to your actions as the faceless CSAT soldier who designated the target.

Faceless… CSAT… or are you so faceless? Are you so explicitly the Designated Enemy Faction?

“Idunno…” goes Nathan. “There were shell casings, found at the castle.” Strange. CSAT weaponry are explicitly caseless, and don’t leave behind brass. “NATO mil-spec.” Albeit you are depicted using a CSAT camouflaged laser designator in-mission, outside of it, the flashback trigger is a NATO sandy brown.

As the flashback ends, the three CSAT troops turn into the forms of Captain Miller and two other members of NATO’s CTRG.

The Survivor - 13 October, 2034

Heavily injured by the cluster bomb munitions, you take control of Markos Kouris from the beginning. The town is rubble; smoke, fire, and fog alike covers everything; the overcast skies fully block the sun. AAF forces and guerrillas fight a vicious and horrendously chaotic gunfight through the streets. Your objective is simply to survive, to escape to the IDAP camp. You are an unarmed civilian and a non-combatant… though you can choose to take up arms from the dead and join the fight. this flashback ends with getting to the IDAP camp for medical aid.

Oreokastro is ruined, depopulated. The rebellion here is over. As soon as it is safe to do so, IDAP too abandons the town, forced to vacate by the AAF.

There is nothing more they can do for the dead, after all.

The Major - 8 August, 2035

Ten months later, the Altis Incident is coming to a brutal end. The U.S. 111th Infantry Division heads NATO’s vengeance, supported by the FIA guerrillas. Two AAF soldiers, Major Gavras and his assistant Kostas Dimitriou, head into Oreokastro. AAF forces across the island are being overwhelmed. Gavras hopes making a stand in Oreokastro will buy time for other forces, drawing NATO units away from Kavala and other AAF strongholds. With NATO owning the skies there is little to no way to get reinforcements; Gavras’ forces are decimated, and the extraction helicopter is shot down. Gavras elects, then, to make a final stand in the church where the IDAP camp used to be.

You are Kostas, and you are faithful to your leader. If this is where you die, so be it - but you’re not going quietly. Knowing it is a cruel thing to do you deploy three APERS mine dispensers as a seperate act. There seems no other way to inflict as many casualties as possible on the attackers. They succeed. Somehow they survive the battle - through a storm of shot and shell, you kill or incapacitate all the guerrillas and American soldiers who attack the church. Surprisingly, the AAF manages to send a rescue helicopter that extracts the two of you.

Major Gavras is the reason the AAF held out for three days against the full might of a vengeful American and NATO force, not just one. He survived the war. He even was part of the peace process. He also gave IDAP the location of the mines he had his assistant plant in that near-final stand at the church.

Gavras and Kostas killed Alexis Kouris in that stand in Oreokastro. So, too, did they indirectly kill Markos Kouris, who stepped on one of Kostas’ mines searching for his dead brother. Their actions had consequences.

Who’s To Blame?

This ends the flashbacks, and little remains of the campaign. Katherine Bishop has one more question for Nathan MacDade.

“Now, there's just one last question I'd like to ask you. It's subjective, so, take your time. In your opinion, who's most to blame for all the suffering in Oreokastro? NATO? The guerrillas? CSAT? The Altis Armed Forces? Or, I don't know, something else?”

Who is responsible for Oreokastro? Who killed this town? Who’s to blame? Who is, if any one can be? Can anyone even be blamed at all?

You choose.

Every option leads to different thoughts from Nathan’s part. Perhaps one faction of them is higher than the rest in terms of blame. Perhaps together they form some sort of collective blame that, in the end, leaves everyone with no clear answer as to who to point a finger at, all dissatisfied, ashamed of themselves and angry at others.

NATO is to blame - “They had the capacity to make a difference, y'know? The airdrops were helpful, but it was never enough. And, ultimately? Their invasion caused more bloodshed. If they'd just had the guts to stay in the first place? A lotta killing could have been avoided…” The peacekeepers of Task Force Aegis failed to accomplish their mission. They didn’t have the influence to peacefully keep the peace without shots fired; they didn’t have the strength to keep peace by force of arms; their leaders didn’t have the guts to stay when demanded to leave. The NATO invasion led to even more deaths, once more devastating the FIA guerrillas (in a friendly fire incident, Kostas Stavrou was killed by a NATO air attack, too). Not to mention the suspicions of NATO spec-ops being responsible for the cluster bomb attack… Oreokastro is a monument to NATO’s sins.

CSAT is to blame - “That cluster strike? It took the whole thing to the brink - and with so little to gain from such a terrifying show of force. The whole thing's felt like a power-play from the get-go. One big pissing contest. It always is…” There was a shaky peace after the original Altis civil war ended in 2030. It held for four years. It only devolved back into civil war after Akhanteros got cozy with CSAT. They looked the other way when the AAF committed atrocities; they were the ones who supposedly carried out the airstrike. Unknown to Nathan, the entire struggle that eventually led to Alexis and Markos Kouris’ deaths are due to CSAT’s testing of the Eastwind Device, and the CTRG’s attempts to capture it.

