Army of Club Penguin

BLIZZARD, Shamrock Bulletin Headquarters – In this weekly column, we visit various legends from the community and pay them a penny for their thoughts. As we set out on our quest to uncover the wisdom of legends, what will we discover in this latest edition?

Flipmoo

Flipmoo kicked off his army career in 2007, creating the Impossible Mission Army Force, which proceeded to rise to great heights. He is more well known for being the ‘AUSIA Sculptor’ as in his time as an Army of Club Penguin leader. During his leadership, he built the previously dormant AUSIA division to become a truly unstoppable force. By the end of his tenure, he was bestowed with countless awards, such as legend status from various army news hubs, including the title of Club Penguin Army Legend from CP Army Central.  In the Clover Defenders, he was awarded both the Bronze Medal Award as well as the highly coveted Medal of Honor. In the eras following his retirement, he was more well known by newer members of the army as an active presence in the Panel of Guardians.

In this edition of our column, the Shamrock Bulletin interviewed Flipmoo himself and questioned him on various aspects of his Club Penguin Army career. We touch on a wide range of points with expertise that can only be offered by a seasoned Panel of Guardians member. What will we learn today?

When did you reach the ACP leadership position, and how did you rise to it?

November 2013. I can provide two perspectives that may help contextualize how I acquired the leadership position.

The first was no doubt the creation and rise of the AUSIA division. In early 2013 I joined the ACP and sent an e-mail to Mchappy, who was leading at the time, about my ambitions of creating a formidable Australia/Asia division in the army. Nobody who resided in Asia or Australia had ever been a sole leader of a major army before. ACP, RPF, UMA, Nachos, IW, etc., all these armies had never had a leader from what is currently known as AUSIA. I had my own set of struggles because I had to face this regional glass ceiling. Having no precedence meant that I had to go above and beyond to be the first ever AUSIA leader of a major army (and not just any major army, but the ACP). The cultivation of the AUSIA division into arguably the largest and strongest division in the ACP and in the community definitely helped me convince Boomer 20 to replace Casiusbrutus in a coup d’état.

Which gets me to the second contextualization. My predecessor, Casiusbrutus, was an extremely charismatic individual. Despite being ranked below me, he acquired leadership after Capncook, who resigned after taking responsibility for ranking 10th on major army rankings and 1st on small/medium army rankings. Casius’s charisma helped to some extent in bringing ACP back from its humiliation, but he wasn’t necessarily the most liked. Of course, I have a different conception of him today than I did back then, but back then I published an article called File 427B (half of which was written by Sercan) that elaborates why he was removed from the leadership. There were a series of long events that led up to this and is not included in the 427B post, but I can’t elaborate everything here. But in summary, two points—1) the creation and success of the AUSIA division and 2) my predecessor’s leadership and coup d’état—help contextualize how I became a leader.

While you were in the army, what was your favorite moment?

The Triumvirate days. Sercan once told me, something along the lines of, “You know what I noticed? ACP is just three major armies combined into one: USA, UK and AUSIA.” It really felt like that. The first Roman triumvirate did not end well, but ACP’s functioned exceptionally well. There would be at least one leader online pretty much all the time. USA times would be the domain of Jerry, UK times would be Sercan’s, and AUSIA’s would be mine. So there were a lot of firsts in the ACP. First AUSIA leader and first trio (USA/UK/AUSIA) leadership. Those were my favorite moments. Leading together with those other two.It ended horribly, though, as you may know. Haha.

Could you elaborate?

There were allegations of Sercan editing pictures, about how he added penguins and emotes so that we would rank higher in the top ten. It was later confirmed internally and we (as in Boomer and I) tried to talk to Sercan and resolve it internally, but Shaboomboom exposed it to CPAC (the army media). Public opinion turned heavily against Sercan. ACP veterans were especially enraged (tensions had existed before but this added major fuel to the fire). Sercan and Jerry both resigned and revived the Golden Troops. A lot of ACP troops left for GT and there was a cold war period that entailed for quite some time. There’s much more to this incident that hasn’t been publicized yet to this day—but one fact that remains is that I was never a part of (and never knew about) the picture editing process. After this incident I did my best along with co-leader Purpleslime4 and other members of the army to keep the ACP going.

During your time in the army, what was the hardest difficulty you faced?

The most difficult times during my time in the army were the times before I became leader. As I mentioned above, people were skeptical about having an AUSIA leader for the ACP, so I was not sure whether I could ever reach that goal. And at the time, Cas and I did not really get along with each other, which made it hard for me to stay in the ACP under his leadership for as long as I did. But I’m glad I endured and committed.

What is your role as an ACP guardian?

The role of guardians have never been static throughout ACP history. The very notion of “PoG” is a new phenomenon that was conceptualized and solidified during my leadership. Of course, the genealogical origins of the PoG trace all the way back to perhaps Oagalthorp, Boomer 20 and Shaboomboom, but PoG as a solid apparatus (i.e. as when it became something nameable) was a 2014 invention. It facilitated the gradual transition of power, authority and legitimacy from Boomer 20 and Shaboomboom to Mchappy and Flipmoo. Skipping ahead in time, the role of the PoG changed significantly when Mchappy revived the army from ashes. There are times when the PoG acts as a collective whole, but generally each guardian has acted individually according to our own capabilities and philosophies. But if I were to provide one, absolutely crucial function of the PoG (and as a member of it), I would claim that it is in ensuring the inheritance of infrastructure. ACP has used many different platforms (e.g. WordPress, Xat, Discord, and so forth) throughout its years, but the centralized control of them by members of the PoG has ensured the transitioning of platforms from one generation to the next. The PoG ensures continuity and legacy. If a rogue were to create a new ACP site, it would not carry the same legitimacy and value that people cherish in this community. My role as a PoG is to insure that successions and general operations proceed smoothly so that ACP will always have a future. This involves supporting the current leadership in any ways possible and making sure that ACP is a safe environment for everyone.

What is a lesson you have learned from CP Armies that you would like to share with the readers?

When conducting a coup d’état, you believe everyone is on your side and that you are on the “right” side. But as soon as I assumed power, people’s criticisms and cynicisms turned to me, and I was forced to reevaluate my thinking. If there is one lesson that I learned, it is that belief is a scary thing. When what you believed was right ended up being not so absolute, or when people you thought were on your side were actually not, that is when you are tested to take on the impossible task of the leader: adamantly pursuing a path while retaining a relativistic view of the world. If you haven’t once trembled with fear, anxiety and uncertainty of the future and the direction you are headed in, you have no right to lead others. But in all, it’s just a CP army. Don’t overthink and have fun; reminisce your childhood past in this way once you’ve finished immersing yourself in it. CP armies are not an end goal but a mere starting point. Take what you will from it.

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This lesson shared by Flipmoo is a powerful one no doubt. It tells us that having fun in the community is of the highest importance. Instead of viewing armies as a final destination, one should instead view it as the start of a bright future.

What do YOU think? Were the lessons shared valuable to you? Who should we interview next? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

FatChicken88

ACP General & Shamrock Bulletin Reporter

Filed under: ACP, Army of CP, Learning From Legends, Shamrock Bulletin | Tagged: ACP, acp shamrock bulletin, ACPSB, Army of Club Penguin, Army of CP, AUSIA Division, Flipmoo, Shamrock Bulletin |