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The beginning of April always brings about elections for both Speaker of the Assembly and all four Officer positions. Minskyiv emerged victorious over Gorundu in the race for the Speakership. In the Officer elections, Dyl (Dyllypoly), Chipmunker (Crowheim), Agalaesia, and Grea Kriopia (Grea Rejectopia) were elected over the four-round format, a group which contained only one incumbent Officer. They were assigned the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, World Assembly, Outreach, and Culture, respectively. You can read more detailed coverage in The Rejected Times Issue LXVII.

Hoping to celebrate the light of a year that brought so much dark, Culture Officer Nakari (Budgie Snugglers) brought forth the fourth-annual Reject Awards in early March. After a week for nominations and a week for voting, an awards ceremony was held and the recipients were recognized.

The awards were designed to highlight the contributions of Rejects in a variety of areas. Two recognized efforts in the Rejected Realms Army, honoring WA Officer Chipmunker as RRA Newcomer of the Year and Delegate Jamie (Chimes) - recipient of the Sir Lans Award at the 2020 Defender Awards - won the Greymarshes Achievement Award.

The three government-focused awards saw the first two sets of five joint victors. Jamie, who had been both an Officer and Speaker during 2020, and former Delegate and Officer Sarah (A Leaf on the Wind) earned an equal number of votes for Best Government Member, while Culture Officers Deadeye jack and Nakari were awarded with Most Outstanding Officer. Best Staff Member - awarded for contributions made without holding office - was won by Chipmunker.

Other awards recognized contributions to other aspects of the region. Guy and The Grim Reaper (Siam Meow) both won Best Legislator for their work in the Assembly, Outreach Officer Agalaesia earned the Pen and Paper Award for his efforts as the first Editor-in-Chief of an independent TRT, and regional pollster Thepeopl won Most Outstanding RMBer. Rejects had two favorite events this year: Harry Potter and the Festival of Friends and the existence of Outbound, a notorious Reject who was banned last March. Meanwhile, a post denoting the levels of Frattastan's joy won Quote of the Year.

The final set of awards focused on general regional contribution. FA Officer Dyllypoly won Newcomer of the Year while Jamie and Frattastan iv jointly won the Veteran Reject Award. Lastly, in the most notable award of the event, Deadeye jack won Reject of the Year for his extensive efforts and time spent as Delegate and Culture Officer during 2020.

In all, the 2020 Reject Awards were great fun and commemorated the highlights of a year in which we all needed just a little more light.

Two smaller-scale events were held in late April to commemorate notable dates for The Rejected Realms and the world, respectively.

Earth Day - designated as April 22 - serves as an important day to denote support for environmental protection and show care for the planet on which we all live. In recognition of this, small festivities were planned in order to commemorate the day: an environmental poll was held, fun facts were shared on the Regional Message Board, a discord theme day was held, and former Culture Officer Nakari led a nature-themed Popmaster that weekend. Our friends from Forest, Spiritus, and The East Pacific joined in on the events of the day: each region colored their World Factbook Entry green and many Regional Officers shifted to environment-themed flags. In the end, the event was great fun and we thank all participating regions for their involvement.

A few days later, The Rejected Realms celebrated an important milestone, turning eighteen on April 27. A pull event was held for long-time Reject Crazy girl’s card and a regional Spotify playlist was created to show the diverse tastes of our citizens. That night, a regional history Jeopardy game was hosted by The church of satan, with Deadeye jack blowing away the competition for an impressive win.

In all, the two events provided for some pleasant festivities and two wonderful opportunities for greater bonding.

In late February, RRA Commander Frattastan iv announced a reorganized ranking system for tracking soldiers’ progress in the Rejected Realms Army. From lowest to highest, the new ranks were Scout, Trooper, Lancer, Specialist, and Corporal. Most include a specific set of benchmarks needed to attain the rank, while Corporal will be awarded solely by recommendation from an RRA Officer. The higher leadership roles, however, will remain by appointment and separate from the new ranks.

These new ranks also came with an improved system for tracking involvement in the RRA, and at the beginning of April, Chipmunker (Crowheim) became the first soldier to be promoted under the new system.

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