The Altis Armed Forces are to blame - “It's one thing fighting against a resistance - it's another to make the civilian population pay for it. As they clung on to power, they wound up scarring the very country they'd pledged to protect…” Perhaps the most direct perpetrators of all the violence. Ceasefire agreements violated; their leader being the ultimate authority who called for the cluster bombing; they punished the weak and innocent along with those who chose armed resistance, cruelly harming the populace for the actions of a few. An army of thugs acting on the orders of a thug, caring not about the atrocities committed in the moment, the unexploded ordnance and mines left for generations of Altians to suffer from.

The FIA guerrillas are to blame - “They hid themselves among the population. These guys didn't give a damn about what it cost. They wanted power, and would do anything to get it…” The guerrillas incited the armed conflict. Though they seemingly had a moral high ground, the guerrillas resorted to underhanded tactics that violated the laws of war, even targeting humanitarian aid and taking from relief efforts for their own ends..

All sides played a part - Oreokastro’s destruction was not solely one side, one group, one man to blame. “No one side can be held accountable for the bloodshed here. No one action got us where we are now. And the folks here in Oreokastro? They're the ones that've suffered. This is the reality. This is war.” The citizens of Oreokastro paid that ultimate price, whether they wanted to or not, just more victims of a great power proxy struggle and more local regional conflicts alike.

Choose.

You’ve seen every side, parts of it at least. All throughout, no matter which side you thought was most responsible, the primary theme of the DLC remains consistent: Actions have consequences.

No matter what you think, the dead are dead and will never return.

Nathan MacDade says farewell to Katherine Bishop. The mines and UXOs in Oreokastro have been defused, and it’s time to move on. Oreokastro has become a silent mausoleum, as the IDAP vehicles drive away. A ruined city on a hill for all to behold and contemplate - or to forget, as all things are doomed to be.

There are other Oreokastros in this devastated country. There are more mines to disarm, more UXOs defuse, more potential casualties to prevent from a war long ended - more atrocities left behind in the sands of time.

Just as in Oreokastro, there may never truly be a definitive answer as to what happened in those places.

Real Life Consequences

The Laws of War DLC was made in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and thus half the initial sales were donated to the ICRC. That came up to $176,667 USD; pretty respectable for a $10 DLC.

The community has a high number of people who, as was mentioned in a quote early in this post, reacted to the addition of a humanitarian aid NGO and medical vehicles with, "great, more things to commit war crimes on." The comments on the trailer are rife with them. But as a Bohemia Interactive employee put it:

"We knew this DLC's theme might seem a bit unusual, but we also felt that it has a rightful place in a game like Arma 3 . . . what has made it even more amazing to see the immense level of player support for the Laws of War DLC, which really shows again how both games and the gaming audience have matured. If you also consider that some of our players are in the military or might pursue a military career in the future, then we're glad this DLC has been able to increase awareness for this important topic. And being able to also make a financial contribution to the ICRC's efforts is a great bonus."

#ArmA III

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flagwars · 3 months ago

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Video Game Flag Wars: Round 2

1. Salmon Run Flag (Splatoon) vs. Homestead Banner (Palia)

2. Bilge Rat Adventures Flag (Sea of Thieves) vs. Arstotzka (Papers, Please)

3. Kirin Tor Offensive Banner (World of Warcraft) vs. Aquileian Republic (Supremacy) (Equestria at War)

4. Commune of Revachol (Disco Elysium) vs. Calchaqui (Europa Universalis 4)

5. Flag of the Crown (Cult of the Lamb) vs. Communist Australia (Victoria II)

6. Patagonian Worker’s Front (Kaiserreich) vs. Livonia (Arma)

7. Gaul Úr (Red Flood) vs. Alam Melayu (Rise of Nations (Roblox))

8. Principality of Kemerovo (The New Order: Last Days of Europe) vs. Shadow Isles Clash Banner (League of Legends)

9. Zhu Xi's Legacy (Age of Empires 4) vs. Watchers (Overwatch)

10. Grey Warden Heraldry (Dragon Age: Inquisition) vs. Outer Wilds Ventures (Outer Wilds)

11. Sickle Moon Flag (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) vs. The Rebellion (Just Cause 3)

12. Great Lake Revolutionary Council (Extremis Ultimis) vs. Pontiac Province (Judgement Day: Aftermath of the Red Flood)

13. New California Republic (Fallout) vs. Golden Deer Banner (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

14. American Collective (Twilight of the Anthropocene) vs. Niflheim (Final Fantasy XV)

15. Corvus (Dead Ahead (Roblox)) vs. Federation of Anrakan Isles (Suzerain)

16. Hurons (American Conquest) vs. Falkreath Hold (Skyrim)

#flags #vexillology #video game flag wars #tournament #brackets

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arcanacenturia · 1 year ago

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GOOD OMENS 2 SPOILERS

Something's so not right in S2 though.

