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One more shoutout to @Zeogludon for such an incredible endorsement of my story.
And now the time has come for my own nomination. We've been on quite a run with Stellaris AARs, winners in six of the last seven weeks. While I (quite obviously) love the science fiction setting, I have gone in the opposite direction for our latest honoree. Looking to history, there is one story in particular that stands out to me. It is a well-researched and richly detailed story, but so much more than that. The author has used this medium to explore the field of history as such, providing readers with an expansive and nuanced account of the 19th century, reflecting the realities of the American experience and weaving it into the slightly divergent narrative developed in the playthrough. Most impressively, the story is a showcase of how to create realness in an AAR. It moves beyond the narrative of politics and explores culture, religion, mythologizing, and the lived experience of a nation, evoking a deep sense of place and time as well as the true evolution of a society during an era of upheaval.
Though this author has been honored here before, I think it is well past time to add a new award to the collection. And so I would like to present this week's AAR showcase to @volksmarschall for the wonderful Empire for Liberty: America in the Long Nineteenth Century.
And now the time has come for my own nomination. We've been on quite a run with Stellaris AARs, winners in six of the last seven weeks. While I (quite obviously) love the science fiction setting, I have gone in the opposite direction for our latest honoree. Looking to history, there is one story in particular that stands out to me. It is a well-researched and richly detailed story, but so much more than that. The author has used this medium to explore the field of history as such, providing readers with an expansive and nuanced account of the 19th century, reflecting the realities of the American experience and weaving it into the slightly divergent narrative developed in the playthrough. Most impressively, the story is a showcase of how to create realness in an AAR. It moves beyond the narrative of politics and explores culture, religion, mythologizing, and the lived experience of a nation, evoking a deep sense of place and time as well as the true evolution of a society during an era of upheaval.
Though this author has been honored here before, I think it is well past time to add a new award to the collection. And so I would like to present this week's AAR showcase to @volksmarschall for the wonderful Empire for Liberty: America in the Long Nineteenth Century.
Congratulations! I am always of a fan of your AARs, and you definitely deserve any awards you get.
Congrats @volksmarschall! 
I'm always a fan of thoughtful, insightful, and well-researched writing, and your work most certainly deserves recognition as some of AARland's finest.
I'm always a fan of thoughtful, insightful, and well-researched writing, and your work most certainly deserves recognition as some of AARland's finest.
Thanks @eoncommander for the nomination, and thanks to the faces--familiar and new--for the hearty congratulations.
While time is far more limited than in moment's past, it is a good reminder that AAR-ing, and writing in general, is a reciprocal enterprise. It may be true that writers are trying to perfect their art and tell (in this forum) of the fun exploits and developments of their game, but the art of writing needs readers as well. Readers are the unsung heroes whom the muses forget, but without, the muses have no one to sing and feast with. I know as a professional writer that it's always touching to hear of people who are moved by one's works. The same is true even here. The joy of writer ought to be the joy of the reader too! To paraphrase St. Jerome, when we readeth, joy, speaketh to us and maketh the heart leap and our soul ascendeth to the heavens.
Without readers there is no writing.
While time is far more limited than in moment's past, it is a good reminder that AAR-ing, and writing in general, is a reciprocal enterprise. It may be true that writers are trying to perfect their art and tell (in this forum) of the fun exploits and developments of their game, but the art of writing needs readers as well. Readers are the unsung heroes whom the muses forget, but without, the muses have no one to sing and feast with. I know as a professional writer that it's always touching to hear of people who are moved by one's works. The same is true even here. The joy of writer ought to be the joy of the reader too! To paraphrase St. Jerome, when we readeth, joy, speaketh to us and maketh the heart leap and our soul ascendeth to the heavens.
Without readers there is no writing.
It is time to pass this along, so without further ado, I direct readAARs attention to a longstanding CK II AAR that is witty, game-play oriented, and funny. Congratulations @Eurasia! Road of Queens is a CK II Indian AAR that has been ongoing for some time, and one of the lighter and funnier reads which, for someone like myself who is oftentimes busy, can keep up with and be refreshed by.
Go back about 1000 years now to the subcontinent to find exploitation, deceit, murder, and skulduggery. Not to mention war and all that other fun stuff that comes with CKII!
Go back about 1000 years now to the subcontinent to find exploitation, deceit, murder, and skulduggery. Not to mention war and all that other fun stuff that comes with CKII!
Thank you very much @volksmarschall !!! I am pleased to be nominated by such a author as I am a fan of Empire of Liberty. Being a American with a deep love of our history, and whose family took some part in it, I enjoy your AAR very very much. To me the Road of Queens (which never seems to have enough Queens) is more enjoyable than I can truly describe. I have learned more than I thought I would about India just doing light research to help me write the chapters. I even bought books on Ancient India and India in the Middle Ages to try to help me fill my knowledge. Well, also for my enjoyment.
Also the games' twists and turns just forces me to become more flexible in my writings. Christian Vikings? Sure. Aztec hundreds of years before they existed in our time line? Okay. Chinese Nobles showing up in Europe? Great. May as well toss in Attack Pugs, a few Time Lords, and a owl postal service. Okay, I took that last part from Harry Potter - don't tell J. K. Rowling.
And I am happy to see how many people enjoy reading and discussing the AAR.
Also the games' twists and turns just forces me to become more flexible in my writings. Christian Vikings? Sure. Aztec hundreds of years before they existed in our time line? Okay. Chinese Nobles showing up in Europe? Great. May as well toss in Attack Pugs, a few Time Lords, and a owl postal service. Okay, I took that last part from Harry Potter - don't tell J. K. Rowling.
And I am happy to see how many people enjoy reading and discussing the AAR.
Great words @volksmarschall and an excellent nomination! Congrats on yours and so too to @Eurasia for a truly excellent work!
It is quite true that the joy of the reader makes the writing that much more sweet. When they say so (to paraphrase a friend of ours) is divine.
It is quite true that the joy of the reader makes the writing that much more sweet. When they say so (to paraphrase a friend of ours) is divine.
Congratulations my friend. As you know, this AAR has brought me enjoyment since the start. Well deserved.