The only time we "see" God is whenever she talks to Job and just blabbers stuff at him because she's bored af and doesn't have anybody to speak with except maybe the Metatron.

When Aziraphale tries to talk directly to God in S1, the Metatron tells him "Speaking to me is speaking to God" and categorically refuses to listen to Aziraphale's request.

That's weird. That's so weird.

We have no proof that he's actually relaying all this information to God. She hasn't appeared to anyone in centuries. He's also aware of Aziraphale's will to stop the arma-fucking-geddon.

He's aware of Azi's relation to Crowley.

As I've seen stated somewhere on Tumblr earlier, he's aware that just by trying to perform a teeny tiny miracle together they performed a huge ass one that triggered alarms in Heaven and succeeded in separating the two, because he's aware, and could be scared, of their combined powers.

Okay but why would he need to separate them?

A second too late, he told Aziraphale about The Second Coming, which is most likely linked to a new Armageddon again.

Related to that, we never heard God herself about the destruction of earth. Anything said about it is told by other characters. Note to myself: list up who talked about it.

The Metatron seems to be hiding something. Unlike the other (arch-)angels he's not naïve, he wears a black coat, he doesn't sugarcoat his speech to humans (and my synesthesia says he speaks Spiky, and not a good spiky).

I think it's also noteworthy that Crowley & Aziraphale don't communicate, not with words, Crowley never told Aziraphale about what Gabriel told him but he also never told Aziraphale what he found out about Gabriel in S2. He never told Aziraphale that his bosses were planning to restart Armageddon until Gabriel went Nah, that it's the reason the Metatron demoted him. He demoted the current Prince of Heaven for stopping it, then promoted Aziraphale, who is a lot more tame and also has been a cause of Armagenope to fail, to lead it.

I don't think Crowley fell because he asked questions to God. I think he sauntered vaguely downwards because he asked too many questions to the Metatron, that would put his plan in danger.

This bitch is SHADY AS FUCK and I'm honestly so eager, so curious to see what he (and season 3) is going to bring us. I wonder if he's lived among the humans, too. Besides, I feel like he's going to try (and maybe manage) and use Azi as his marionnette for whatever stuff he's preparing.

And I feel whatever he's preparing is really against God.

Thank you Neil Gaiman for this ending because even if it HURTS it's so interesting. There are so many things that could be going on behind the heartbreak. I could be going on about how Crowley probably even found out part of what happened. I've seen people speculate with good arguments that Crowley lost part of his memory after falling, and if it is the case that could be another thing done to prevent Crowley from stopping the Metatron.

There is SO MUCH that could be, so much that WILL be, and so little that we can know.

No matter in what form, I'm so excited to see how this will develop in the future.

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burdened-boy · 11 months ago

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GET TO KNOW THE MUN

NAME?: jamie

PRONOUNS?: he/him

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION?: tumblr dms, discord (if you would like to get to know me more)

MOST ACTIVE MUSE(S)?: writing Arma is never a problem. Limbo is usually easy, but i have to know what i'm doing. i still write tabby, but she's very fickle due to her being a loner.

EXPERIENCE / HOW MANY YEARS?: i have been on and off here since 2012. in 2015 i took a break to write a dedicated science fiction story on wordpress. i don't remember when i started the first iteration of this blog, though i took another hiatus for a few years, and came back in 2021 (i think, i don't remember)

BEST EXPERIENCE?: meeting @pvremichigan was fun. i would like to meet more of my friends on here irl. seeing that one of my mutuals had a dream about limbo made me feel really good, too. that's why i still do it, man...

RP PET PEEVES?: i don't know. i've been kind of disillusioned with this hobby in general as of late. people are mean. i don't try to understand anymore.

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT?: i like whump (i think that's how you spell it). angst is good. light fluff is alright for arma threads. i won't do smut; i could potentially be interested in it as a way to develop a character more, but i'm not gonna ERP with you.

i really want to do more heady/psychedelic stuff. hallucinations, delusions, drugs, stream of consciousness shit.

PLOTS OR MEMES?: memes. plotting is nice sometimes, but i like to keep my partners on their toes.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES?: 1-3 paragraphs is kind of the sweet spot for me. short replies are fine if there's effort; don't worry about matching lengths.

TIME TO WRITE?: usually somewhere between 10p-2a. i doomscroll throughout my day, but i actually sit down and write once everyone is asleep.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S)? there are parts of me in all of my characters, but i would say their personalities are largely separate from mine. i try to keep my OCs as less of a reflection of me, and more as vehicles by which i can tell a story. yeah, there's surface level stuff. limbo likes cars, so do i. tabby is shy and nerdy, so am i. but those are tertiary to the purpose of the characters. i try, try, try to say something with my threads. the curtains are never just blue, as they say.

tagged by @archerwhiterp

tagging:

@songofsilentechoes @pvremichigan @the-expatriate @hellcab

if you see this and wanna do it, fuck it

#ooc #dash games

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anarchomitsumi · 9 months ago

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it has come to my attention that the international community regards Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez (and his administration) as a trustworthy progressive politician and, in short, "one of the good ones". as a Spaniard i need to tell you that their progressive act falls short.

i'm bringing this up specifically due to Spain's stance on the Palestinian genocide. Pedro Sánchez has continuously called for a ceasefire, and recently expressed the need for the European Union to acknowledge Palestine as a state [3]. but i need you all to understand that his actions don't match his words. Spain is far from an unproblematic ally to the Palestinian people.

from the start of the first Sánchez administration in 2020, to July 2022, the Spanish government approved 147 licenses for arms trade with Israel. in this time period they sold weapons and defensive technology to Israel for the total value of 40 million euros. the Spanish government has also been buying this type of technology from Israel, under the guarantee that it had been "previously tested in combat" (likely, by being used against the Palestinian population). [1]

after the start of the genocide, Spanish activist organizations and parliamentary forces pressured the government to end this trade. and it apparently did, stating back in December "that Spanish weapons had not been exported to 'Israel' since October 7" [2]. but the key word here is apparently. it was discovered back in February that, while no new licenses for commerce were approved, the ones passed before October 7 were still in motion. this meant that until December, during at least three months of genocide, Spain supplied Israel with technology to use in its ethnic cleansing. and then deliberately tried to cover this fact with vague wording [2, 4, 5, 6].

it's important to understand that they could've stopped relations entirely, as contractual obligation in Spanish arms trade doesn't hold if it's suspected the technology will be used by the buyer to violate human rights [6], which it very much is.

and that's only when it comes to selling to Israel. if we're talking about imports, the Spanish government has made 0 efforts to stop the acquisition of war technology from Israel, effectively funding further Israeli military action. new contracts have been closed for a value of approximately 800 million euros, and those are only the ones I've found explicitly mentioned in newspapers [2, 7].

furthermore, it's hard to know the full extent of Spanish weapons trade with Israel, as information on this type of trade is protected by a Government Secrets law, and data has been largely withheld during this entire process [6].

i understand that compared to the United States, that has given Israel billions and billions and continues to be its primary supplier, this might not seem like a """big deal""" in terms of overall funding of the genocide. but I think we can all agree one weapon given to Israel is one too many. and, specifically, the reason why Spanish involvement is such a problem is because the nation has good press when it comes to its support for Palestine.

people criticize the involvement of the US and Germany (who is Israel's second biggest weapon supplier [8]), but not Spain. I've noticed lately that the Sánchez administration is viewed positively by the international community, specially due to the legislation passed in the benefit of trans people (and overall positive legislation surrounding social justice). but this mustn't let people ignore the horrible things the government does. Spain, like all Western nations, owes it's status as a "first world country" to its oppression of the global south. no Western nation will ever be a "good one", specially not one that has continued arms deals with Israel.

Sources:

[1] Spanish. 17/10/23. The PSOE and Podemos Administration has sold weapons to Israel for a value of 40 million euros. Vozpópuli.

[2] English. 12/2/24. Spain's lies about ending arms to 'Israel' exposed; data speak volumes. Al Mayadeen English.

[3] English. 10/4/24. Spain’s Sanchez says ‘disproportionate’ Israeli Gaza attacks a world threat. Al Jazeera.

[4] Spanish. 20/2/24. Black roses for PSOE for continuing the arms deal with Israel. ElSalto.

[5] English. 12/2/24. The Spanish Government is lying about the suspension of arms to Israel. We demand concrete measures and present a proposal of Non-Legislative Proposition (PNL) in the Congress. NovAct (Nonviolence Act)

[6] Spanish. 13/3 /24. Spain continued to send military material to Israel in December despite embargo announced bh Government. ElDiario.

[7] Spanish. 16/2/24. Spain sent ammunition to Israel despite having announced it had suspended weaponry exportation. ElDiario.

[8] English. 3/24. Trends in international arms transfers. SIPRI Fact Sheet.

#palestinian genocide #palestine #spain #dear god guys please reblog this. bc the subject matter is important and because im tired of pedro Sánchez's pinkwashing #free palestine

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apas-95 · 2 years ago

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playing a milsim game like Squad or ARMA but everyone has to communicate using toki pona

kulupu tu o, kama tawa mi! jan ike mute li lon nena ni! o utala e ona kepeken palisa suli >:3

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musicfren · 11 months ago

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